EDUCATION

INDIA'S UNIVERSITIES

•
la
The first INDIA TODAY-Nielsen Survey on the country's leading higher educational
institutions identifies centres of excellence at a time when university education
is at the centre of national controversy and in need of radical legislative reforms

.
I By Sharda Ugra I
hree years ago in June 2007, at a function to

T
mark 150 years of the University of Mumbai, .
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked about
the dream Indian universities. "These universities
. should he rated among the top institutions in the
world ... they must become the launchpad for entry int0
the knowledge economy."
Just as it has done in the last decade, it is this 'knowle-
dge economy' which is expected to be the engine to further
drive India's growth ahead at greater speed. The country
put itself at the centre of the world's attention because of
its qualified, English-speaking graduates, products of a
rigorous, demanding and competitive university system.
Once more, it is India's universities which will have to
 HE BEST 10
NAME RANKING

BAN'ARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY 1

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
UNIVERSITY 2
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI 3
UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA 4
UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS 5
I UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI 6
UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD 7
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE 8
JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY 9
OSMANIA UNIVERSITY 10
,--- Edu cation INDIA'S BEST UNIVERSITIES

allowed to rate their own university.

They were then asked to distribute
100 points across six vital parame-

How the Ranking ters. Each parameter was assigned

a weightage based on the average
importance given by the experts.

IS DONE
The INDIA TODAy-Nielsen first-ever survey to rank 50 universities is
Hence the most important parame-
ter got the maximum weightage
and the least, the minimum. Each
expert was asked to rate universi-
thoroughly researched and based on the perceptual and factual scores ties on the above key parameters
for hislher field only, except his
team of The Nielsen Company A comprehensive list of more than own university.

A partnered with INDIA TODAY 140 universities was then drawn up

conducted the first-ever survey using this research.
to deter)lline the top universities in Step 3: After the initial research,
The overall perceptual score of
a university was calculated on the
basis of the ratings given by the
India in humanities, science and 342 experts-deans. registrars, experts on the six key parameters,
commerce streams. readers and professors-from differ- based on their importance. The
Only those universities which ent streams across the country were universities were then ranked on
offer post-graduate courses in shown the list of 140 universities. the basis of their overall perceptual
humanities. science (only pure sci- They were then asked to rate the scores. Thus at the end of this
ence) and commerce were included universities on identified attributes exercise, a list of top 50 ulliversities
in this survey. Institutions of national on the basis of their perceptions. was generated.
importance which specialise only These experts, however, were not Step 4: Factual information from
in one area were excluded. To
determine the ranks. a formula
based on perceptual scores (from
an in-depth interview conducted
among academic experts) and
objective scores (factual data
furnished by the universities)
was evolved. It was a multi-stage
process as detailed below.
Step 1: In-depth interviews were
conducted with a few experts across
humanities. commerce and science
streams to ratify the attributes on
which the universities were to be
judged in the later stages of the
study. The parameters on which the
universities were evaluated are
reputation of the university. quality
of academic input. quality of
faculty. research publications!
reports/projects. infrastructure.
placement opportunities and
enrolment for higher education.
Step 2: Desk research was
conducted to generate the list of
universities for the survey and 342 EXPERTS
secondary data sources such as the ACROSS THE
published reports. the Association COUNTRY
RANKED SO
for India Universities Handbook and UNIVERSITIES
the Internet were used. Suggestions ON SIX
from experts were also included. PARAMETERS

