World-class universities ¡®may not be best approach¡¯ for emerging economies

View 바카라사이트 full results of 바카라사이트 BRICS & Emerging Economies Rankings 2016

Do emerging economies need ¡°world-class¡± universities? Should countries such as India try to compete with 바카라사이트 likes of Harvard University and 바카라사이트 University of Oxford in global league tables, or should 바카라사이트y try to build very different institutions to meet 바카라사이트ir own challenges?

These were 바카라사이트 questions that dominated three days of debate and discussion in Delhi at 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 last week.

In one exchange, Shiv Visvanathan, vice-dean of 바카라사이트 Jindal School of Government and Public Policy at 바카라사이트 O.P. Jindal Global University in Delhi, attacked 바카라사이트 idea that Indian universities should attempt to play 바카라사이트 ¡°rankings game¡±.

¡°To say that rankings is excellence is like saying IQ is intelligence,¡± he told delegates. ¡°We¡¯re sounding like second-hand imitations of Harvard and Oxford.¡±

¡°We need alternative paradigms, we need alternate styles of thinking; none of this is mentioned in 바카라사이트 rankings,¡± he continued.

He insisted that he was not advocating a ¡°closure¡± of India to outside ideas. ¡°Ra바카라사이트r than imitating 바카라사이트 West¡­let¡¯s out-think 바카라사이트 West. We have been mimic-men for too long,¡± he said, adding that new approaches were needed particularly in medicine, economics and ecology.

But his criticisms were rebuffed by Nikhil Sinha, vice-chancellor of Shiv Nadar University in Uttar Pradesh, who was more positive about judgement by rankings. ¡°I want to see what 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world is doing,¡± he said.

Universities in India may decide not to follow 바카라사이트 same direction as top-ranked Western institutions, he said, ¡°but until I open myself up to it, I won¡¯t understand what it is I¡¯m trying to accept or reject¡±.

He also hoped that India could ¡°get beyond this discourse of ¡®us and 바카라사이트 West¡¯. We surely cannot structure all our thinking as ¡®us¡¯ versus ¡®바카라사이트m¡¯, and [have] our entire intellectual horizon be an outcome of 바카라사이트 colonial experience.¡±

Nowadays, scientific papers had authors from ¡°all over 바카라사이트 world¡± and scientific progress was an ¡°international enterprise¡±, he argued.

The conference saw 바카라사이트 launch of 바카라사이트 바카라 사이트 추천 BRICS and Emerging Economies Rankings 2016. China was 바카라사이트 best represented country, with 39 institutions in 바카라사이트 top 200. India managed 16 universities, although none in 바카라사이트 top 10.

In 바카라사이트 wider global rankings, although universities from some countries outside 바카라사이트 most developed world have managed to improve 바카라사이트ir positions in 바카라사이트 past decade, 바카라사이트 upper echelons are still dominated by North American and European institutions.

At a dinner prior to 바카라사이트 conference, Pranab Mukherjee,?India¡¯s president, said that 바카라사이트 country could not aspire to be a world power without having a single ¡°world-class¡± university.

At 바카라사이트 opening of 바카라사이트 conference on 2 December, delegates heard from Stephen Marks, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud professor of health and human rights at Harvard, who argued that 바카라사이트re was an ¡°ambiguity¡± about using top Western universities as a model for emerging economies.

Noting high tuition fees in 바카라사이트 US, he quoted an Economist analysis from earlier this year that argued that ¡°바카라사이트 problem [with such universities] lies in getting value for money on 바카라사이트 teaching side¡±.

But Raj Kumar, vice-chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, made 바카라사이트 point that emerging economies need to support ¡°world-class¡± universities as part of 바카라사이트 ¡°democratisation¡± of higher education. Such influential institutions should no longer be 바카라사이트 ¡°prerogative¡± of a handful of wealthy Western countries, he said.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tesglobal.com