India, July 28 -- Students vociferously demanded accountability for repeated examination paper leaks, and rightly so. However, entrance examinations are merely the gateway to higher education institutions that are themselves facing deep structural challenges. According to recent data, nearly 38% of faculty positions at the IITs remain vacant. Ad hoc and contractual lecturers are often paid meagre salaries, forcing some to take up additional work simply to support their families. All of this is happening even as institutional fees have risen manifold over the past decade. Despite this, a significant proportion of our graduates remain unemployed. Curricula in many institutions remain outdated, with students often being taught content that has changed little in the last two decades. Meanwhile, research misconduct has reached unprecedented levels. Numerous colleges and universities lack the infrastructure required for state-of-the-art laboratories or even adequate facilities to support quality education. In such a situation, we must resist the temptation to focus solely on the outcomes - exam scores, rankings, placements, and admissions - and instead scrutinise the processes that produce them. Paper leaks are perhaps the easiest problem to solve. They have already been solved elsewhere. International examinations such as the SAT, TOEFL, and GMAT are conducted routinely and securely at scale. Their models can be studied and adapted. However, our admission process must move away from these unidimensional measures that put undue stress on our students while discouraging creativity, critical thinking, and holistic development. In a country where a number of students want to become computer engineers, they spend most of their school time staying away from computers as it "distracts" them from the subjects that are tested in entrance exams. A more holistic approach would not only reduce unhealthy pressure but also reward exceptional students who may not fit the conventional mould. To be fair, some progress has been made through alternative admission pathways introduced by the IITs. Such efforts should be expanded across institutions and disciplines. The more difficult challenge lies in reforming research. For years, we have been preoccupied with climbing international university rankings. Yet these rankings are not beyond scrutiny. Many are produced by for-profit organisations that derive revenue from the very institutions they rank. Several also maintain partnerships with academic publishers whose business interests are aligned with increasing publication output. When metrics become targets, integrity often becomes collateral damage. The consequences are already visible. Research misconduct in India has risen sharply since 2022. India produced roughly 5% of the world's research output in 2025, yet accounted for nearly 20% of reported research misconduct cases. This is damaging India's scientific reputation. Increasingly, even legitimate research from Indian institutions is viewed with scepticism. Trust, once lost, is painfully slow to rebuild. Research excellence cannot be manufactured overnight. World-class laboratories are built through sustained investment over years, often decades. They require money, infrastructure, mentorship, and humancapital. Yet India currently spends only about 0.64% of its GDP on research and development, roughly one-fourth of the global average. The recently announcedRDI Fund of Rs.1 lakh crore may help address some of the funding gap. However, unless research integrity is embedded intoevaluation systems, there is a real riskthat additional funding will simply be captured by those who have become adept at gaming flawed metrics. Perhaps the biggest casualty of this obsession with rankings has been education itself. Teaching quality rarely features prominently in ranking systems because it is difficult to quantify. As a result, it is often sidelinedduring recruitment, promotion, and evaluation processes. Professors have little incentive to invest time in pedagogy, curriculum reform, ormentoring when publishing another paper offers greater rewards in terms of career advancement. There is little room for someone who may be an outstanding teacher but an average researcher. The problem is compounded by the widespread reliance on ad hoc and contractual faculty. Many are paidsalaries so low that they sometimes earn less than gig-economy workers. While these appointments help institutions function and improve faculty-student ratios on paper, they leave many PhD-holders trapped inprecarious employment. When young talent sees the realities of academic life, manyconclude that a career in research is neither stable nor rewarding. Unsurprisingly, some of our brightest minds choose to leave India. A nation cannot aspire to be a knowledge superpower while treating knowledgeworkers as expendable. The solutions are neither simple nor quick. They involve governments, regulators, universities, faculty, students, and industry. Yet a logical starting point would be to reform the rankings and rating systems that have incentivised many of these distortions. India must stop measuring its success primarily through international league tables. Our national ranking and accreditation frameworks should be redesigned to reward sound practices and robust processes, not merely headline outcomes. Measures such as the National Institutional Rankings Framework's retraction penalty are a welcome first step, but they address symptoms, not the cause. The deeper problem lies in research metrics that prioritise quantity over quality and visibility over integrity. We must also restore the value of teaching. Faculty salaries, particularly for researchers and early-career academics, need serious reconsideration. Accreditation bodies must place greater emphasis onfair compensation and humane working conditions for all scholars. If we build strong processes, nurture integrity, invest in people, and reward genuine excellence, the outcomes will take care of themselves.Sustainable success is never achieved by chasing numbers, it is achieved by building institutions worthy of them....