After failing to secure any position in the “Asia University Rankings-2019,” published by the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine, Bangladesh luckily managed to escape similar debacle by entering a fresh global ranking.
THE World University Rankings-2020, which was published on Wednesday, says that only Dhaka University, often dubbed the Oxford of the East, made it to the list of 1,396 universities.
Shockingly, the university was not even among the best 1,000, among which are 36 Indian universities. Even Pakistan has seven universities among the best 1,000, while Sri Lankan has one.
In the Asia University Rankings, published in May, no Bangladeshi institution was named among more than 350 best colleges and universities.
Ranking methodology
The THE World University Rankings are the only global performance table that judge research-intensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. Thirteen carefully calibrated performance indicators are used for most comprehensive and balanced comparisons.
The performance indicators are grouped into five areas:
1. Teaching (Reputation survey, staff-to-student ratio, doctorate-to-bachelor’s ratio, doctorates-awarded-to-academic-staff ratio, institutional income)--30%
2. Research (reputation survey, research income, research productivity)--30%
3. Citations (research influence)--30%
4. International outlook (proportion of international students, and international staff, and international collaboration)--7.5%
5. Industry Income (knowledge transfer)--2.5%
The top ten
University of Oxford, UK
California Institute of Technology, USA
University of Cambridge, UK
Stanford University, USA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Princeton University, USA
Harvard University, USA
Yale University, USA
University of Chicago, USA
Imperial College London, UK
56 Indian universities are among all, where the tops stand in between 301 to 350. 14 Pakistani universities achieved positions among the 1,396, while the best stands in between 401 to 500. Two Sri Lankan universities got position among all, and the best of them stands 401-500.
Reactions
When contacted, DU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr M Akhtaruzzaman termed the feat a sign of improvement.
“Last year, we were not even considered for the ranking. But this year, the DU on the list, clearly meaning our improvement as a university,” he said.
He went on saying: “We are trying to address the loopholes in the academic system and other necessary components. By doing so, we need to expand the university’s budgetary allocation.”
Talking about the admission of foreign students, he said the DU authorities will start providing education to 10 foreigners from the 100th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to be observed next year.
Prof Abdul Mannan, former chairman of the University Grants Commission, said Dhaka University finding a place on the list is a good achievement since THE rankings are prestigious.
But he expressed his dissatisfaction over other older universities of the country as they failed to enter the ranking.
“It is not that the universities are less concentrated on research works or not working to upgrade academic actives. What is lacking is that the universities are not updating their research papers online on time,” he said.
Prof Mannan said all university authorities in Bangladesh will try their best to overcome the problems at their respective institutions, registering more international recognition.
