SEVERAL academics are criticising global university rankings, describing them as profit-driven exercises and calling on Malaysian institutions to explore alternative methods of evaluating universities.
Independent academic Sharifah Munirah Alatas said that ranking bodies such as QS, Times Higher Education and the Academic Ranking of World Universities function as businesses that benefit financially from participating institutions, according to a report by Free Malaysia Today. She said that many universities in Western countries had distanced themselves from ranking exercises, but that Malaysian institutions had not followed suit.
According to Sharifah Munirah, Malaysian universities often participated in rankings without questioning their impact on teaching practices, reading materials and grading systems.
Academic Sarah Wijesinghe, said that rankings had turned into a game, citing an unnamed university that had allegedly established a dedicated team and allocated a substantial budget to analyse ranking criteria.
Meanwhile, International Islamic University of Malaysia lecturer Adli Musa said that academic publishing had likewise become profit-driven, with major publishers charging fees of up to RM1,000 to publish academic papers, while the academics who reviewed those papers were not paid.
The academics were reported to have made these remarks during a panel discussion held in conjunction with the launch of Ivory Tower Reform: A Vision for Higher Education in Malaysia, a book co-edited by Munirah, Adli and Ngo Sheau Shi, at Gerakbudaya, Petaling Jaya on Dec 13.
-BTSMedia.my
