In an unprecedented poor performance, Panjab University (PU) Chandigarh, has been placed in the lowest bracket (1,201-1,400) in the QS World University Rankings, 2023, released Wednesday.
The low rank indicates that it is among the worst-performing universities out of a total of 1,400 higher education institutes which were assessed worldwide for this year’s rankings, based on parameters such as academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, international research network, employment outcomes.
From India, 41 educational institutes featured in the list and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, topped the country with a global ranking of 155. PU Chandigarh is one of the four institutes from the country that figured in the lowest bracket (1,201-1,400). The other three are: Jamia Hamdard University, Delhi; Osmania University, Hyderabad and SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu.
PU Chandigarh, a state university under the Punjab government, has even performed the worst in the region (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union territory Chandigarh) and four private universities have ranked higher than it. The universities which ranked higher than PU in the region are: OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana (651-700), Chandigarh University, Mohali (801-1,000); Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Solan, Himachal Pradesh (801-1,000); and Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala (1,000-2,000).
Meanwhile, OP Jindal Global University improved its ranking, moving from the 701-750 bracket last year to 651-700 this year. Thapar University Patiala maintained its rank at 1,000-2,000 like last year. Shoolini University and Chandigarh University are the new entrants to the list, with the latter being among the youngest of the new entries, having been established less than ten years ago.
PU’s unprecedented downfall in the QS World Rankings can be gauged from the fact that the downslide started in 2017 and each year it just got worse. It ranked 701+ in 2016 and 2017, then 801-1000 in 2018, then 1001+ in 2021 and it slipped to 1001-1200 in 2022. The varsity, however, has managed to maintain its Asia rank at 301-350, the same as last year but that too has gradually declined from 171-180 in 2014, 291-300 in 2020 to 301-350 now, indicating that PU is not among the top 300 higher educational institutes in Asia, as per the rankings.
Mritunjay Kumar, president, PU Teachers Association (PUTA), said that he was yet to check the detailed report but said the university administration should look into it and introspect. “We are not inferior to any private university in the region so the administration needs to introspect that where the things went wrong in these rankings. We should aim to improve and achieve the ranking which justifies the reputation that PU has,” he said.
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