Not a single #Indian #university in #world’s top 200 #ranking

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has for the first time emerged as India’s leading university in the world university rankings. Not a single Indian higher education institution has made it to the top 200 of the QS World University Rankings, which were released on Tuesday morning.

University of Calcutta has jumped 50 ranks since last year’s ranking and is placed 650th in the world while the University of Delhi has jumped 20 ranks to 430th. IIT Kanpur is ranked 300th globally followed by IIT Madras (321), IIT Kharagpur (324), IIT Roorkie (461) and IIT Guwahati (551).

The number of Indian institutions in the ranking has grown from 11 to 12, with Banaras Hindu University joining the group below 700th place. But the overall standing of the remaining institutions is similar to last year: six have gone up and five have gone down, with the two leading IITs well ahead of the rest.

All the top 10 positions in the rankings list are taken by the U.S. and U.K.-based universities with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology retaining the first position for the second year running. The National University of Singapore leads the pack as far as the Asian continent is concerned and is ranked 22nd.

The poor showing of Indian institutions in world university rankings has become a cause of concern among educationists in the country and efforts have been under way for a couple of years now to evolve an India-generated ranking system. A ranking committee – set up by the United Progressive Alliance government – has already submitted its report.

As per the proposal, an India-generated ranking system would ensure that the large set of institutions across the country are properly ranked and placed in proper perspective, factoring in aspects that are peculiar to India like the quota system.

Besides providing an Indian benchmark that can be used by world ranking lists as an indicator, a domestic ranking list would also help students and parents make a more informed choice instead of just going by lists brought out by media houses.

Bureau Report