56 INDIA TODAY' MAY 31. 2010


these universities was collected
on the six parameters. The
universities that did not provide
th factual data were not consid-
ered in the final ranking process.
AU factual information was
rescaled and then aggregated to
get an overall factual score.
Step 5: The weightage of
perceptual and factual informa-
tion based on the opinions of the
experts after Step 3 was then cal-
culated. To get the ovm'all score
for the universities, a weightage
of 40 per cent was applied to the
overall perceptual score and 60
per cent to overall factual scores.
After assigning this weigh-
tage, the overall score was
indexed to 100. Thus the metho-
dology of ranking, based on both
perceptual and factual data,
provides a comprehensive
picture of each urn ersity rated.
supply the manpower needed to make
the country's contributions to the
knowledge economy sought-after,
meaningful and profitable.
For this to happen, though the
504
universities and 25,951
Government states that India's gross
enrolment ratio in higher education will
have to rise from 12.4 per cent (12.4 stu-
colleges, including 2,565
dents from every 100 pursuing higher women colleges, in India.
education) to 30 per cent. The Union
136.42
Human Resource Development (HIm)
l\1inister, Kapil Sibal, was quoted as
saying, "An additional 600 universities
and 35,000 colleges will be required
over the coming 12 years." These are
staggering, daunting numbers, but for
India to stay competitive, this is the pace
at which it must operate. Higher educa-
tion is a key focus area and over the
next year, the subject will be pushed
forward by the HRD Ministry, causing
controversy and stirring debate.
India's university education is meant
to give our soft-power economy even
more of a cutting-edge over the next
decade. This is why INDIA TODAY decided
to find out where our leading higher
education institutions stand today. To
identify India's top 50 universities, its
centres of excellence in the knowledge
business, we worked towards introduc-
ing INDIA TODAY'S Top University rank-
ings, in partnership with The Nielsen
Company. Just like our India's Best
Colleges Survey has become widely
accepted as the country's most compre-
hensive database of under-graduate
studies, the University rankings intend
to become the benchmark for our
post-graduate education.
The idea was to identify institutions
which broad-base post-graduate stud-
ies through a multi-stream approach, Source: Ministry ojHumon Resource
Development Report, 2009-I 0
in arts, science and commerce.
Institutions which offer courses in a ings of India's top 50 universities. The
range of streams, not merely one difference between BHU and the other
branch of knowledge, were part of the leading post-graduate institutions is
survey. The methodology explains reflected in the difference in their rank-
how in all 140 universities, a mix of ings, both perceptual and factual,
Central, state and a few deemed univer- against the rest. This indicates both
sities were included. BHU'Sstatus amongst academicians and
Rankings, it is known, please only educationists as well facilities available
very few, except those that find their for the students. For example, the BHU
way at the top. Or in this case, at the offers 1,703 post-graduate courses, as
very top. like the Banaras Hindu opposed to 987 in the lawaharlal
University (BHU), which has emerged at Nehru University (JNu), which does not
the top of the Jl\'DIA TODAy-Nielsen rank- offer post-graduate commerce courses,
--------
MAY 31 . 2010 • INDIA TODAY 57
and the University of Delhi (DU) offers 1,462
while the University of Calcutta, also in the
top five, has 1,996 post-graduate courses.
What is reassuring is that the leading
universities are adapting to a constantly
changing India and a newer generation en-
tering its classrooms. JNU is about to open a
media research centre and offer post-gradu-
ate programmes in North-east studies; BHU is
developing a 'South Campus' 80 kIn from
Varanasi; the DU has created a placement cell
for interaction of students and industry; the
University of Calcutta has opened two new
research centres in the last two years; the
University of Madras is in active research
partnerships with foreign universities and in-
dustry organisations.
These are impressive achievements but as
the demands of the knowledge economy
grow, so will the challenges in India's higher
education system. These require attention,
both to scale as well as detail. Detail means
updating syllabi and introducing courses that
make the universities contemporary training
grounds for the next generation of scholar
and scientist alike. Scale involves in dealing
with the demands being made on quality
educations. India's universities can often be
far too sprawling, making it difficult to
administer. There is a dispute within the
DU, for instance, over introducing a semester
system of several examinations in a single
year. The DU has 79 colleges, Pune University
269 affiliated colleges and 129 recognised
research institutions and the University
of Madras has 72 departments of post-grad-
uate learning and 152 affiliated colleges.
What certainly needs to be evaluated are
these numbers in relation to the structure
that makes up a single, efficient, prosperous
university.
India's university education is on a razor's
edge. Educational reforms need to be pushed
through Parliament with not only speed but
also clarity and foresight.
As Deepak Pental, vice-chancellor of DU,
says, "The need is to bring in more compre-
hensive lU1iversities and not to set up differ-
ent universities for different educational
needs ... We need to function the way the rest
of the world is operating; otherwise the edu-
cation system will suffer impediments."
India's knowledge economy can produce the
best; naturally, it demands the same. •

