The meeting is crucial as it comes against the backdrop of two IITs expressing concerns over their ranking in the latest edition of World University Rankings released last week. The meeting is crucial as it comes against the backdrop of two IITs expressing concerns over their ranking in the latest edition of World University Rankings released last week.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will meet representatives of the London-based Times Higher Education early next year to flag issues of “transparency” with the World University Rankings.

IIT-Delhi is in touch with Phil Baty, Times Higher Education’s editorial director of global rankings, on behalf of all 23 IITs. Baty, sources said, has agreed to a meeting in January next year.

Read | Did not submit data to Times Higher Education for world university rankings 2020: IIT Bombay

The meeting is crucial as it comes against the backdrop of two IITs expressing concerns over their ranking in the latest edition of World University Rankings released last week. As first reported by The Indian Express on September 25, IIT-Bombay said that Times Higher Education had ranked the institute even though it chose not to participate this year. IIT-Delhi director V Ramgopal Rao, on the other hand, took to social media to say that World University Rankings does not reflect the actual performance of Indian educational institutions.

This year, not a single Indian institution featured in the top 300 of World University Rankings. A total of 14 IITs found a place in the rankings this year. Of these, IIT-Roorkee and IIT-Kanpur registered a drop in performance; five improved and the remaining maintained their position from last year.

Disappointed over their performance, some of the premier engineering institutes had flagged their concerns to the HRD Ministry last week. The ministry then stepped in to put the IITs directly in touch with the London-based ranking agency. IIT-Delhi is now coordinating the meeting with Times Higher Education on behalf of all IITs.

“There are issues of transparency. We want to know how the Times Higher Education sources data and how it uses this data. These questions are important, especially against the backdrop of what IIT-Bombay has revealed recently,” said an IIT official. Asked if the IITs will also rope in IISc-Bangalore for the meeting, the above official answered in the affirmative.

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