The most recent rankings from two prominent international ranking agencies have been published, revealing that no Indian university is listed among the top 200 universities. While maintaining a level of skepticism towards these rankings, it is concerning that India, despite over seven decades of independence, has not yet established a prominent presence in the realm of education.
In stark contrast, China has demonstrated a positive trajectory, with two of its universities poised to break into the top 10 in the latest Times Higher Education Rankings. Remarkably, China now boasts 13 universities within the top 200, a significant increase from the previous year’s count of seven. Additionally, it is noteworthy that Peking University has surpassed Princeton University in this year’s QS rankings.
The stagnation of Indian universities stands in sharp contrast to the consistent progress observed in China and South Korea. While universities in these countries have been steadily enhancing their rankings, Indian universities have failed to exhibit similar advancements. Despite examining some esteemed public universities, it is disheartening to observe that their rankings have remained stagnant and relatively low.
However, amidst these challenges, the Indian Institute of Science emerges as a beacon of hope. Conversely, the rankings of the highly acclaimed Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research paint a less optimistic picture. A primary contributing factor to the lower rankings appears to be the absence of significant innovative endeavors.
These institutions appear to be constrained by a lack of genuine initiatives to overcome the stagnation resulting from mediocrity and incompetence. The prevalent issue of inbreeding in faculty recruitment seems to impede their progress. In contrast to top-ranked universities that actively avoid inbreeding, Indian public universities often engage in this practice, detrimentally impacting the quality of their research outcomes.