Letters: From quantity to quality

This refers to the report "Only 2 Indian institutes make it to top 300 in Times ranking" (October 2). Over the years, India has emerged as one of the few countries that can boast of a large number of educational institutions. But the increasing number also means decaying quality. Our institutions should draw some lessons from top institutes such as the California Institute of Technology, Harvard, Oxford, Stanford and Cambridge.

What determines excellence is the quality of teaching, success in research, citation impact, international outlook, funds at disposal and the strength to create a hunger for knowledge. A basic malady is that the best of brains are not attracted to teaching as a profession. Private educational institutions crave for profit in the business of education and they are managed as family establishments without the right educationists. Only high intellectuals can command respect and provide inspiration to the youth, especially in this internet era.

K U Mada, Mumbai

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