As many as 35 programmes offered across 16 Indian higher education institutes, including seven Institutes of Eminence (IoEs), figured in the top 100 globally, according to QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022 released on Wednesday. Last year, 25 programmes offered by 12 Indian institutions made it to the top 100.
For the “subject ranking”, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranks institutions on the basis of the individual programmes and compares them to other programmes in the world. For the 12the edition of QS subject rankings, the universities were ranked in five broader areas – Engineering and Technology, Arts and Humanities, Life Sciences and Medicine, Natural Science and Social Sciences and Management.
Among the 16 institutions are five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), two Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi University (DU), Indian Institute of Science, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Science, Indian School of Mines University, OP Jindal University, National Institute of Design, National Institution of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), and Anna University.
Union minister of education Dharmendra Pradhan said: “Happy to read that 35 Indian programmes across universities have achieved top 100 positions in the latest QS World University Rankings. Four Institutes of Eminence have also found a place in the global top 50. It is also satisfying to learn that India remains at the forefront of global environmental science research with 8 universities featuring in the QS Environmental Sciences Ranking 2022.”
Seven out of 11 institutes that were declared as IoEs by the government in 2018 for upgrade to world-class status also offer some of the programmes that are ranked in the top 100 by QS. They included IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, DU, Indian Institute of Science, and OP Jindal University. QS said the IoEs have managed to gain “moderate ground” on the global stage in these four and a half years.
Among the four IoEs in the top 50, IIT Madras (30th for petroleum engineering), is India’s highest-ranking public IoE.
In subject-wise analysis of the programmes, 19 engineering courses from Indian institutes made it to the top 100. Of these, most were offered by IIT-Bombay, including mineral and mining (39); electronics (56); mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing (57); computer science and information (67); chemical (67); material science (99); art and design (51-100); and civil and structural (51-100).
It was followed by IIT-Delhi, whose five programmes made it to the top 100. They included electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, chemical and civil engineering.
Two IIMs, IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Bengaluru, were in the top 100 in business and management. While the ranking of IIM-Bangalore improved to 76 from 63, IIM-Ahmedabad jumped to 65 from 80.
“Regionally, India is the fourth-best represented higher education system for number of entries, and it is joint-fifth for number of top 200 entries,” the statement released by QS stated.
QS research director Ben Sowter said that of the biggest challenges faced by India is education – providing high-quality tertiary education in the face of exploding demand. “This much was recognised by 2020’s NEP, which set the ambitious target of a 50% gross enrolment ratio by 2035. It should therefore provide some reassurance that the number of Indian programmes featuring across our 51 subject rankings has increased this year – from 233 to 274 – where it had been decreasing previously.”
“However, QS also notes that several programs at India’s privately run IoEs have made progress this year, demonstrating the positive role that well-regulated private provision can have in enhancing India’s higher education sector,” he said.
PV Rao, head, ranking cell at IIT-Delhi, said: “IIT-Delhi has been consistently performing very well in core Engineering Specialisations securing top 100 ranks globally. This year, we have witnessed a substantial improvement in most of the specialisations like mechanical engineering, computer science, chemical engineering, etc. IIT-Delhi has also improved globally in other specialisations such as mathematics, social sciences and management, etc.”
Courtesy : Hindustan Times