Upbeat labels and ambitious programmes are politically attractive, but they have apparently failed to impress the Quacquarelli Symonds world university rankings system. Among the Indian educational institutions that have slipped from their earlier places in the QS rankings, quite a few boast Narendra Modi’s ‘institution of eminence’ label. While three institutes have remained within the first 200 ranks, they have all lost points — the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, has dropped from 152 to 172, although it remains the topmost among Indian institutions in the list. One criticism of the QS rankings system is that it gives 40 per cent weightage to ‘academic peer review’, which, many believe, may become subjective. What is most disconcerting about the QS rankings is the lumping together of specialist institutes and universities — the ideals and funding of the two sets of institutions have very little in common.

Source: The Telegraph June 11, 2020 19:41 UTC