The higher education system in India is at an important turning point. Universities and colleges want to improve their national and global rankings. To do this, they focus on measures like how many teachers they have, how much research they produce, and the ratio of students to teachers. One rule that has drawn attention is requiring no more than 15 students per teacher. While this rule aims to raise academic standards, it could actually harm teaching and research quality in Indian institutions.

India does not have enough Ph.D. graduates who meet global research and teaching standards. Each year, fewer than 40,000 people earn Ph.D. degrees across all subjects, according to the All-India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2022. Many of these degrees come from places where research programs are weak, funding is limited, and infrastructure is poor. As a result, some Ph.D. holders may not have strong research skills or teaching ability.

If universities must keep a 15:1 student–teacher ratio but cannot find enough well-trained Ph.D. graduates, they may have to hire less-qualified candidates. Those hires might not have the research experience or teaching skills needed to help students learn well. This could undermine the goal of improving education quality.

Looking at top universities around the world, they do not strictly follow a 15:1 ratio. Many leading institutions in the United States and Europe operate effectively with ratios between 25:1 and 30:1, depending on the subject. Forcing a strict 15:1 ratio here could lead to a shortage of qualified teachers and weaker research work.