'Indian and Chinese universities could rival Oxford, Cambridge within a generation'

London, Feb. 3 (ANI): Elite British and American universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Ivy League could be rivalled by educational institutions in India and China within 25 years, the president of Yale University has said.

The Telegraph quoted Professor Richard Levin, as saying that said universities from India and China would be ranked alongside global leaders within a generation.

"China and India seek to expand the capacity of their systems of higher education and aspire simultaneously to create a limited number of world-class universities to take their places among the best," he said in his lecture to the Higher Education Policy Institute, London.

He added that some of the top researchers in the world could be increasingly attracted to positions in cities such as Peking and Shanghai amid rising investment in higher education in emerging economies.

"If the emerging nations of Asia concentrate their growing resources on a handful of institutions, tap a worldwide pool of talent, and embrace freedom of expression and freedom of inquiry, they have every prospect of success in building world-class universities," he said.

The comments come amid fears that British universities risk losing their position among the world's elite following the announcement of sweeping higher education budget cuts.

There are fears that lack of investment in British universities will create an academic "brain drain" towards state-of-the-art research facilities in the US and Far East.

Commenting on the cuts, Prof Levin said it would be a "shame if the British government didn't recognise the status of Oxford and Cambridge as global leaders".

Currently, British universities make up four of the top 10 institutions in the world, according to rankings from Times Higher Education magazine.

Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and University College London are the only non-American institutions featured among the global elite. Harvard tops the list, which also features Yale. (ANI)