In a bid to get back on the top of the global best institutes of technology chart, a team of four IIT directors would hold talks with officials of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) and the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings here on Wednesday.
The team would meet Amita Sharma, who is Additional Secretary, (Technical Education and Technology Enabled Learning) MHRD, and a THE ambassador.
“Last year, at the 58th convocation of IIT-Kharagpur, President Pranab Mukherjee had referred to the dwindling global ranking of IITs. Given that the country’s premier institutes of technology were not even ranked in the top 200 in the past two years, this decision to engage in a dialogue was taken at the IIT Council’s meeting on July 24,” said an IIT-Kharagpur official.
Through the dialogue process, the IITs intend to provide the ranking organisations a better understanding of how Indian institutes function.
“The idea is to prepare a ranking parameter that judges India according to its funding and does not compare its institutes with those in the developed nations. When Oxford University’s vice-chancellor came to IIT-Kharagpur last year, he mentioned that a 600-year old university cannot be compared with a 60-year-old institute. Just as the ranking agencies have developed parameters for Latin American Nations, similar process should be undertaken for Indian institutes,” said an IIT Council official.
The IIT Council would explore ways to arrange a similar meeting with the QS World University Rankings.