Independent inquiry on the standard of Malaysian universities

DAP National Deputy Chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw believes that we need an independent inquiry into the standard of Malaysian universities, so that we know whether higher education is moving towards world status.

The Education Act, 1996, aims at making Malaysian education attaining world standard. This is laudable.

The Times Higher Education (THE) survey puts Harvard University, USA, as number 1 and University of Malaya (UM) as 169 compared to 89 last year. The National Science University (USM) goes from 111 to nothing.

The Vice-Chancellor of UM Professor Datuk Dr Hashim Yaacob insists that the survey does not reflect the truth and that the score of UM this year is better than last year. He exhilarates as UM is 169 out of 30,000 universities in the world. According to THE, last year UM was 82 with a mark of 16.6. This year it is 169 with 23.5.

Putting up billboards at his campus to extol UM to the skies, Hashim has not convinced the world of his achievement. We require more proof. One way is to hold an independent inquiry on the standard of universities in the country.

We have 17 public universities, going on 18. What are the criteria for the appointment of vice-chancellor, dean and professor? What is the type of meritocracy for the enrolment of students?

There are many ways to assess the standard of a university. THE is one way. The public inquiry mentioned above can refer to the various standards adopted by about 30,000 universities in the globe. It may adopt the criteria recognized by the top 200 univerisities in the THE ranking?

Dr Tan Seng Giaw
MP for Kepong