The review focuses on current status of national rating systems of higher education institutions in the BRICS countries and is based on data from representatives of the BRICS countries at the first workshop on “International University Ratings and Assessment Systems in the BRICS Countries” (17-18 September, 2024), also on data from open sources.
The decision to hold regular seminars on international university ratings and assessment systems was made following the 11th BRICS Education Ministers Meeting (11 June 2024, Kazan).
The seminar helped to identify three indisputable key prerequisites to develop system of assessment and rating of higher education institutions in the BRICS countries.
- All the BRICS countries have comprehensive, branched and rapidly developing higher education systems, each with its significant specificity due to both historical context and pressing challenges in the countries.
- Vast majority of the BRICS countries have well-developed systems of collecting data and monitoring higher education current status - a reliable basis for preparing national and BRICS university ratings.
- The BRICS member countries are not satisfied with the existing global university ratings and are interested in establishing national and international ratings at the BRICS level. The global ratings cover only a small proportion of BRICS Higher Education Institutions, and their methodologies cannot take into account existing country specifics and challenges faced by national higher education systems. Therefore, higher education assessment and rating systems need new approaches and products.
Comments and suggestions of key stakeholders were considered in the review.