(Available at: http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/89169)
Apex University is the latest icon in Malaysia’s academic world, portraying great ambition and seriousness. But haven’t we already heard of ‘Smart Schools’, ‘Vision Schools’ and ‘Sports Schools’ before? All of these portrayed the same ambition and seriousness when they were launched years ago.
However, year by year, normal schools have out-smarted the Smart Schools in SPM and STPM examinations. The Vision School concept was the government’s effort to promote national unity but communal politics from the same government seems to be jeopardising its own efforts. We have yet to see any results from our Sport Schools either. So, will Apex University share the same destiny?
Without doubting Universiti Sains Malaysia’s credibility to win the status of Apex University, the first question is why must only one university be chosen? Why must we put all our eggs in one basket?
Instead, I believe it would have been better if the government outlined key performance indicators for universities where incentives and funding would be based on. This creates healthy competition, thus automatically accelerating progress towards excellence.
Giving special support and attention to only one university might not be fair to the other universities. In addition, the government might face huge embarrassment if the chosen Apex university is out-performed by the non-chosen ones.
Secondly, given the current scenario of limited freedom of speech and over commercialisation of the education sector in Malaysia, how can we achieve excellence in academia?
The lack of a thinking culture is getting more worrying and is becoming a major challenge to our academic society.
In Malaysia, exams act as a ‘quality control’ check on potential employees, starting from seven- year-old primary students to the fresh graduates in their early twenties.
As a result of heavy emphasis on examinations, the argumentative culture, which is needed for empowering thinking is being suppressed, hence causing the death of dialectics.
This situation is exaggerated by government suppression through various restrictions imposed on members of academia like laws such as the Universities and Universities Colleges Act (UUCA) and the Statutory Bodies Act, plus the need to have teaching permits for lecturers.
Over commercialisation has resulted in the mushrooming of colleges, universities or even private schools, thus overwhelmingly increasing the supply of education services.
Simple economic theory will tell that increase in supply (education institutions) without an increase in demand (students) will lead to a decrease in price (quality of education through lower entry requirements).
Over supply of graduates could also cause unemployment and underemployment. Professor Khoo Kay Kim has contrasted the situation in the millennium era with that of University Malaya's early days, when a mere 25 percent of its students who had come in as freshies would walk up the stage to receive their degrees on convocation day, four or five years later.
But now, the passing rate in the university is very high, exceeding 90 percent and this is even more apparent in private universities because failing the students mean alienating potential customers.
Besides that, Malaysia’s academic excellence is being threatened by career minded school teachers and university lecturers who view their academic posts as careers and assume academic activities as ‘teaching only’.
The worst is the assumption that an academic job is an easy job for a stable income. They will not bother or might even discourage others from conducting research.
On top of that, flexible working hours accorded by the institutions of higher education for research purposes are utilised by careerists to earn extra income from giving part-time tuition, selling unit trusts or partaking in direct selling.
Let us also not forget about a shocking effect from this market-driven education – the issue of "thesis outsourcing" in Malaysia. This issue made headlines in December 2007. It was reported that hundreds of master’s and PhD students in Malaysia were getting "professional thesis writers" to pen their thesis.
The Higher Education Ministry said it was aware of this, but as educational institutions were not complaining about it, little could be done to put a stop to this shameful practice.
Last but not least, administrative hegemony, that comes together with discrimination, would continue to derail Malaysian academics towards excellence regardless of what the government has planned.
Two prominent cases worth mentioning: Firstly, Prof KS Jomo, an internationally renowned Malaysian economist left University Malaya for the United Nations early this year to take up appointment of assistant secretary-general after "decades of frustration, discrimination and non-recognition of his academic and intellectual talents and qualities".
Jomo was never given any senior appointment, although many of his students have been made deans of faculty or heads of department. His application to be a senior professor was supported by three Nobel laureates as referees, but was rejected.
The second case is of Associate Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez, also from University Malaya. Despite being given strong verbal assurance by the university’s vice-chancellor, Gomez was initially denied a two-year leave of secondment to take up the prestigious research appointment as Project Manager at the Geneva-based United Nations Research Institute for Social Development to pioneer global research on racial conflict.
The university claimed it turned down the application because it needed the services of the lecturer.
In the two cases mentioned, international recognition for Jomo and Gomez should have been seen as an honour to the universities and their outstanding achievements should have been encouraged. Political or racial discrimination should not interfere and control academic freedom and fairness.
So, whither Malaysia’s academia? Could the Apex University programme save our education system from the end of academia? The whole education system should be re-evaluated and upgraded. Academic freedom and fairness should be guaranteed.
