Just this week, Times Higher Education (THE) released its 2020 World University Ranking, and India has dropped in position in the overall ranking, compared to its results from last year.
The THE University Ranking is one of the most well-established rankings systems, as it provides in-depth analysis and detailed information about all universities included. Unfortunately, this year, only five (5) higher education institutions from India managed to enter the top five hundred (500).
What is even more worrying is that all of these universities are very specialized in a given subject, predominantly information technologies (IT).
What is the importance of the THE University Ranking?
The annual THE University Ranking is one of the essential criteria for the success of any given higher education institution.
Often times, university and college counselors include a transcript of the ranking in their recommendations for students. Consequently, many students base the choice of their future educational institution based on its position in the THE University Ranking.
The fact that universities in India are rapidly losing positions is the visible symptom of a much more significant problem with the whole educational system in the country. Unfortunately, the drop in quality in universities was first preceded by a low quality of high school education.
In order to battle this alarming statistic, the Indian government is continuously looking into ways to improve the system. The latest improvement introduced by the government was a draft of a comprehensive new educational plan.
Titled the New Education Policy (NEP), this proposed bill aims to alleviate a great number of problems, outlined in recent reports.
Will India continue losing positions?
Currently, none of the higher education institutions in India managed to reach the top three hundred in the THE University Ranking.
This is very worrying, and hopefully, the government will introduce working reforms, which will prevent any further drops in position.
