Can India match China's STEM success by rethinking its higher education model?

Economic Times

23-05-2025

On a different ivy league: Students of Nanjing University My daughter, who is completing high school, has expressed interest in continuing her education in the biotech space at college level and beyond. While researching the top institutions globally in this space, I was surprised to see a plethora of Chinese universities dominating the rankings. As I looked through other STEM areas, the same pattern emerged - if not accentuated - with much larger presence of Chinese universities, especially in areas of computer science and AI.I recollected a conversation with a professor-friend of mine in the US, who had been tracking Chinese research output. He had told me that over the past 20 years, output from Chinese universities in STEM has been continuously exceeding that from the US.
For a country that still gets lampooned in international media for 'cheap copy' or 'substandard product', increasingly innovative capabilities in social media like TikTok, or in AI like DeepSeek and Manus, are stunning the world. China's dominance in solar cell manufacturing and EVs is already well known. So, how did China make it happen? Project 985, conceptualised in 1998 by the Jiang Zemin administration, selected 39 universities for increased investments to make them 'world-class'. The results are now showing. Focus on the number of universities has since gone far beyond the original 39. Ecosystems are forming around chosen universities similar to ones created in areas like Boston and Bay Area in the US.India responded to the looming challenge in its 2016 budget by identifying 20 universities across private and public sectors in which GoI was willing to invest significant sums to make them 'world-class'. After the initial hullabaloo over the selected private universities, not much discussion about investments or their impact has been made in the public space.While having many interesting ideas, India's next important effort around education through National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has been stuck in 'debates' over matters like 'imposition of Hindi' and 'central interference'. Here, too, the results show. While there was much joy in Kolkata for pipping Bengaluru as India's top research hub in the prestigious Nature Index 2024, the former was ranked 84th and the latter 85th among 200 science cities across the world. Beijing topped the list, followed by Shanghai, New York, Boston and Nanjing. Five Chinese cities were in the index's top 10 (compared to four American cities).
Can a democratic, diverse India respond in the same way to China's top-down, centralised approach to higher education excellence? Probably not. To achieve success, India should consider two things: Instead of trying to convert individual universities as islands of academic and research excellence, India should look to identify cities that could become hubs of subjects like AI, quantum computing, biotech and climate technology. Each of these areas could be looked at from all angles including - but not limited to - research and innovation, while expanding to consider its impact from areas like IP and legal issues, looking at commercialising these innovations, or even studying its impact across societies.
Indian cities are blessed with good academic institutions that can be leveraged to create talent across key futuristic areas by creating excellence in one area to start with. They can then become hubs of talent providing 360° perspectives across innovation, commercialisation and consulting, which a single-minded vision around research in an undemocratic monolithic society like China's cannot.
Given the Trump administration's unprecedented assault on its higher education system - the threat to shut down Harvard's foreign enrolment being the latest, even as it was blocked for the time being by a federal judge on Friday - India is the only large democratic country with both the ability and the willingness of its population to absorb institutions and academics seeking a safe haven outside the US. While NEP does talk about introducing foreign education institutions within India, we have so far failed to bring in anyone worthwhile. It would be advisable to relook at our policies and redouble efforts both from central and state levels to bring immediate improvement to India's higher education ecosystem. While we should continue to focus on building homegrown institutions, there's no doubt that competition from foreign universities, along with access to globally recognised academics, will provide immense opportunities to, and traction for, India's scholars.All this would, of course, require our politicians and administrators to be a little more thick-skinned and willing to accept criticism and research output that could even be contrary to their ideological posturings. But is it not what a healthy democracy is all about? If that allows us to 'reclaim' our 'Nalandas' and become a real 'Vishwaguru', pinpricks some politicians could feel would be a small cost to bear.While primary and secondary education improvements are necessary to solve today's problem, higher education can be the doorway for India to claim dominance in this century. If we don't act now, it'll be difficult to catch up to the yawning gap between us and China, and the US. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.) Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. What pizzas are Indians eating? The clue lies with India's largest QSR.
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