Cover image via The Malay Mail OnlineWhile Malaysia has 4 years to achieve its dream of being a high-income nation status, it seems this dream might not become a reality as reports suggest that Malaysia's higher education system is crumbling down.
And there are a few reasons why we should be worried:
1. The downfall of public universities in renowned rankings systems
Image via The Malay Mail Online
However, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) Vice-Chancellor Kamarudin Hussin has jumped in to argue that these ranking systems are "in favour of older and more established institutions"
Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, who was promoted to Minister of Higher Education last year, also cited various statistics to show that Malaysia's higher education system is indeed "world class"
On his Facebook post, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said that there are many indicators on how to evaluate if a university is world class including international student enrolment, university rankings, and subject and faculty rankings.
**He gave many examples on how Malaysia has excelled in these aspects and offered more examples about how lecturers have gained recognition for their achievements and how our public university students' excellence in areas such as [debate](http://says.com/my/news/uitm-and-iium-emerge-champions-in-the-cambridge-intervarsity-debating-competition) and scholarly output on Islamic banking.**
However, the minister also admitted that there are areas that need improvement such as [English proficiency](http://says.com/my/news/welcome-to-the-president-of-usa-barack-obama), [graduate employability](http://says.com/my/news/the-problem-with-young-malaysian-graduates-according-to-hiring-managers) and critical thinking skills.
2. Quality of education aside, there are also concerns about the funds available for public universities. The government had lessen the annual budget allocation for higher learning for Budget 2016.
Image via The Malay Mail Online
To make matters worse, public universities in recent times have been surrounded with scandals related to mismanagement and corruption of funds, which only aggravates the situation
3. On another note, Malaysian public universities have also been accused of suppressing students' freedom of speech. The most recent incident involves students from University Malaya.
Image via MalaysiaKini
Universities should be an outlet for youths to express themselves even as they explore new ideas and ideals.
However, according to UniMAP Vice Chancellor, freedom of expression should be subject to the views of the 'so called majority'.
Image via Bloomberg
