246 - Universiti Malaya,
307 - Universiti Sains Malaysia
309 - Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
In 2004, Universiti Malaya was No. 89 in World University Rankings (The Times Education Supplement, November 2004) and we see that in 2007 it has fallen to 246. This again is yet another failure of the BN government under the present Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
As a comparison, good also to know the ranking of some of the other universities in ASEAN...
33 - National University of Singapore
69 - Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
223 - Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
284 - Mahidol University
So, really what is all this hoo...hah about APEX University - and how University Sains Malaysia(USM) have been chosen as the APEX university.
Really, it has got nothing to do with any international ranking - it is just the University selected by our Malaysian Cabinet - as the university which will get a lot of money so that that rise higher in the World University Rankings...
University Malaya is currently ranked better than USM - so has the choice of USM got anything to do with the fact that the current Prime Minister hails from Penang? [In fact, Anwar Ibrahim, the posible next PM also comes from Penang]
PUTRAJAYA: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been granted apex status. With it, USM can expect hundreds of millions of ringgit in additional funding to transform it into Malaysia's first world-class university.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that quantitative and qualitative criteria were used to select USM under the accelerated programme for excellence (apex).
Announcement time: Khaled flanked by deputies Dr Hou Kok Chung (right) and Datuk Idris Haron with a copy of the statement announcing USM as the country's first apex university.
“The selection committee evaluated each university's state of readiness, transformation plan and preparedness for change.
“After a thorough evaluation, the committee decided that only one university truly met all the criteria, namely USM,'' he told a press conference yesterday.
The Cabinet had agreed to USM being given the apex status on Aug 27....- Star, 4/9/2008 - USM get apex status.
I wonder whether the idea of giving so much money to one University in Malaysia so that it moves up the world ranking is a good idea. Should not our target be improving the standards of all of the main Malaysian Universities?
The university that is given apex status is one that has the greatest potential among Malaysian universities to be world-class, and as such, would be given additional assistance to compete with top-ranked global institutions, added Khaled.
He said with apex status, USM will be expected to move up the World University Rankings with a target of top 200 in five years' and top 100, if not top 50, by 2020.
In last year’s Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, Universiti Malaya (UM) was the highest ranked Malaysian university at 246, followed by USM (307), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (309) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (364).- Star, 4/9/2008 - USM get apex status.
See...how low we have dropping in the rankings during the reign of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. In 2004, University Malaya was in the top 100 - ranked 89. 3 years later in 2007, it sits at number 246...
I don't think there is a drastic drop in ranking, I believe the reason for the drastic drop in ranking is due to some calculation error by the world ranking body. From what I read, they thought the 30% Chinese and 10% Indians are from China and India, and points for foreign students contribute to a big % of the overall points.
ReplyDeleteWhen they found out we had almost zero % foreign student in our unis, that is when the ranking started to drop. Universities should be the melting pot for different culture, UiTM is a very sad example...