Performance of Indian universities as reported in the QS World University Rankings

Performance of Indian universities as reported in the QS World University Rankings

66 Dr. Amee Yajnik:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:

(a) the reasons for steady decline in the performance of Indian universities as reported in the QS World University Rankings;

(b) whether  any  long-term  plan  or  strategy  has  been  formulated  to  enhance  India’s representation and competitiveness in global university rankings;

(c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(d) whether Government has undertaken any comprehensive assessment to identify the major challenges faced by Indian universities in terms of research output, faculty quality, infrastructure and funding, if so, the details thereof and how Government plan to address these issues?

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

 

STATEMENT AS REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (d) OF THE RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 66 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.07.2023 ASKED BY DR. AMEE YAJNIK  HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING PERFORMANCE OF INDIAN UNIVERSITIES

(a): QS has recently released World University Rankings (WUR) 2024 in which 45 institutions have appeared in rank list. The number of universities has increased from 9 in WUR 2014 to 41 in WUR 2023 TO 45 in WUR 2024.

(b) & (c): Ministry of Education (MoE) has launched National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in September 2015 to galvanize Indian institutions towards a competitive environment that exists in the today’s world. It has been observed that number of institutions appearing in International Rankings has increased over a passage of time from 9 in WUR 2014 to 45 in WUR 2024 since the launch of NIRF.

In addition, MoE has conducted a series of workshop for prospective institutions to participate in international rankings. MoE has also conducted workshop with Industries such as Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) , Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI ) and industry professionals to encourage them to participate in Employer Reputation Survey which has a weightage of 15 percent. Further, capacity building sessions were also conducted with the ranking organization itself to align the Indian Higher Education Institutions with their parameters.

Universities Grant Commission (UGC) notified UGC(Declaration of  Government Educational institutions as Institutions of Eminence) the guidelines. Under Para 4.1 & 4.2 of the guidelines, Institution should come in top five hundred of any of the world renowned ranking frameworks in the first ten years of setting up on being declared as Institution of Eminence (IoE), and having achieved top five hundred rank, should consistently improve its ranking to come in the top one hundred eventually over time mentioning milestones to be achieved in first five years and over 15 years and each public IoE notified is given a grant of Rs. 1000 crore and private IoE notified is given a great deal of autonomy in academic, administrative and financial matters.

(d)The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has laid great emphasis on revamping curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and student support for enhanced student experiences and establishment of a National Research Foundation to fund outstanding peer-reviewed research and to actively seed research in universities and colleges and globalization of education standards among other policy initiatives.

In line with this, the government recently approved the National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill 2023 that proposes to pave the way to establish NRF which will seed, grow and promote Research and Development (R&D) and foster a culture of research and innovation throughout India’s universities, colleges, research institutions, and R&D laboratories at a total estimated cost of Rs. 50,000 crore during five years (2023-28).

 

To step up investments in research and related infrastructure in premier educational institutions, including health institutions, Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) has been established to provide term loans to HEIs for improvement of infrastructure  and research facilities including well equipped laboratories.

To promote the quality of higher education the University grants Commission (UGC) has come out with a Quality Mandate. The UGC has drafted institutional Development Plan (IDP) towards an integrated approach to nurture and strengthen the global reputation of institutions. Further, UGC has brought out Guidelines for the establishment of Research and Development Cell (RDC) in universities and colleges. RDC will create a conducive environment for enhanced research productivity, encourage collaboration across industry, government, community-based organisations, and agencies at the local, national, and international levels  and facilitate greater access to  research through the mobilisation of resources and funding.

Further, UGC has issued UGC (minimum qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and other measures for the maintenance of standards in higher education) Regulations, 2018 notified in the Gazette on 18th July, 2018 for minimum qualifications for appointment and other service conditions of University and College teachers and cadres of Librarians, Directors of Physical Education and Sports for maintenance of standards in higher education.

National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has also been set up to assess and accredit HEIs. NAAC has identified a set of seven criteria to serve as the basis of its assessment procedures including research, innovation & extension; infrastructure & learning resources; teaching-learning & evaluation. Similarly, National Board of Accreditation (NBA) undertakes accreditation  of  programs in technical disciplines i.e., Engineering and Technology, Management, Architecture, Pharmacy and Hospitality, etc.

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