KUALA LUMPUR: The recent release of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2020 has shown an increase of rankings for a number of Malaysian universities.
In the latest edition of the international university rankings Universiti Malaya (UM) rose from number 87 last year to 70 this year, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) went up from 202 to 159 and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) went from 184 to 160.
The universities were rated according to six components: academic reputation (40 per cent), employer reputation (10 per cent), faculty-student ratio (20 per cent), citations per faculty (20 per cent), international faculty ratio (5 per cent) and international student ratio (5 per cent).
UM vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Abdul Rahim Hashim was happy with the result as UM made a big leap in the charts.
“Our goal is, and has always been, to benchmark UM against other outstanding universities around the world with a view for further improvement to help raise the standard of Malaysian higher education,” he said.
UPM vice-chancellor Professor Datin Paduka Datuk Dr Aini Ideris said she was happy that the university managed to break into the top 200 as it had set that target all this while.
“This outstanding achievement has allowed UPM to set new goals in its transformation plan, in line with the role of the university and the fundamentals of education.
"Although UPM’s International Student indicator is the highest in the country this year, UPM highest jump is actually the Employer Reputation indicator. This indicates that our students, research and extension activities are recognised by the industry,” she said.
UKM also made a big leap in the ranking, earning the 160 spot. UKM pro vice-chancellor (strategy and corporate development) Professor Dr Ishak Yussof said it was proud of its performance as the rise in ranking can be beneficial to the university’s work in attracting the best brains.
“This is the accumulation of the hard work that UKM has put in over the years and we will continue to do more so that we can improve our standings. We have launched a House of Quality programme which houses five pillars that will improve our research, academic, international standing, talent enhancement and financial independence so that we can improve our standings further,” he said.
On why ranking is important for universities, he explained that this was of importance when it comes to attracting the best brains in the academic world.
“The ranking can help us attract the best talents as that will also be what they look into when searching for a place to teach. The ranking basically lets others know what the university can provide to talents, on top of word of mouth. This is a more official and professional approach.
“The ranking also helps when we want to find international partners for academic collaboration. They know us through our profile on the ranking and this can help us greatly especially in international collaboration,” he said.
Educationists say the ranking is not just for universities to show off. It is also important for parents and students in searching for the best place to study.
Educationist and Parent Action Group for Education (Page) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said she saw the pros and cons of rankings.
“Parents look out for rankings on where to send their kids. These universities will be where their kids will spend three or four years of their lives so they need to look into the best ones. These rankings can also determine on their future placement in the workplace.
“However, on the other side, the higher the ranking of a university, it will make it harder for students to get in as there will be more applications. Another aspect is the cost of tuition. The higher the ranking of a university means the cost to study can be higher.
“This also helps the university to generate income and not depend on government’s money. In this respect the ranking system does have its place in the education world,” she said.
Academician Dr Cheong Kee Cheok said he believed that while he understands some critics who say we should not chase rankings, he asked how performance can be measured if not for the rankings.
“Maybe we should not chase rankings. What should we chase? Happiness? Our own assessment of ourselves? If we do not go for rankings, we should have a better alternative,” he said.
Another education expert, Professor Vincent Pang, said the ranking system was fine to reflect the quality of universities but the institutions should not be driven solely by ranking criteria to the extent that it compromises the mission of the university in the first place.
“This is especially true for universities that have strong presence of national and community development in their mission statements. Overemphasis in ranking criteria, for instance publication and citations in high impact journals, may divert the attention of the universities in improving the economic and social well-being of the nation and the communities,” he said.