A Lesson to be Learnt from the Neighbour

Sarath Shyam
For many of us, the 'Made in China' tag is not an attractive proposition while purchasing a product. However, when it comes to the delivery of quality service in the realm of higher education, Chinese model has a different story to tell. According to China's Ministry of Education, the total share of international students seeking higher education degrees in China grew by 13 percent over the past decade, jumping from almost 55,000 students in 2006 to nearly 210,000 students in 2016.

Today, China hosts more international students than any other Asian power and ranks third globally, behind the United States and the United Kingdom. Two of its universities - Peking University and the Tsinghua University - are now among the top 30 in the world and seven institutions figure among the world's top 200 universities, while we have one IISc as the sole Indian presence in the top 100 universities across the world.

The rise of China as a global hub of higher education is not an accidental achievement. The accomplishment was driven by initiatives for establishing world-class universities, two of which are known as Project 985 and Project 211. These were key programs of the Chinese government to create high-level research universities and the timely implementation of the same helped the county to take a leading position in the global higher education landscape.

While, China has already started the process of developing some more world-class research-intensive universities and disciplines through its 'Double World-Class Project' targeting to make an international impact by 2050, India - although a little late - has also started an ambitious project to create 20 'world-class' universities and colleges through its 'Institutions of Eminence Project.' Looking at current state of our education system, which is notoriously bureaucratic and often politicised, we can confidently assume that we will take a bit more time than expected to become a leading hub of global education. Until then, the quality and reputation of Indian education remain in the hands of educators who have not yet considered teaching as a business.

In this issue, we celebrate the existence such extra-ordinary technical institutes and universities across the country through the fifth edition of our 'Top 100 Private Engineering Colleges Survey' and 'Top 25 Private/Deemed Universities in India.' On the cover, we feature, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, a Deemed to be University known for imparting quality education in the fields of engineering, aviation, applied sciences, and management.

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