Ranking of Top Universities & Colleges in Malaysia 2011

World Rank Name Country Rank
629 Universiti Sains Malaysia 1

694 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 2

731 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 3

771 Universiti Putra Malaysia 4

788 University of Malaya 5

995 Universiti Malaysia Perlis 6

1126 Multimedia University 7

1133 Universiti Teknologi Mara 8

1344 Universiti Malaysia Pahang 9

1491 International Islamic University of Malaysia * 10

1572 Universiti Utara Malaysia 11

1838 Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia 12

1838 Universiti Tenaga Nasional 13

1862 Universiti Malaysia Sabah 14

2106 Open University Malaysia 15

2127 University of Nottingham Malaysia 16

2154 Universiti Teknologi Petronas 17

2274 Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia 18

2993 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris 19

3333 Taylor's University College 20

3450 Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka 21

3847 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman 22

3859 Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 23

4571 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 24

5011 Universiti Tun Abdul Razak * 25

5068 Monash University Malaysia 26

5266 Universiti Industri Selangor 27

5375 Wawasan Open University 28

5528 UCSI University 29

5554 Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus 30

6117 Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology 31

6628 International Medical University 32

6716 Help University College 33

6795 Tunku Abdul Rahman College 34

6809 Al Madinah International University 35

6867 Universiti Kuala Lumpur 36

6995 National Defence University of Malaysia 37

7003 Segi College 38

7027 Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Universiti Darul .. 39

7209 Universiti Malaysia Kelantan 40

7608 Limkokwing University of Creative Technology * 41

7826 KDU College 42

7991 Selangor International Islamic University College 43

8326 Sunway University College 44

8529 Malaysia Theological Seminary 45

8705 Malaysia University of Science & Technology 46

8772 Olympia College Malaysia 47

8864 Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus 48

9345 Malaysian Institute of Management 49

9479 University of Malaya Medical Center & Faculty of M.. 50

9541 INSANIAH University College 51

9879 Taman Pertanian University 52

9897 Kuala Lumpur Infrastructure University College 53

9911 International Centre for Education in Islamic Fina.. 54

10114 Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia 55

10143 Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences 56

10169 Disted-Stamford College 57

10169 Berjaya University College of Hospitality 58

10281 Asia e University 59

10425 KBU International College 60

10831 New INTI College 61

11254 TATI University College 62

11571 Nilai International College 63

11889 Asia Pacific University College of Technology & In.. 64

11975 AIMST University 65


NOTE : The ranking main factors are Size, Visibility, Research papers and scholars.

http://www.topstudylinks.com/Top-Universities-in-malaysia-c136.aspx

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Give students English as a choice

By P. GUNASEGARAM

If Malaysians can get cheap education at school level in Malay, Chinese and Tamil, why not include English in the list.

Whichever way one looks at it, it is obvious that the decision to revert to Malay, Chinese and Tamil for the teaching of science and maths from 2012, has been politically motivated, with an eye on the next general election.

When the major government parties and those in opposition are united in their stance that maths and science should be taught in the mother tongues of students, what choice has the Government but give that back to them, irrespective of whether it may harm the students and the country in the long term.

Sometimes one wishes that all Cabinet members sent their children to national schools or were required to do so.

In that way, they would be forced to make the best decisions because they want the best for their own children, and therefore be less influenced by political considerations.

Then they would have considered other solutions to satisfy all groups in the country and which would have been perfectly workable. One such solution is simply to give choice to parents and pupils.

If parents wanted science and maths to be taught in English to their children, let them do so affordably by allowing these in national schools. That’s not as difficult or as impractical as it sounds, as we shall explain.

One of the major arguments for teaching science and maths in Malay and the vernacular languages is that these subjects are learned more easily if they are taught in the mother tongue.

The Education Ministry and advocates of rolling back the teaching of science and maths in English should have taken the trouble to establish what percentage of Malaysian households consider English as virtually their mother tongue and use it as the primary language of communication between household members. I suspect the numbers are large.

When then Prime Minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced his intention to resign at an Umno meeting in 2002, then Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri (now Tan Sri) Rafidah Aziz rushed up to him and asked, in English, “Why?”

It was Mahathir, a year later, who made the decision to go back to English for science and maths after having overseen the switch to Malay first as Education Minister and then Prime Minister, virtually admitting his mistake of carrying the language policy too far.

Every business meeting I have attended for many years is in English, I speak in English much more than I speak in any other language to my friends – of all races. The language I use with my children is English and my children speak with all their cousins in English.

This is not to say that other languages are not important but only to say that English is important – to a whole lot of people from all races in the country.

And English is also important, as everybody admits, for the overall development of the country and to be clued into what happens around the world.

Right now, and for the last six years, science and maths have been taught in English. Despite everything that the Government says, it is inevitable that after six years, at least half of these teachers will have developed some capability to teach in English.

If they have not, these teachers must be purged from the education system and be replaced with others because six years is long enough.

