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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

UKM in world’s top 50 ‘young’ universities, but where is USM, asks Zairil

Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari questions the absence of Universiti Sains Malaysia from the QS top 50 universities under 50 list. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 24, 2014.Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari questions the absence of Universiti Sains Malaysia from the QS top 50 universities under 50 list. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 24, 2014.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is the only university in the country to make it to the ranks of the world's top 50 universities under 50 years old in the latest survey by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds).
However, UKM dropped one spot to 20th place, according to last year's QS rankings. QS is a research outfit which surveys and ranks leading global and regional universities.
UKM, established in 1970, is Malaysia's second highest-ranked university after Universiti Malaya.
"Well done to UKM for making the QS Top 50 Under 50. However, it is a shame that other Malaysian universities were not able to break into the top 50, despite the fact that all our universities, with the exception of UM, actually qualify," he told The Malaysian Insider.
UM was not featured in the Top 50 Under 50 list as it was established more than 50 years ago.
In terms of World University Rankings, however, UKM is at 259th place, moving up 10 places from last year's spot. UM is currently ranked at 151.
Zairil, a DAP lawmaker who is vocal on education issues, said that the university that is conspicuously missing from the Under 50 list is Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) which was awarded the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (Apex) status in 2008 by the then Ministry of Higher Education.
"This entails higher investments and greater focus into turning USM into a world-class university, which is one of the stated aims of being an Apex university.
"Unfortunately, USM's QS World University Ranking since then has not seen any improvement," he added.
USM was ranked 307 in the world in 2007 – before it was awarded the Apex status. After a steady decline to reach an all-time low of 355 in 2013, USM's ranking improved in this year's list to 309.
"In other words, despite billions of ringgit invested over the last six years, USM has actually gone down two notches from 307 to 309 since 2007," Zairil said.
The top five spots in the Top 50 Under 50 list were dominated by other Asian universities with Singapore's Nanyang Technological University at number one, moving up from second place last year.
The others were the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (ranked second), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (third), Pohang University of Science and Technology in Korea (fourth) and City University of Hong Kong (fifth).
The Under 50 list ranks the universities that have been established since 1965 according to their positions in the QS World University Rankings 2014/15 which list the world’s top 800 universities.
In its press release, QS head of research Ben Sowter said: “The dynamic nature of this ranking makes it an interesting comparison with our global and regional rankings. By focusing on the performance of these younger institutions alone, the list aims to spot the up-and-coming higher education powerhouses in the global arena.”
The list features a total of 25 countries, with Australia having 10 institutions featured followed by Spain with five.
Sowter said the increased research productivity had boosted the positions of all but one Malaysian university (Universiti Putra Malaysia) from last year.
"Malaysia's top institutions have increased their scores for research productivity this year, and are among the most international in the region,” he said.
Zairil agreed that local universities have shown much progress and in fact, have more potential than what they display.
Unfortunately, he noted, the lack of academic freedom had prevented local universities from rising higher.
"This is especially the case for those studying humanities, which makes up the bulk of students compared to the sciences.
"For example, how can students in Malaysian universities excel in say, political science, when academics and students frequently get arrested and jailed for supposedly 'seditious' remarks?," he asked, citing as examples the case of UM law professor Dr Azmi Sharom and student activists Safwan Anang and Adam Adli Abdul Halim as cases in point.
He added that Malaysian universities would begin to do better, particularly in humanities, if the limitations on academic freedom were lifted, including the Universities and University Colleges Act which had been blamed for stifling the freedom of expression of students. – September 24, 2014.
- TMI

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