Jelena Brankovic
So, this happened: #BRICS Ministers of Education met and made some interesting commitments. Among others:
Sep 2, 2023 at 1:00pmWeb
Show threadJelena BrankovicSep 2, 2023

As statements such as this one go, this may mean very little. It's still interesting that the statement isn't "oh, we need a better ranking," but rather one that suggests rethinking rankings altogether (in my reading at least).

That's something, however small it may seem.

Full statement here:

https://www.gov.za/speeches/statement-outcome-10th-meeting-brics-ministers-education-13-jul-2023-0000

Higher Education, Science and Innovation on outcome of the 10th Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Education | South African Government

Show threadShiri BailemSep 2, 2023
@jelena3121 also noting that they're often rated by the "successfulness" of their graduates rather than what their graduates actually learned, which of course leans into the bias of universities attended by rich families who have more success not because of education but because of the opportunities that wealth provides (or that networking with the wealthy provides)
Show threadJelena BrankovicSep 2, 2023
@shiri Indeed. But who do you mean by "they"?
Show threadShiri BailemSep 2, 2023
@jelena3121 just vague they, I haven't looked at any "official" ratings, but mostly going off of the talk that I hear and the reputations of schools that I know of
Show threadKevinSep 2, 2023
@jelena3121 China and Russia, famously known for their respect for and collaboration with indigenous cultures. (Not that the US has a good track record. But I’ll take this with a grain of salt.)
Show threadJelena BrankovicSep 2, 2023
@KevinLikesMaps True that. And as you (and we all) should.
Show threadElizabeth GaddSep 4, 2023
@jelena3121 Another crack in the wall…
Show threadJens JägerSep 4, 2023
@jelena3121 Very interesting, definitely, but also not entirely unexpected from countries whose #universities etc. are usually ranked lowly. Like someone else commented, "talk is cheap", and I'm curious to see what (if anything) will come of this.
There is a lot of talk about "reforming the research system" (or various parts of it), and right now I find it hard to imagine that #BRICS countries will be the ones spearheading this (global) reform. #ResearchSystem