IT came to my attention last Monday that our local Malaysian public universities ranking has took a plunged down the list of QS World University Rankings. Being a lecturer and also student from both Malaysia and the United States,
I think this is not a very good sign for our local education system. If I were to compare our local universities against the ones overseas, especially in the United States I think you would somehow call me bias towards the latter. Excuse me if I sound a little crude but it is my own honest opinion. My American university experience at Northern Illinois University in De Kalb had been a very special as well as the most valuable time in my life.
I found several incredible opportunities for my personal growth while studying here. At times being very, very silly also reminded me of my stay here too! First of all which was of utmost importance to me as a student was to make sure I handed in all my assignments early… way before the due date! Apparently, I was a teacher before joining the university, therefore I was fully prepared and had already known what needed to be done in order to do well and to get good grades.
Procrastinating is not in my vocabulary as it would only make things worse in the end! I was an English major which means I had to read many books especially literature-based ones. Well, I read books that were mostly study-related, I remember whenever I had time I also went to the local library that existed near NIU to get every information as much as possible.
Whenever possible or when I was not at work or when I had the time, I would just sit in few lectures that were completely out of my field, for instance psychology that I was always fascinated by. Many times I always wanted to join an NIU club or society but I never seemed to get around to doing so because of work commitment or simply study-time constraints, and having to juggle three kids of my own.
Earlier on, as soon as I arrived I knew that I would have to get a job to pay bills, buy food and all the necessities. The transition from everything was so easy before coming to NIU for being in NIU was a struggle really. Due to money constraints I applied for several jobs at the NIU campus. Thank God I was immediately interviewed and got a job at the Holmes Student Center Hotel.
I appreciated the people who hired me as I did not have to work away from the campus. There were several fun experiences I had during my time as a student at NIU. I attended a play that was put on by the drama department. Actually one of my professors gave us students’ free tickets to attend the show and I enjoyed every minute of it.
That was the one and only show I got to see but I enjoyed every minute of it. Another fun activity which I had and just could not forget was when my college mates and I had incredibly elaborated picnics… barbecue by the campus lagoon!
We grilled chicken, shrimps, and kebabs. Some of us brought drinks. Apparently we did this twice and those were indeed the best of times! Sooner than expected, I graduated and had to leave the happy memories behind and headed for home.
I made many thoughtful friends during my stay at NIU but I will always remember the wonderful times I had and the thought of it gives me fond memories always. After being back, I started to lecturer in some of the main universities here, starting out with University Malaya.
Now, according to the QS World University Rankings, University Malaya maintained its position in the top 200 although it slid down from number 156 in 2012 to number 167 in the current list. I am not surprised by this for I think UM is still one of Malaysia’s best educational institutes.
Secondly, and also surprisingly, University Teknologi Malaysia has come up in rank from being 358th in 2012, is now at number 355. This is a great achievement for that institute, one they should be really proud of for themselves. Some other local universities went up and some went down, like really way down such as the International Islamic University of Malaysia, or UIA.
This is quite a big surprise to me for I thought from last year’s ranking of 401 they would somehow improve themselves but still they plummeted to 450! According to Ben Sowter who is the head QS researcher, reasons for the deterioration in Malaysian universities’ rankings to deficiencies in research but credited them for the quality of their academics and the employability of their graduates.
“The drop in performance for Malaysian institutions this year reflects the intensity of global competition,” he said. “But a five-year comparison suggests they have made some significant progress. “Malaysian institutions are not yet producing highly cited research, but they have developed a solid profile among the world’s academics and graduate employers,” he said in a statement.
In my opinion, I think, our local universities should be given the freedom to govern themselves rather than having the government overrun them. Permit the universities senate autonomous power. Start recruiting the best of the best in specific academic fields to increase the university’s standings.
I moved back to the states a few years ago, still lecturing at some of the universities here. I hope that one day the educational system and culture here in Malaysia would be a change for the better.
.jpg)
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan