Why IITs are not qualified in list of Top 200 World University Ranking

Around 16 IITs are working in India in imparting Engineering education.

Recently, the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World Universities Ranking 2013 has released, in that none of IITs could qualify in top 200 list.

In the top 200 list, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, comes in 222 position, dropping from 212 in 2012. IIT Bombay at 233, IIT Kanpur at 295, IIT Madras at 313, and IIT Kharagpur at 346th position.

Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam University ranks at 119 and the National University of Sciences and Technology in Islamabad is at 120 -- both ahead of the University of Mumbai which is at 140.

IIT officials have admitted that it was their indifference to the ranking process and not an intrinsic lack of educational quality that cost them dearly.

The fundamental problem of our education system is one of the most flawed systems in the country.

The QS World University Rankings combines data on research citations with the opinions of academics and employers worldwide, to provide insights into the highest performing engineering and technology universities offered by 3,000 institutions across the world.

When ranking process was underway, IITs sent only the name of the full-time faculty members who are on their rolls.

All IITs are at a disadvantage on the international faculty and students issues. They are not allowed to take international students at the B.Tech level (other than through JEE). With so much demand within the country, there is pressure not to have too many foreign students.

IITs have not done well in the faculty to student ratio, and it is well known that there are many vacant faculty positions. But even here, the methodology is not clear.

Director, IIT Kanpur, Indranil Manna said "We have been complacent. We never really took rankings seriously."

"The rankings are based on two factors: Surveys and Data," said Devang Khakhar, director, IIT Bombay.

"The stable performance of Indian institutions is a reflection on the country's efforts to internationalise its higher education system. However, it's clear that more efforts are needed in the area if the country's institutions wish to feature more prominently at the top of global rankings," said Ben Sowter, head of research at QS, a British firm specialising in education and study abroad.

This year, 62,094 academic and 27,957 employer responses contributed towards the results, making the survey one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Indian Institutions must do the following things to get higher QS rankings:
a) Aggressively market the Institute among academia and Corporations in the US and Europe.
b) Substantially increase the number of foreign students.
c) Hire a large number of temporary "teachers" to boost the FS number.
d) Create a network among Indian Institutions to encourage citations of papers of other Indian Institutions.
e) Improve the quality of research, teaching, education, etc.! [SIC]