MAY 31 . 2010 • INDIA TODAY 59


A Chunk of Change
Reforms might be the need of the hour, but it is the culture
within Indian higher education that needs a major overhaul
apil Sibal is clearly a man on
K a mission. He aims to rid Ind-
ian higher education ofits ills,
while drawing more students
into its net. He has unleashed a quar-
tet of education reform bills in Par-
liament, with one more in the works.
Clearly, having a sharp Supreme
Court lawyer as human resource
development minister has some
advantages. Sibal knows how to
design laws to close loopholes and to
counter education racketeers. He
knows how to craft alternative insti-
tutional structures to ensure that his
reforms accomplish their goals.
A key strength of the education
bills is their crackdown on rapacious
private managements. Sibal has
ushered in transparency in their
functioning and made extracting of
capitation fees and exploitation of
students punishable as crimes. He has
eliminated corruptible regulatory
institutions and established
accreditation systems in their place.
He has put in place tribunals to resolve
disputes that affect higher education.
These are good starts to attack the
rollhal aITecls higher education. Bul
other covert ills, like rigging of
exams, cash donations, and caste
politics, continue to degrade our
campuses. How does one tackle
them? There are concerns about
whether the new controls will stifle
the innovations needed in higher ed-
ucation. Is it right to assume that
everyone is out to beat the system?
Understandably, states are con-
cerned about whether the Centre is
encroaching on their turf.
Sibal's reforms are also aimed at
making education an enterprise to
enable a quantum increase in the
62 INDIA TODAY. MAY 31. 2010
Gowda is professor and chairperson, Centre for Public
Policy, Indian Institute ofManagement, l1angalore
number of colleges and universities.
But quantity is just one issue. It's
what happens in our universities, be-
tween them and beyond them that
makes all the difference.
Our students focus on earning
degrees and cracking exams, and
view education merely as a box to
tick off to qualify for a job. The
concepts of mastering knowledge,
engaging with ideas, thinking criti-
caUy, testing learning in practice and
reflecting on relevance just do not
resonate. For Indian education to be
Without better salaries
and academic freedom,
we can hardly expect
to create the large
numbers of high quality
academics that we need
to transform Indian
higher education.
meaningful and worthwhile, this
culture has to change.
Our leachers are assaulted by fi-
nancial pressures and asphyxiating
administrations. Overloaded with
teaching, they rarely get the chance
to pursue research or upgrade their
skills. Our educational ecosystem
does not have enough high-quality
conferences, journals, associations
and funding agencies to enable schol-
ars to flower intellectually. Without
better salaries and academic free-
dom, we can hardly expect to create
the large numbers of high quality
academics that we need to transform
Indian higher education.
Sibal figures that one way to rev-
olutionise India's education ecosys-
tem is to open the door to reputed
foreign universities. By promoting
competition, bringing in best
practices and stemming the outflow
of Indian students and their
education expenditures. he hopes to
make India a Vishwa Vidyalaya, a
global education hub.
Sibal argues that he is ushering in
the equivalent of economic liberalisa-
tion in the education sector. But the
Foreign Universities Bill, in its cur-
rent form, has a very licence-permit
Raj flavour. Provisions like stringent
capital requirements, non,repatri-
ability of "profits" and a prohibition
on appointing their own vice-chan-
cellors are likely to keep Foreign uni-
versities fIrmly on foreign shores. But
the value of this bill is that it theoret-
ically opens the door to foreign com-
petition. The bill's provisions will
surely be amended after seeing how
it actually performs.
Another criticism of the Foreign
Universities Bill is that it creates an
un-level playing field. Domestic
centres of excellence. such as the var-
ious Indian institutes, will remain
subject to a variety of restrictions and
will have to compete with foreign in-
stitutions with their hands tied tight.
If there is a flight of faculty to "for-
eign-local" campuses, our premier
institutions will be crippled.
But Sibal also has a National
Commission for Higher Education
and Research up his sleeve. Hope-
fully, that institution will address our
concerns and build a formidable
Indian higher education sector. For
the sake of half-a-billion youth and
the demographic dividend we dream
of. these reforms must succeed. •
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 Edu cation
___-=::...=.0 TOP FIVE UNIVERSITIES

Hubs of EXCELLE CE
Breaking new grounds in research and revamping infrastructure, Indian
universities have finally corne of age. An INDIA TODAy-Nielsen survey reveals .
.'AANEESH AGNIHOTRl/www.indiatodayrnages.com

A RANGE OF OFFBEAT
BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY COURSES ATTRACTS

1 The Halls of Ivy STUDENTS TO BHU

Chanting expansion mantra has catapulted the university to new heights

here are very few universities in dom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya around 1962, as many as 137 MPs were

T the country that can boast ofhav-

ing a deep-rooted connect with
the country's history, besides being a
centre for excellence in academics and
extra-curricular activities. The Bana-
ras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi
belongs precisely to this league.
Established in 1916, BHU was
founded by social reformer and free-
who travelled extensively across the
country to gather funds and donations
to set up the university. In his endeav-
ours, he was supported by social ac-
tivist Annie Besant. Once the
foundation of the university was laid,
studying in BHU became a rage among
the students. Such was the euphoria
that at the time of third Parliament
BHU alumni. Mahatma Gandhi himself
visited the university about 13 times
and lived with the students and teach-
ers to guide them on matters related to
the freedom struggle and to emphasise
on the importance of education. It is no
surprise then that the university has
produced a number of errtinent politi-
cians, scientists, bureaucrats and has

- - - - - -.- - - - ._-_. - - -.- - --- - - -.- . - .- - . - .

