THE Rankings: No Indian Institute Figures In Top 300; 7 IITs Continue Boycott

New Delhi: The latest edition of the global league table of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings has no Indian institutions in the top 300.

With seven IITs boycotting the rankings, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) emerged the country’s top-performing institute, but it’s ranked in the 301-350 bracket. IIT Ropar and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research are in the 351-400 bracket.

However, this is the second successive year that the IITs in Bombay, Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Guwahati, Madras and Roorkee did not take part in the THE global rankings. These institutes announced their boycott in April 2020, citing transparency concerns after none of them figured among the world’s best 300 universities.

Before boycotting the rankings, the IITs held a couple of meetings with THE officials to flag concerns of “transparency” in the ranking parameters, especially the citation metric.

“We were hoping they will tweak their criteria a bit. After those meetings, no one really got back to us. So our boycott continues,” an IIT director was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

“We are very much part of the QS Rankings which is also a reputed ranking table. We have found them to be more transparent when it comes to their ranking parameters,” he added.

However, THE’s editorial director, Phil Baty said the ranking methodology is transparent and trusted globally. “Our ranking system is based entirely on a relationship of trust and transparency with the universities that take part, and inclusion. We are trusted all over the world. We firmly believe that the decision not to participate in these globally recognised and trusted rankings disadvantages the IITs. We are proud of our transparent methodology. We are ready and available at any time to continue discussions with the IITs. We would welcome their participation,” Baty told the daily.

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