Since there are two clear years and six months to the implementation of the new policy in 2012, there is actually plenty of time to iron out any difficulties and anticipate the problems that might arise.

Parents should be required to register their children for schools when the children reach the age of four or five. At that time, they can also be required to state their preferred choice of language for science and maths.

And then they can be allocated to schools according to the medium of instruction.

So two to three years before the students are enrolled in school, the education ministry will have a clear indication of how many students want to be educated in the various languages and simply make the appropriate provisions.

The numbers are not likely to vary substantially year-to-year since such long-term decisions are not typically changed at the drop of a hat.

Then, with all the teachers they already have in stock who can teach science and maths in English, and those they can train, it really should be a cinch to synchronise the manpower accordingly and satisfy all sectors of the population.

It is important to remember that only the very rich and influential can get their children educated in English at the moment.

Even private Malaysian schools are obliged to follow the Malay, Chinese or Tamil mediums of instruction, with no provision for English.

The only ones allowed an English medium are the international schools. Many Malaysians, who no doubt include politicians who support the recent reversal, have used their influence to send their children there, but that avenue is firmly shut to the very vast majority of Malaysians.

There is choice only if there is a viable alternative, and that is to give affordable English education, at least for science and maths, to those who want it in national schools or schools which are about as cheap as that.

Here is an extract from a profile of a prominent former politician and current businessman on his website: “Being a youth of the 40s, during a period when the British Colonial Policy encouraged Malays to attend Malay schools, when Malay parents worried about the possible influence of an English education on their children’s religious faith and cultural identity, Daim and his parents were able to transcend these limitations.

“In fact, his broad-minded parents enrolled all their children at English-medium schools as they did not want their children to become ‘better farmers and fishermen’.” That person in question is of course former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, now by some accounts a billionaire businessman. You can read the full profile at http://daimzainuddin.com/TunDaimProfile.htm.

Should we not give that same opportunity to everyone in Malaysia if they wanted to have it, instead of just the elite and the rich?

Really, it is still not too late. The new policy comes into effect only in 2012, plenty of time to give choices to everyone. When the Government does not know what is best, or is unable to give it, choice is simply preferable.

- THE STAR

HSBC Undergraduate Programme Scholarship Awards 2009

HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad as the world’s local bank, they understand the importance of local knowledge. But local knowledge requires nurturing and development. Therefore HSBC invite application from students who will be pursuing full time first-degree studies in 2009, in a recognised local public or private university or college.
Eligibility

1. Malaysian students who will be pursuing full-time first-degree studies in 2009, in a recognised local public or private university or college (inclusive of local twinning programmes).
2. Below 25 years of age.
3. Full-time degree studies (up to 4 years programme)
4. Only students who are pursuing their first degree.
5. Must have gained admission into a recognised local public or private university or college.
6. For twinning programmes, the full duration of the programme must be done locally.
7. No restriction on field of studies.

Academic Requirement

* SPM - minimum 5 distinctions
* STPM - minimum 2As and a pass in the General Paper
* Diploma, Matriculation or Foundation - minimum CGPA 3.0

Scholarship Details

1. Scholarship duration is up to 4 years.
2. Scholarship amount for local private university or college is up to RM8,000 per annum or up to RM32,000 for 4 years.
3. Scholarship amount for local public university or college is up to RM6,000 per annum or up to RM24,000 for 4 years.

Other Criteria

1. No bonding required.
2. Combined monthly household income is RM2,500 and below.
3. Applicants must not be in receipt of any other scholarship, or award from any educational institutions, or any other organisations /foundation.
4. Education loan is permissible if the scholarship amount is not sufficient to cover tuition fees.
5. Successful applicants must be able to maintain a CGPA of 3.00 or equivalent throughout the duration of his/her studies

Applications

* Complete the application form, dowload here; attach all certified true copies of relevant examination certificates and forward it to:
o HSBC SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION - UNDERGRADUATE
Group Communications (Malaysia) & Corporate Sustainability Department
HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad
8th Floor, Bangunan HSBC
No. 2, Lebuh Ampang
50100 Kuala Lumpur
* Only short-listed candidates will be notified and required to attend an interview.

Closing Date

* Application with related documents must be reached not later than 10 July 2009.

Please refer HSBC Scholarship Awards website or contact them or call HSBC at 03-20507676 for details.

British education, right in Malaysia

By CHOI TUCK WO

Nothing beats a good British education. And there’s little doubt that universities in Britain are clearly among the world’s best.

The fact that no less than 400,000 Malaysians have obtained degrees in Britain goes to show the popularity of British education among those back home.

Indeed, international students – including some 12,000 Malaysians – contribute over £2.5bil l(RM14.4bil) in tuition fees alone to the British economy each year.

A staggering figure, you may say.

Then there are those who yearn for the prestige of a British degree but cannot afford to study in Britain.

For them, it is an elusive dream – no thanks to rising tuition fees and stiff upfront payments under the Tier Four (students) points-based visa system.

However, British universities are increasingly expanding abroad and tapping the huge offshore student market, which accounted for nearly £270mil (RM1.5bil) in fees last year.