64 INDIA TODAY • MAY 31. 2010
 Edu cation
- - -....;;;;===
TOP FIVE UNIVERSITIES

churned out numerous success stories. Rs 50 per hour for work-

In fact, BHU'S role in setting up the ing in important areas of
higher education network is often for- social work that include
gotten. BHU played an integral part in working in hospitals. "A
setting up the now internationally number of students who
recognised Indian Institute of come from the economi-
Technology. "We had already set up the cally poor background
technology and engineering institutes get substantial support,
at a time when there were no such in- thanks to the scheme,"
stitutes in the country," says Professor says Dr Ashutosh Shukla
B.N. Pandey, head of the media and of the BHU Medical
public relations cell. In 1918, BHUhad its College and Hospital.
full-fledged engineering institute called The university was
the Institute of Technology (IT) with rated in the '/\ category
departments like glass technology, by the National
geophysics, and metallurgy. Many Assessment Accredit-
alumni of this college have been ation Council. Many ofits
responsible for setting up the modern ~ other departments too
fiTS. "You may highlight the IITS and t have received acclaim
other institutes, but the fact is that it .f for the quality of educa-
! tion. For instance, the
was BHU that played a pivotal role in the
creation of the today's IITS," says an IT
professor, adding that almost all
I immunology and biolog-
r!~~fiil~ ~ ical sciences department
BHU students in IT get placed every year ~ was ranked third, agri-
while the students of the medical, ~ cultural and biological
agriculture and science departments :! sciences was ranked
also get lucrative offers. Pandey says MANY DEPARTMENTS HAVEWON ACCLAIM seventh, biochemistry, genetics and
that at present BHU registers highest FOR PATHBREAKING RESEARCH molecular biology was ranked eighth. A
number of research papers and nrnnber of foreign students also seek
thesises in the country. acres of sprawling land, the BHU cam- admission in this prestigious university.
Science may seem like I3HU'S core pus has more than 30,000 students and Its past achievements may be intim-
strength but the humanities form an more than 2,000 faculty members. idating but expansion and innovation
essential asset to the university. The "What attracts the students from India into the future has kept BHU on its feet.
frontrunner here is the Department and abroad is the variety of courses. I The Rajiv Gandhi South Campus of the
of Musicology that has played a do not think there would be any other BHU in Mirzapur, 80 km from Varanasi.
pioneering role in developing the university in the country that offers 140 offers 45 courses that aim at rural em-
theoretical aspect of the discipline. It courses under one umbrella," says powennent, and there are plans to ex-
has also given a number of musicians Vmod Singh. a BHU alumnus working pand it further. "We are planning to
and instrumentalists to the country like with the Alllndia Radio. develop the second campus as a place
eminent violinist N. Rajan. BHU has also come up with innova- where students can be guided and work
Over the years, I3HU has included a tive ideas such as 'Earn While You towards rural development," says
number of courses in its syllabi, from Learn', a scheme that has become im- Pandey. The University Grants
astrology and metallurgy to visual and mensely popular among young people Commission (uGC) has allocated Rs 27
performing arts. Spread across 3,000 in the campus. The students are given crore as grant for the Rajiv Gandhi
South Campus. Vice-Chancellor D.P.
Singh has already raised the issue of
"The fact that SHU offers several expansion in front of the Ministry of
Human Resource Development. Next in
courses has turned out to be its line is the plan to set up Institute of
uSP. What has also worked in our Environment and Sustainable
Development with funding from the UGC
favour is the fact that the mp at the South Campus. "The Prime
still maintains the socio7Cultu I Minister's Office has itself declared this
university best in the top three," says
ethos of India. " Pandey. With such elaborate plans, the
D.P. SINGH. l1ke-t:fumce/Jor; BanaraJI HIndu Unll!ersitlJ j university is on its way to achieve new
.. milestones. by Subhash Mishra

66 INDIA TODAY. MAY 31. 2010