Steep learning curve

Higher education needs to surmount low standards

That the world’s largest democracy, which prides itself on its scientific and IT prowess, figuring only in the top 251-300 ranks of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings thus far should have been a matter of some concern for policymakers. That it has slipped out of the top 300 rankings for the first time since 2012 must surely set the alarm bells ringing in the Ministry of Human Resource Development. In contrast 24 Chinese universities figure in the top 200 rankings. India's best-ranked university, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, slipped out of the 251-300 cohort into