Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad seems to have lost his proper focus and responsibility, regarding his job more as international marketing officer for Malaysian universities instead of ensuring that Malaysian universities win international recognition as world-class institutions.
Mustapha, on a week-long visit to China to market Malaysian universities, said in Shanghai yesterday that he wants to see at least 15,000 Chinese students coming to Malaysia in three years’ time — more than double the present number.
He said the trend now was for more Chinese students to enrol in the Malaysian public and private universities for post-graduate programmes.
He also announced that his Ministry “will be going around China to market Malaysia as an education hub”.
The Higher Education Ministry has set up an education office in Beijing to promote Malaysia as a market for foreign students. A fifth overseas office besides Jakarta, Dubai, Ho Chi Minh City and Beijing would be set up in Africa “due to the promising market in the continent”.
There is something very wrong with the spectacle of the Higher Education Minister leading a delegation to China to market Malaysian universities to Chinese students at a time when the latest world’s Top 200 Universities Rankings released ten days ago showed a continuing “free fall” of Malaysian universities.
For the first time, there is not a single university in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)-Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for Top 200 Universities.
Both Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) fell out of the Top 200 Universities ranking, with UKM plunging from 185th slot last year to 309th while University of Malaya plunged from 89th in 2004 to 169th in 2005, 192nd in 2006 to 246th in 2007. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which was ranked as the only “outstanding” five-star university in a recent government survey, fell to 307th spot from 277 last year.
The latest release of the THES-QS 2007 Top University Rankings from No. 201-400 available on the Net has also confirmed that Malaysia has lost out to Thailand for better university rankings for three consecutive years, as Chulalongkorn University of Thailand is ranked No. 233 in 2007, 161 in 2006 and 121 in 2005 (compared to University of Malaya’s No. 246 in 2007, 192 in 2006 and 169 in 2005).
The second Thai Top University, Mahidol University which is ranked No. 284, is also better placed than Malaysia’s second Top University — USM which is ranked No. 307.
Are these rankings for the past three years proof of permanent inferiority of Malaysian universities to Thai universities, particularly for the Top international rankings?
This however is not the only dismal result for Malaysian universities in the THES-QS 2007 ranking. Also for the first time, there is not a single Malaysian university in the separate listing of Top 100 Universities for five subject areas — Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities; Life Sciences and Biomedicine; and Engineering and Information Technology.
Last year Malaysia was placed in four of the 500 slots in the five Top 100 Universities for the five subjects – University of Malaya ranked 49 in Social Sciences and 95 in Natural Sciences, UKM No. 62 in Natural Sciences and USM at No. 96 for Life Sciences and Biomedicine.
This year, Malaysia was completely excluded in all the five listings of Top 100 Universities for the five categories.
The Higher Education Ministry has planned some 60 promotion programmes overseas this year to attract international students.
Should Mustapha be spearheading the compaign to market universities to the international market or should he be giving top priority to ensure Malaysian universities establish themselves as educational centres of excellence recognized in World’s Top Universities rankings?
#1 by Cinapek on Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - 11:20 am
One of the fundamental “Ps” of marketing is “product” – in this case product being our tertiary education system. With none of our public universities ranked in the world’s top 200 universities, surely our higher education image in China cannot be too good? So what the hell was he marketing? Marketing for all those private colleges and universities? Did he ask himself if the Chinese might be laughing at him that if he cannot even do his own job properly to bring up the standard of the universities directly under his charge, what credible marketing pitch can he make for those private universities and colleges? And if I were one of those private universities, I would probably be better off doing the marketing myself under the brand name of my foreign university parent rather than let a failed Higher Education Minister try to market my university with the baggage of poorly ranked public universities hanging around his neck.
#2 by AnakTiriMalaysia on Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - 12:46 pm
Want to make Malaysia as Education hub?
ESSENTIAL STEP TO TAKE IS ABOLISH NEP, KETUANAN MELAYU
A GOOD UNIVERSITY CAN BE BUILT THROUGH MERITOCRACY …….
……..NEP AUGUS WELL FOR MEDIOCRITY – ………….
….PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS FROM CHINA MUST KNOW THIS….. THIS IS TANAH MELAYU (MALAY LAND)……. KETUANAN MELAYU- PROTECTED WITH KERISES……….
