Indian universities are slowly gaining name not just for their technical merits, but also for making certain cities student hubs. According to rankings compiled by global consultancy QS Quacquarelli Symonds, Bengaluru is the best city in India for students.
The 2019 global rankings of 120 best cities for students includes four Indian cities, with Bengaluru topping the list at the 81st rank. It is followed by Mumbai on the 85th, Delhi on the 113th and Chennai at the 115th rank.
According to Ben Stower, research director at QS, the rankings were compiled told HT,
“Our ranking looks at cities that are attractive to students and in particular, to the international ones. As India’s main priority is to meet its domestic, rapid growth access to higher education, some of our criteria penalize the Indian megalopolis featured.”
The list is dominated by European cities with London declared as the world’s best student city for the second consecutive year. Other European cities include Munich (4th), Berlin (5th), Paris (7th) and Zurich (8th). Both the US and the UK have 14 cities each on the list and Tokyo is declared Asia’s best student city at the 2nd rank.
Why Bengaluru tops in India
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru ranked second in the world in terms of being the best research institute. It also became the first Indian institution to get nearly 100,000 citations in research papers in a span of five years. The HRD Ministry’s National Institutional Ranking Framework adjudged IISc the best university based on teaching resources, graduation outcomes, perception as well as outreach and inclusivity.
Stower had earlier stated,
“The Indian Higher Education system is making progress in some key areas. The sector requires more substantial, sustained and strategic investments both in research and education.”
Why Indian universities rank poorly
According to the World University rankings compiled by QS last month, no Indian university was able to make it to the global list of top 100 universities with IIT Bombay placed at 152nd rank. While there had been a 1,455% increase in the number of private universities in India, the state and central universities only saw a growth of 72% and 20% respectively.
According to Dr MK Surappa, the former director at IIT Ropar, India doesn’t boast of ‘world-class universities’ because of lack of teaching faculty and poor academic environment. He told The Hindu,
“Shortage of full-time qualified faculty and highly visible inadequate and poor academic infrastructure were some of the factors bringing down the credibility of an institution or a university.”
