Let’s soar and shine

Moving forward: With their right hand placed upwards against their chest, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) students and their vice-chancellor (in dark glasses) Brig Jen Prof Datuk Dr Kamaruddin Hussin are all set to see their goals accomplished.

While the nation has made significant inroads in higher education, there is still a need to pave a better route with more effort and commitment from all stakeholders.

IN recent weeks, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh has made “Soaring Upwards” his slogan or catch phrase. If you have not heard it yet, expect to hear more of it from now on.

It serves as an inspiration for the ministry and stakeholders to move forward. It is a powerful slogan and its focus is about the outcome of higher education and establishing values that will make holistic individuals out of our tertiary students.

The ministry has started an aggressive awareness campaign on implementing and achieving the 10 shifts mentioned in Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (Higher Education). It will ensure that these aspirations are met.

At the first roadshow held in Kuantan in August, the enthusiastic shouts of “Soaring Upwards” rang out loud and clear as the minister entered the hall with his entourage.

The atmosphere turned festive with the sound of rhythmic music produced by the signature stompers from community colleges in Kuantan and Rompin.

Datuk Idris took to the stage and made a captivating presentation of what “Soaring Upwards” was with regard to the implementation of the higher education blueprint, as transformation of the system was also a national priority.

Over the last decade, the ministry has carried out various short- and long-term initiatives, which had brought about significant results.

So many success stories unfolded as the minister shared that the number of research articles published by Malaysian universities increased more than three-fold between 2007 and 2012. He also said that the number of citations grew four-fold from 2005 to 2012.

The five Malaysian Research Universities alone contributed 70% to these publications. From 2007 to 2011, the number of patents filed by Malaysia’s universities grew by 11% each year, placing Malaysia 28th in the world for new patents during that period.

One of the key messages of the Minister is that the position of Malaysian varsities in world rankings is improving. He proudly announced that five of Malaysia’s universities are currently ranked among Asia’s top 100 varsities. They include Univeristi Malaya (UM) and USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) which are ranked at 29 and 49 respectively in the QS Word University Rankings: Asia 2015.

The strengths of our local universities is in niche areas.

In this regard, USM ranked 31st in the subject area of Environmental Sciences, while UM is 32nd for Development Studies in the QS World Univer-sity Rankings by Subject.

Eleven other universities had at least one department or subject placed in the top 200 globally, with, for instance, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)’s engineering and technology faculty placed at 100 in the world rankings.

Both UM and USM are ranked in the top 500 by the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

This meaningful achievement resonates the slogan of “Soaring Upwards” being realised, especially when Dr Ying Cheng, the executive director of the Centre for World-Class universities remarked that both universities had highly-cited researchers. They had published thousands of papers indexed by Thomson Reuters Web of Science and recognised 14 Malaysian researchers.

They are among the top one percent of the highly-cited papers published worldwide (Extracted from Essential Science Indicators (ESI) year 2005 to 2014) at the Rising Stars’ Awards Presentation Ceremony in Langkawi last month.

To crown it all, UM is ranked 146 in the 2015/2016 QS World University Rankings thus making its way into the top 150 best universities in the world! There has been a continuous rise in the rankings as UM was 151 in 2014 and 167 in 2013.

The ministry hopes to see UM break into the top 100 in the world by 2020. If UM continues to work hard (and with the ministry’s support), this will be a possibility.

Quality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is also given a strong focus. I must say that TVET is “the future of education”. Community colleges and polytechnics serve as higher education TVET providers.

TVET institutes have won many accolades both at national and international level.

Worthy of mention is that seven of our polytechnic institutions have obtained gold-ranked accreditation from the Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission (APACC), the highest in the Asia Pacific Region.

Furthermore, the crowning of the Malaysian Polytechnics Robotics Team (consisting of students from various polytechnics throughout the country) as the world champion in the recent 20th FIRA Roboworld Cup, Korea 2015 is yet another indication that our higher education institutions are indeed soaring. The prestigious international event was to promote robotics technology.

In 2014, the Community Colleges Department swept the Asean Outstanding Business Award in the Asean Most Recognised Brand Award for Leaders in Community Education and Training. In 2015 it clinched the Leading Education and Social Entrepreneurship Award.

The Langkawi Tourism Academy (Kolej Komuniti Langkawi) has created a strong reputation for producing students who have excelled at the Asean Skills Competition. Today Community Colleges are accepted as effective providers for lifelong learning.

The ministry has plans to continue its road shows in all states. Soaring upwards with the signature hand gesture of an upward sign has left an impression on many. We are certainly on the right path when it comes to higher education. All we need is to not lose focus as we march forward into the future.