President concerned over quality of education in Indian varsities

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed concern over the quality of education in institutes of higher learning even as he expressed happiness over better global rankings achieved by few such Indian institutions.

The president made these comments while receiving the 2018 edition of the QS World University Rankings compiled by the Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI), at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Mukherjee said he was happy to find that three Indian institutions - IIT Delhi and IISc Bangalore, which were already in the top 200, and the latest entrant IIT Bombay securing ranks in the coveted top 200 and IISc Bangalore being now ranked 6th globally for citations per faculty.

While in terms of infrastructure there has been considerable expansion in the higher education sector, the president said, quality of education in many institutes remains a matter of concern.

"In ancient times, we had renowned seats of higher learning - Nalanda, Takshashila, Vikramashila, Valabhi, Somapura and Odantapuri that dominated the world higher education system for eighteen hundred years beginning sixth century BC.

"Scholars from round the globe flocked to these centres of learning in search of knowledge. A reverse scenario exists today. Many meritorious Indian students pursue their higher studies from foreign universities.

"Our higher learning institutions are capable of producing world-class scholars but lose them to foreign universities," he said expressing concern at the trend.

"During my visits to the universities, I have been sharing my concerns about the performance of Indian institutions in world university rankings," he said.

The president said he always believed that the standards of Indian universities was higher than what these rankings suggested.

"Perhaps, it was the lack of importance given to the rankings process that stood in the way of our institutions being projected the way they should be.

"A high rank can boost the morale of the academic and student communities, open greater avenues of growth and placement for students, help attract the best faculty from across the world and provide a benchmark for continuous quality enhancement," Mukherjee said.