Puducherry: Indian universities have got a long way to go before it could vie with globally reputed institutions where students yearn to study. Students and academics tout the QS World University Rankings as a reliable indicator of the standing of a higher-education institution. Commendably, Pondicherry University (PU) made it to "the 51- 55" slot among Indian Universities as per the 2020 rank list that was released late last month.
PU achieved the current position in just its second year of participation in the ranking process for the prestigious global list which was introduced in 2014. This is a significant achievement for PU as other leading universities from India was also in the fray.
The UK-based QS is the world’s largest, international higher education network linking students, business schools and universities.
In QS Rankings the overall performance of a University is tested on the basis of eight rigorous performance indicators -- academic reputation, faculty-student ratio, employer reputation, quality of teaching staff, papers per faculty, citations per paper, international faculty and international students ratio.
PU has been adjudged well for research impacts, productivity and teaching commitment.
“The quality of teachers is important in any educational institution as they impart knowledge. We have been publishing reasonably good research papers in comparison with other universities and thus making an impact in the field of research. Faculty recruitment will be on soon and with new appointments the student-faculty ratio will change for the better," revealed Dr. Maariyappan, the coordinator of QS Ranking at the PU, told Onmanorama. He is also a faculty attached to the Banking Technology Department of the University.
The University has been placed in the 18th position among Indian Universities with regard to staff with doctorate degree. The institution also scored high in terms of citation per paper, papers per faculty and publication of research papers.
The 51 PhD disciplines at the Pondicherry University is testimony to its academic excellence. Crucially, the diversity of students and faculty also contribute to placing it high in rankings.
“PU is voluntarily participating in all University rankings in order to find out where we stand at the global and national level in terms of education. Understanding ourselves is important. Through this we can sort out how much effort do we need to improve the parameters for the best quality education," Dr. Maariyappan added.
Pondicherry University, set up in 1985, today comprises 89 affiliated colleges located in Puducherry, Mahe, Yanam and Karaickal. Click here to view the details of QS ranking.