Why M'sian universities fail: Stifling govt intervention to produce political robots

There is a certain problem with ranking systems and that is one of criterion. What criteria does one use to evaluate? And across different bodies, will the criteria be the same. This is how one should look at the way global univesities are ranked and measured across different evaluating bodies.

The Times Higher Education World University rankings list 400 top global universities but conspicuously missing from this list are Malaysian establishments. And this is a surprise owing to the fact that a few months back, the QS 200 World University Rankings 2011/12 saw University of Malaya making the top 200 Top Universities, moving 40 places to position itself at 167.

Both ranking systems deploy a scoring system that places weightage on various elements. And how one evaluates these elements is open to debate and scrutiny. It is purely subjective and different evaluation systems would score universities differently.

Yet some consistently make it to the top 10

So to better understand why Malaysian universities do not make it into the ranks, one must first take note as to why some global universities seem to make it into the ranking list regardless of the body evaluating them. Worthy of note are Harvard, Cambridge, MIT, Oxford, Princeton and Yale which appear in the top 10 of most university ranking lists.

All the above universities are subject to little if any intervention from their governments and are independent to pursue their own niche in education. In fact, it can be said that the above institutions set the pace for global tertiary education. They can be said to be stakeholders in the global educational 'stock market'.

This is important. For any Malaysian university to increase their share value in the educational 'stock market', it must first define its niche and value. To effectively do this, the Malaysian higher education system has to be independent from the Executive and the government.

Stifling government intervention

As it is, the current intervention of the government in Malaysian higher education caused our various local public universities to be conformed by a common mould. A mould set by the Higher Education Ministry and thus, local universities are beholden to their rules and regulations. And such rules and regulations may be a deterrent to the very ethos of education.

This is why, the Akta Universiti dan Kolej 1971 must go and Malaysian universities returned to their original form - where minds can question, investigate and generate new ideas.

Yet, this is a hard thing to do when we have a government bent on controlling and setting the mindsets of the nation’s youth. Graduates graduate with a pre-installed political inclination in place. Graduates are destined to reject critical thinking and stick to the status quo. And this kills off any creative and innovative thinking.

No innovative idea has ever succeeded by sticking to the status quo, instead creativity and innovation have always been born by challenging the status quo. But sad to say, this is something the current government detests and seems unwilling to change. Thus, with such restrictions in place, local universities find themselves in a state not of their own making. And it is in this trapped state of compliance that the various global ranking bodies evaluate them. No wonder, our universities fall short in many of the international assessments.

No education at all

Malaysian universities may excel in some ranking lists but totally fall out in others. Ultimately, Malaysian universities are unable to hold their place in any rankings because the platform upon which the university stands is too fragile and inconsistent. The platform is ever shifting and is a slave to the whims and fancies of the Higher Education Ministry.

Which makes one wonder, are we really investing in our nation's education?

Are we looking ahead as a nation and seeing the returns on the investment made into the education of the nation’s youth?

Or are we merely happy making it into the lower ranks of some list, only to forget that real education never took place in our youths at all.

Malaysia Chronicle