Letters: A foreign touch

This refers to the editorial "Enter, foreign universities" (September 12). Under the supervision of the University Grants Commission, Indian universities have not made their mark in the recently released list of the top 200 universities of the world. Many of them from Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia and South Africa featured in the list, but none from India. It speaks volumes for the standards prevalent in our country. Universities and colleges in India are geared towards maximising revenues through the capitation/donation route. The quality of education has tumbled steeply.

We should allow foreign universities to set up their institutions in India, to not only improve the quality of education but also to proffer the badly-needed competition to impart quality education. American universities are unquestionably pre-eminent in teaching and research, attracting students and faculty members from around the world. Universities play a significant role in innovations that arise from research in pure science. India can immensely benefit from this dedicated research which it lacks now. Care must be taken to ensure that they admit students purely on merit and not through the capitation route.

H N Ramakrishna, Bangalore

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