Failing to do so might resulted in Malaysians losing confidence in their own education system and therefore sending their children to international schools and foreign universities. There have been rumors that even our ministers are doing so. If this is true, what else can we say?
However, year by year, normal schools have out-smarted the Smart Schools in SPM and STPM examinations. The Vision School concept was the government’s effort to promote national unity but communal politics from the same government seems to be jeopardising its own efforts. We have yet to see any results from our Sport Schools either. So, will Apex University share the same destiny?
Without doubting Universiti Sains Malaysia’s credibility to win the status of Apex University, the first question is why must only one university be chosen? Why must we put all our eggs in one basket?
Instead, I believe it would have been better if the government outlined key performance indicators for universities where incentives and funding would be based on. This creates healthy competition, thus automatically accelerating progress towards excellence.
Giving special support and attention to only one university might not be fair to the other universities. In addition, the government might face huge embarrassment if the chosen Apex university is out-performed by the non-chosen ones.
Secondly, given the current scenario of limited freedom of speech and over commercialisation of the education sector in Malaysia, how can we achieve excellence in academia?
The lack of a thinking culture is getting more worrying and is becoming a major challenge to our academic society.
In Malaysia, exams act as a ‘quality control’ check on potential employees, starting from seven- year-old primary students to the fresh graduates in their early twenties.
As a result of heavy emphasis on examinations, the argumentative culture, which is needed for empowering thinking is being suppressed, hence causing the death of dialectics.
This situation is exaggerated by government suppression through various restrictions imposed on members of academia like laws such as the Universities and Universities Colleges Act (UUCA) and the Statutory Bodies Act, plus the need to have teaching permits for lecturers.
Over commercialisation has resulted in the mushrooming of colleges, universities or even private schools, thus overwhelmingly increasing the supply of education services.
Simple economic theory will tell that increase in supply (education institutions) without an increase in demand (students) will lead to a decrease in price (quality of education through lower entry requirements).
Over supply of graduates could also cause unemployment and underemployment. Professor Khoo Kay Kim has contrasted the situation in the millennium era with that of University Malaya's early days, when a mere 25 percent of its students who had come in as freshies would walk up the stage to receive their degrees on convocation day, four or five years later.
But now, the passing rate in the university is very high, exceeding 90 percent and this is even more apparent in private universities because failing the students mean alienating potential customers.
Besides that, Malaysia’s academic excellence is being threatened by career minded school teachers and university lecturers who view their academic posts as careers and assume academic activities as ‘teaching only’.
The worst is the assumption that an academic job is an easy job for a stable income. They will not bother or might even discourage others from conducting research.
On top of that, flexible working hours accorded by the institutions of higher education for research purposes are utilised by careerists to earn extra income from giving part-time tuition, selling unit trusts or partaking in direct selling.
Let us also not forget about a shocking effect from this market-driven education – the issue of "thesis outsourcing" in Malaysia. This issue made headlines in December 2007. It was reported that hundreds of master’s and PhD students in Malaysia were getting "professional thesis writers" to pen their thesis.
The Higher Education Ministry said it was aware of this, but as educational institutions were not complaining about it, little could be done to put a stop to this shameful practice.
Last but not least, administrative hegemony, that comes together with discrimination, would continue to derail Malaysian academics towards excellence regardless of what the government has planned.
Two prominent cases worth mentioning: Firstly, Prof KS Jomo, an internationally renowned Malaysian economist left University Malaya for the United Nations early this year to take up appointment of assistant secretary-general after "decades of frustration, discrimination and non-recognition of his academic and intellectual talents and qualities".
Jomo was never given any senior appointment, although many of his students have been made deans of faculty or heads of department. His application to be a senior professor was supported by three Nobel laureates as referees, but was rejected.
The second case is of Associate Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez, also from University Malaya. Despite being given strong verbal assurance by the university’s vice-chancellor, Gomez was initially denied a two-year leave of secondment to take up the prestigious research appointment as Project Manager at the Geneva-based United Nations Research Institute for Social Development to pioneer global research on racial conflict.
The university claimed it turned down the application because it needed the services of the lecturer.
In the two cases mentioned, international recognition for Jomo and Gomez should have been seen as an honour to the universities and their outstanding achievements should have been encouraged. Political or racial discrimination should not interfere and control academic freedom and fairness.
So, whither Malaysia’s academia? Could the Apex University programme save our education system from the end of academia? The whole education system should be re-evaluated and upgraded. Academic freedom and fairness should be guaranteed.
Failing to do so might resulted in Malaysians losing confidence in their own education system and therefore sending their children to international schools and foreign universities. There have been rumors that even our ministers are doing so. If this is true, what else can we say?
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