Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said here on Sunday that just because Indian higher education institutes do not figure in global rankings it does not mean that the country is lagging behind in higher education and quality research.
“A hue and cry is often raised about our higher education institutes not figuring in global rankings. The reason is not lack of high quality research work but the fact that in India a large section of research work is done in vernacular languages whereas global rankings only consider research in English,” Ms. Irani said.
The Minister was here to address the concluding session of a national seminar on the New Education Policy
The Minister admitted that the “lack of awareness” among Indian researchers regarding patents and getting their research works published in international journals was among the key reasons for the current situation.
“One of the criteria for featuring in global rankings is the number of foreign students in the related institutions,” Ms. Irani said.
She also said that on December 25 she would dedicate the digitised version of 29 under graduate (UG) books to the nation. She termed the initative as “E UG Shala.”