Scientific Approach
By Dr. Oishee Mukherjee
The findings of the QS World University Rankings released recently have shown that India experienced the highest growth in university representations among all G20 nations with a 318 per cent increase from 11 varsities in the 2015 edition of QS World University Rankings to 46 in the 2025 edition. Most Indian universities improved their rankings with 61 per cent rising, 24 per cent maintaining their position and only nine per cent dropping. It is indeed significant that 13 Indian universities featured among the top 200, including two in the top 15 – Anna University and Indian Institute of Science. Even the country scored 39 for International Research Network, which is the highest average score by indicator
But these do not reflect the real picture of the country’s higher education system, specially those that are spread in semi-urban and rural areas of the country. And these universities cater to the largest sections of the country’s population. Thus, there is need for not just the top tier of educational centres excelling but the entire higher education system improving standards.
It is also a fact that since the last decade or so there has been decline in academic freedom and public debate in the country. Many academics have in the recent past raised this issue and emphasized the need for more autonomy for our educational institutions. Recently, Yamin Aiyar, former president and chief executive of the well-known Centre for Policy Research (CPR), observed in the international science journal, Nature that “the drop in academic freedom is part of a broader decline in India’s vibrant culture of public debate”. This is all the more significant as this has come out amidst the elections.
Dr. Aiyar has pointed out the challenges faced by the universities citing a report by the India Academic Freedom Network (IAFN) in 2022 where it listed 78 instances in which seminars, lectures or talks at public universities were disrupted by politically aligned groups or permission to organise such events were denied. Twenty five cases of faculty arrests have also been cited in the report. Academicians believe, and quite rightly, that effective consultations are very much necessary to revive the much-needed academic spirit.
One may recall that in August last year, economists, Sabyasachi Das and Pulapre Balakrishnan quit Ashoka University over alleged breach of academic freedom. Over 300 academics in a statement had then stated: “By backsliding on Dr. Das’s academic freedom because the topic he chose to study was inconvenient to one political party, the university violates several principles of academic freedom.” The episode also shows that private universities do not, despite all their claims to the contrary, serve as bulwarks of liberal thought and help in propagation of independent thinking.
Further, it said: ‘The fact of the matter is that the government is applying equal pressure on both private and private and public universities/institutions”. It may be mentioned here that Das, an Assistant Professor of economics, quit after the varsity distanced itself from his working paper alleging electoral manipulation by the incumbent party in the 2019 general election and Ashoka’s governing body initiated an inquiry into the matter. Though the government has set up a chain of high quality research centres known as Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), the country lags in the promotion of basic science research. At one time – say around a decade back – basic research in biology and allied sciences got an impetus and there emerged a stream of outstanding PhDs in these fields.
While many other streams in applied categories have opened, research grants have dwindled and job opportunities. I may mention here that a department of marine sciences of Calcutta university has an array of scholars but those with PhD degrees are not getting suitable jobs. There is no integration of this department with environmental science and chemistry and those taking interviews in schools and colleges are not quite sure whether they would be able to teach environmental science or chemistry. Ideally this department should be renamed as marine chemistry so that scholars can find proper placements.
It cannot be denied that the quality of research has declined in recent years with the penetration of Indian science by Hindutva followers. A 12-member panel of scientists stated recently that India is facing a systematic threat to its scientific and educational foundation, citing what they described as institutional promotion of pseudoscience. The promotion of pseudoscience over established scientific principles and evidence-based research alongside the institutional endorsement of unproven practices or remedies could mislead the public and erode trust to genuine scientific enterprise, the panel said in a statement.
The panel’s statement comes against the backdrop of worry among sections of Indian scientists and educationists about what they view as attempts to allow pseudoscience to piggyback on some of the country’s academic institutions, low budget allocations to scientific departments and misleading content in school science curriculum.
According to a panel member, D, Raghunandan of the All India People’s Science Network, a consortium of 40 organisations engaged in science popularisation and promoting scientific temper are witnessing assaults on evidence-based reasoning and critical thinking. Further the panel’s statement pointed out that change in school science syllabus had raised concerns about the quality and accuracy of future science education in India. “Altercations that prioritise ideological agendas over scientific facts risk hindering the development of a scientifically literate populace”, the panel observed, adding that this could have long-term implications for the country’s ability to foster a culture of innovation and critical thinking.
The present dispensation may change its outlook and adopt a genuinely scientific approach. Moreover, with its partner from the South, the TDP, the earlier pro-Hindutva approach towards education may not be valid in the new coalition government. This augurs well for the country but simultaneously, there has to be more funds for research and academic freedom, as is manifest in most global centres of education. — INFA