The QS World University Ranking 2021 is out. Even though Indian universities scored well when it comes to the ranking by specific subjects, their overall ranks have come down by quite a few points as compared to 2020. Almost all the IITs have dropped between 1 and 20 ranks this year, as compared to last year's rankings.
Programmes offered in 12 Indian institutions like IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IISc Bengaluru, IIT Guwahati, IIM Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Anna University, University of Delhi, and O P Jindal University featured in the top 100 of the ranking list. But there's more to it. This year, 25 programmes, mostly engineering courses, have secured a place in the top 100, but last year there were 26 courses on the list, indicating a minor drop.
But the number of universities has jumped from eight last year to 12 in the top 100 subject rankings. IIM-Calcutta saw its worst ranking ever this year — as it may be recalled that the institute has been dealing with a turf war between the Director and the Board. While the other IIMs mostly maintained their rank, IIM-C slipped from the 101-150 band last year to 451-500 band this time.
In the overall rankings which were declared a few months earlier, almost all top Indian institutes lost a few ranking points — IIT Bombay (from 152 to 172), IISc Bengaluru (184-185), IIT Delhi (182-193), IIT Madras (271-275), IIT KGP (281-314), IIT Kanpur (291-350), University of Delhi (from 474 to the 501-510 block).
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Thursday said the reforms made by the government in higher education has improved representation of Indian institutions in globally acclaimed rankings but this year's overall ranking has not been so good. "Over the last few years, the government's continuous focus on improvement and reform in Indian higher education has resulted in significant improvement in the representation of Indian institutions in globally acclaimed and reputed rankings like QS," the Union Education Minister said at the unveiling of the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2021). "India's higher education system plays a vital role in driving the nation's competitiveness. Today, India is a leading nation with the highest number of higher education institutions across the globe with significant progress in the last few years in terms of enrolment in higher education which now stands at 37.4 million," Pokhriyal said.
The minister had also said that other countries were impressed by India's National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) and are considering implementing similar reforms in their countries as well, "Cambridge, the UAE, Australia, Mauritius, Indonesia and many others have said India's NEP is the world's biggest reform and that they want to implement in their countries as well. It is both national and international, supports 'vocal for local' and also local for global. This will bring a new set of opportunities for students."