#3 by k1980 on Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - 1:25 pm
Mustapha, on a week-long visit to China to market Malaysian universities, said in Shanghai yesterday that he wants to see at least 15,000 Chinese students coming to Malaysia— He thinks that the Chinese are fools who are willing to pay to become unemployed/unemployable grads
#4 by boh-liao on Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - 2:33 pm
Mustapha is promoting Malaysia as the land where students can learn from the Education Minister, Hishammuddin, how to put up a show of unsheathing and kissing a keris in public, year after year, and, at the same time, convincing people that his act is harmless (nonaggressive) and meant to manifest his universal love of all mankind. His greatest hypothesis is that this greatest show on earth, repeated annually, will eventually desensitise people over their unreasonable fear of the keris as a weapon.
More students from China should come here to learn from the Education Minister so that by the time they graduate, they would have learnt the fine and gentle art of unsheathing and kissing their traditional ‘dao’ 刀 and do it in front of the minister during the graduation ceremonies to show their love to the minister.
#5 by ChinNA on Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - 11:16 pm
I like what pulau sibu said: “Why do we increase the students from China but not the local Chinese students?”
Well maybe local Chinese students pay less money that the students from China.
However, one thing still bugs me. Remember the incidents where some China ladies were questioned by the police who thought they were illegals? This is something we cannot repeat, if we were to be successful in tapping into the Chinese market.
Thinking aloud tonight.
#6 by ChinNA on Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - 11:22 pm
Bigjoe said about Singapore courting China students. Just wanted to add that they court ASEAN students too, in very huge numbers.
Malaysian students goes there in big numbers but most are non-bumi students. Some are bumi students as well and they are all top calibre Malaysian student.
I guess the some of the brain-drain benefits Singapore who welcomes foreigners to settle down there.
#7 by tc on Wednesday, 21 November 2007 - 1:55 pm
I have spoken to many foreign students from University of Malaya.Some doing their degrees,some Masters and some even PHDs.Prior to their studies they could not speak English at all.All that they did was to attend a 6 months English course and Promto they are in UM!How they comprehend their courses[with their limited English knowledge] is anyone’s guess.Eventually they will all graduate.The locals who could not get in UM can easily out perform these foreigners in terms of academic results.Is this what the government wants?To educate foreigners rather than its own citizens?No wonder the standard has dropped so badly.
In another case, a Chinese student told me that she regretted coming to Malaysia to learn English.She said the Indian teacher teaches with an Indian slang.The Chinese teacher teaches with a Chinese slang and the Malay teacher teaches with a Malay slang.She will be going to UK soon.
#8 by zainuddinmaidin on Wednesday, 21 November 2007 - 5:36 pm
Dear YB, I’ve come across an advertisement by the higher education ministry in the monthly Malaysia Airlines magazine , Going Places. Looks like they are promoting foreigners studying in Malaysia extensively. In the advertisement, they promoted their website http://www.mohe.gov.my . But the website is hardly to be understood by foreigners since it is in Bahasa Malaysia. They are wasting money doing advertisements promoting the website, but the website could’t deliver any information to any foreigners. What a shame for the Malaysian goverment doing business marketing. In the advertisement which is in the flight magazine, it is stated that Malaysia’s education centers are internationally-recognized programs, in my point of view, there are very little of the programs are internationally recognized, but Malaysia’s education institution are doing a lot of twinning programs with overseas universities. Malaysia is just cheating, by claiming to others its internationally recognized. Twinning..and more twinning programs, how could be succeed by this?
#9 by tsn on Wednesday, 21 November 2007 - 6:46 pm
tc,
This is exactly we should highlight to China students, value for $,pay 1 fee but guarantee min 3 returns.
#10 by chgchksg128 on Wednesday, 21 November 2007 - 10:43 pm
“I hope DAP can come to Setiawnagsa or Titiwangsa or else i would rather not to vote since is between BN and PAS†chgchksg128,
This is what you must never do!
The GE is not just about voting for the party of your choice but voting to deny the party not of your choice from winning the GE! In you case it means casting your vote for PAS!
Voting for PAS is nonsense….I can not support party that against my believe….
and the course of DAp is weak is ..they has too less effort to lure malay to follow their ideology..malaysia for malaysian….or malaysia for malay??I hope Mr. Lim Kit Siang can response of this