I am ashamed...

UKM now ranked way ahead of UM

BY SIMRIT KAUR and HARIATI AZIZAN

PETALING JAYA: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) has supplanted Universiti Malaya (UM) as the country’s highest ranked university in the latest survey conducted on world university rankings.

In World University Rankings 2006 published by the Times Higher Education Supplement and conducted by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, UKM rose by 105 places to break into the top 200-ranked universities for the first time, climbing from 289 last year to 185.

UM, however, continued its downward spiral, by dropping a further 23 places to 192. Its ranking fell from 89 in 2004 to 169 last year, causing a national debate on the status of the premier university and the validity of the criteria used for the rankings.

The British newspaper's annual rankings are based on measures like peer review (40%), employer survey (10%), international faculty (5%), international students (5%), staff to student ratio (20%), and the number of times research is cited by other academics (20%). Details of this year's criteria are not yet available.

Former UKM vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Mohd Salleh Mohd Yasin, who retired in August this year, attributed UKM’s current standing to the joint effort by everyone in the university.

“We focused on raising the university’s profile internationally. We also made a concerted effort to improve UKM’s website and consolidate the information there,” said Dr Mohd Salleh, who is currently chairman of the National Accreditation Board.

Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia also improved in this year’s standings – UPM rose by 102 places from 394 to 292, while USM climbed from 326 to 277.

When contacted, current UKM vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin and UM vice-chancellor Datuk Rafiah Salim declined comment, saying that they would speak at a press conference at UM today.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang described this year’s results as a double shame for UM.

“Not only did it slide further but UM also fell behind UKM. This is unacceptable for Malaysia's premier university. There is need for a shake-up,” he said.

He added that although UKM should be commended for its place in this year’s rankings, Malaysia’s top public universities should rank among the top 50.

It has been reported that the Ministry has set a target for two public universities to break into the top 50 by 2010.

Lim attributed Malaysian universities' poor ranking to the failure of the institutions “to practise real meritocracy in academic appointments and promotions, as well as in student intake.”

Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed could not be reached for comment.

At the top of the rankings is Harvard University, which retained its position. However, Massachusetts Institute of Technology lost its number two position to Cambridge University.

British and American universities took all the places in the top 10. The highest placed Asian university is China’s Beijing University, at 14. The University of Tokyo and the National University of Singapore were joint 19th, the only other Asian universities in the top 20.