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for failing to test at least 95 percent of pupils that same Higher education Top 10 emerging economies 2021
year. The activists in the Opt Out movement want to see
others held responsible for student learning, not just teach- Country / region No. of Institu- tions in ranking Institu-
ers. “The notion that we can ascertain… the extent to which Top tion Rank
(pupils are) doing poorly as a function of what’s happening China 91 Tsinghua University 1
in schools, as opposed to everything else that’s going on in India 63 Indian Institute of Science 14
their lives right now is absurd,” says Daniel Koretz of Har- Brazil 52 University of São Paulo 13
vard’s School of Education. Russian 48 Lomonosov Moscow
One compromise would be for a representative sample Federation State University 6
of children to sit the tests. One group could be selected to Turkey 43 Sabancı University 44
take maths and American history, while another group takes Taiwan 38 National Taiwan University 8
English and science. Each group would take two exams, the Chile 21 Pontifical Catholic
burden of testing would be reduced, but schools and the University of Chile 53
government would gain reliable information at least on four Egypt 21 Mansoura University 94
subjects. Czech Republic 18 Charles University
in Prague 64
EMERGING ECONOMIES Thailand 17 Mahidol University 80
Higher ed Top 10 Mexico 16 National Autonomous
University of Mexico 129
ROM ACCESS TO BASIC EQUIPMENT, technology Pakistan 16 Quaid-i-Azam University 105
and quiet working spaces to childcare burdens and
Fjob cuts, the pandemic has exacerbated existing dis- Source: Times Higher Education WUR 2021 Note = co-ranked
parities among individuals, communities, institutions and
countries. WUR methodology gives more weight to knowledge transfer
Increased attention on inequalities has also sparked and international outlook and less to research influence.
hope that systems and structures will change and that aca-
demia will become more inclusive. Universities in emerging CHINA
economies could be among the beneficiaries. Laureate labs strategy
Gerard Postiglione, emeritus professor of higher educa-
tion at the University of Hong Kong and coordinator of the CHINA IS RAMPING UP ITS EFFORTS TO poach
Consortium for Higher Education Research in Asia, says Nobel laureates from universities around the world
two trends which started before Covid-19 but have since to establish laboratories in the country. But ques-
accelerated, may help emerging countries in this regard. tions are being raised whether this initiative will have a
One is the rapid acceleration of technology, which trickle-down effect to boost basic scientific research.
“makes it possible for developing countries’ universities After several cities across China embraced the idea, it
to enter global knowledge networks” in a way they have received a major boost when Beijing said it would start re-
not previously. Another is the increasing drive among top cruiting laureates to run laboratories and innovation cen-
universities, higher education systems and governments in tres. The scheme is a key plank of the city’s next five-year
developed countries to solve global problems, which makes plan, which was passed on February 27, and it will encour-
institutions in other parts of the world even more attractive age other provinces to follow suit.
and useful partners. Beijing may be hoping to emulate the success of the
But a THE analysis also highlights the challenges that south-eastern city of Shenzhen, which since 2016 has built
developing nations in Africa, Asia and Europe will need to 11 Nobel laureate labs in partnership with universities and
overcome, with scholars warning that the pandemic may companies, including the Grubbs Institute, named after
only increase the gap between research quantity and quality the chemist Robert Grubbs and hosted by the Southern
in more and less advanced systems. University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), and the
The THE Emerging Economies University Rankings was Warshel Institute for Computational Biology named after
born out of a desire to be more equal. It was designed to the biochemist Arieh Warshel and hosted by the Chinese
highlight countries that were often overlooked in the global University of Hong Kong.
league table and to provide universities in such nations a Shenzhen offered initial funding of 100 million yuan
chance to benchmark themselves against peers operating (Rs.111 crore) to each lab on a renewable fixed-term agree-
in similar economic environments. The methodology of ment of five years with the laureate obliged to work there
the World University Rankings (WUR) was tweaked for for “no less than 30 days per year”.
this spin-off to reflect the development priorities of uni- Ka Ho Mok, vice president and professor of comparative
versities in emerging economies. The Emerging Economies policy at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, sees the Nobel

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