India fails to feature in Top 200 University Ranking

The latest QS World University Rankings saw yet another dismal performance by the Indian universities. None of the institutes in India made it even to the Top 200 universities across the globe. India was perhaps the only BRICS nation to not feature among the world's top 200 educational institutions. However, industry players blame this on lack of awareness.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi features on the list at 212th position, followed by IIT Bombay at 227th position and IIT Kanpur at 278th position. Though the ranking of IIT Delhi rose six positions compared to the previous year, that of IIT Bombay dropped two positions. IIT Kanpur also fared better compared to last year. Even in the Asian rankings, India just has 11 institutes among the top 300 institutes.

However, education industry players are of the view that this performance is not because of the lack of educational standards but due to lack of awareness. "If you look at China, which has around six to seven institutes in the Top 200 list. Keeping aside the fact that China makes huge investments for education, we need to understand that most universities here do not even know about this ranking," said the head of a Delhi-based institute.

Echoing the same concerns, Narayanan Ramaswamy, head of education practice at consultancy major KPMG added that several universities do not even participate in this process due to lack of awareness and do not give adequate information when asked for it. "The issue here is we do not even have people to validate the necessary information when they are contacted by the concerned authorities.

Ramaswamy however, explained that there is still a long distance for Indian universities to cover in terns of rigour of research and publication. "I hope the ranking have a positive influence on the institutions here to improve their performance," he further said.

Industry experts also added that Indian institutes have to improve factors like internationalisation, emphasis on research faculty r and incentivised research, in order to be featured among the top institutes of the world.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) overtook Cambridge University this year as the world's number one university, as per the ranking.