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Absolute gems Your cover story ‘America’s hidden gems private universities’ (EW June) was an absolute gem especially for school-leavers like me exploring higher education options beyond Ivy League universities The 14 universities of the Michigan Colleges Alliance seem to offer excellent higher education with the added advantages of low teacher-pupil ratio, plus internship and placement opportunities in the heart of American industry. I have put them on my shortlist! Sahasrata Sen on e-mail Irrational classification With the EducationWorld India School Rankings coming up soon, I have one serious query. Why is it that Bishop Cotton School, Shimla doesn’t appear in your website searches for exactly what it is — a boys’ boarding school? Since last year, your magazine has reclassified us in the ‘vintage’ category without any consideration that we are a progressive, non-profit private school unlike other boarding schools on a profit-making mission. Would you classify Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford universities as vintage institutions despite the reality that they are the world’s most progressive universities in terms of academic curriculum, ethos and facilities and are not stuck in the ‘dark ages’ when they were founded? It is our humble request to EW to move us back to the category of ‘boys boarding schools’ from the ‘vintage’ category meant only for wine and cars. Let’s not forget that Bishop Cotton School, Shimla was modeled on UK’s well-known Marlborough College (estb.1843). This is a winning formula and therefore, parents continue to send their boys here to become gentlemen. Rebecca Weale Dean of Admissions Bishop Cotton School, Shimla Unwarranted coverage Your cover story ‘America’s hidden gems private universities’ (EW June) exposes the colonial mindset that drives the upwardly mobile Indian middle class to believe that Western education in English-speaking countries is the smart passport to jobs and success in 21st century workplaces. I am disappointed with the huge coverage given to foreign higher education institutions, especially at a time when some of India’s best universities — most of them privately promoted — can be compared with the world’s best. Samrudhi Ramesh Bengaluru Glaring omissions I am a medical practitioner from Bengaluru. I happened to come across your EW India Higher Education Rankings 2023-24 issue (EW May). I was appalled to see only three medical and health sciences universities from Karnataka in the Top 10. M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, St. John’s Medical College, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Siddaganga Medical College and Research Institute — all well-reputed for research — find no place in your rankings. Time for C fore to expand its vision. Suresh Raghottam Tumakuru The EW India University Rankings 2023-24 ranks universities, not undergraduate colleges. The institutions cited are colleges affiliated with state universities — Editor Disturbing trend The Karnataka Education News ‘Broken system’ (EW June) highlights a disturbing trend of excessive political interference in education. In Karnataka, the victorious Congress government is hell-bent on reversing several of the education initiatives taken by the predecessor BJP government. It wants to rewrite textbooks and roll back implementation of NEP 2020. The…