So, it’s perhaps time to look at a new kind of educational collaboration where – apart from British universities – British-style boarding schools can be brought to Malaysia. This would allow our students to have a British education without leaving our shores.

So far, Cardiff University, Manchester University and University of Reading are said to be eyeing Malaysia while boarding schools like Marlborough College, Wellington College and Epsom College have expressed interest too.

Even the prestigious Cheltenham Ladies College and Roedean All-Girls College are reportedly keen in jumping on the bandwagon.

For the record, Nottingham University already has a branch campus in Semenyih and Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia’s (NUMed) campus in Nusajaya, Johor, is scheduled to open in 2011.

Brain drain

British-Malaysia Society chairman Datuk Neville Green expressed confidence that it was economically and financially viable to set up British-style boarding schools in Malaysia.

He said they could cater to the expatriate children of foreign investors and Asean nationals as well as Malaysians who could not afford to send their children to boarding schools in Britain.

Green said he knew that a number of British public schools were interested in expanding to Malaysia but they were being held back by the global economic downturn.

“The timing is just not right,” he said, adding that it was the right time to start thinking (about expanding to Malaysia) although not the opportune time to make a decision.

He said Wellington College, for instance, was looking at Selangor while Epsom College was eyeing the Kuala Lumpur Education City.

Wellington College, he said, had held talks with its Malaysian counterparts, and it was keen on Selangor because a number of its former students were from that state.

“There is also a need for boarding schools for girls and Cheltenham Ladies College and Roedean College have expressed interest in Malaysia,” he noted.

Green said once the opportunity was ripe, they might take the next step in finding business partners to develop the sites and finance the projects.

Bringing quality British education to Malaysia, he added, would help to reverse the brain drain as parents no longer needed to send their children to study in Britain.

Emerging trend

Malaysian High Commissioner to Britain Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohamad said it was time Malaysians moved away from the mindset of pursuing higher education in Britain.

He said the number of Malaysian students coming to Britain had been declining over the years, with a lot of diversions to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.

“We’re now all over the place, with Australia and New Zealand getting about 32,000 Malaysian students,” he said, adding that many had also gone to Ukraine, Germany and France.

Abdul Aziz said some British universities were trying to capture a slice of the Malaysian market through collaborations with their local counterparts.

He spoke of an emerging trend where British institutions set up boarding schools and campuses in Malaysia.

For instance, he said, Marlborough College, Cardiff University and Manchester University had expressed interest in venturing into Malaysia.

“There are a few more but nothing is concrete yet. It’s still at an exploratory stage,” he added.

Iskandar Investment Bhd’s senior vice-president (education & healthcare) Khairil Anwar Ahmad said talks were under way to bring British-style boarding schools and tertiary institutions to Malaysia.

He said besides NUMed, they hoped to attract eight other universities and several boarding schools to set up branch campuses at Iskandar Malaysia’s EduCity in Nusajaya and other nearby sites.

Other countries in Europe, and Australia and the US have shown interest in establishing branch campuses at Iskandar Malaysia’s EduCity.

“EduCity will be developed into a fully integrated education hub comprising best-in-class faculties of reputable universities,” he added.

And for foreign investors and expatriates who wish to do business or set up a second home in Malaysia, Iskandar Malaysia is offering what may be seen as the ultimate work-live-play environment.

- THE STAR

Testing being a student

By RASLAN SHARIF

Are the benefits that can be had from English proficiency strong enough justification to penalise those who fail the English paper by denying them the SPM certificate?

I took my driving test more than 30 years ago, at the age of 17.

Part of the test – parking, braking, you know the drill – was conducted at the test site of the Road Transport Department (JPJ) office in Petaling Jaya, while the road test route was a loop of several kilometres around the area.

I had practised and practised for days, but still, I felt a bit nervous, and I believe so did everyone taking the test there that day.

I don’t know how it’s done now, but back then, even if you could recite all the rules and regulations from memory and flawlessly complete mock test runs during practice sessions blindfolded, you would still not pass if you so much as failed a single section of the actual test.

It did not matter if you hit home runs in other parts of the test – one strike, and you were out.

It seems unfair, but it makes sense. A car, in less than competent hands, is a potentially dangerous weapon. It can hurt or kill not just the driver, but others as well.

Therefore, there exists the need to do as much as possible to minimise the risks of that happening.

If this meant failing you for the sole reason that you had inadvertently brushed the car ever so slightly against a pole during the parking test, then so be it.

The lives of others, and yours, were more important than an ego severely bruised because someone had been branded a failure and sent packing.

I passed the test at the first try, by the way (no bruising of the ego there; perhaps a slight inflation).

This was a few months after I had sat for the SPM examination, where you also risked what could be described as failure if you did not pass the Bahasa Malaysia paper.

If you failed the paper, you would not get the certificate, even if you had aced all the other subjects.

Again, it seems unfair, but I believe that it is reasonable to expect Fifth Form students to at least pass an exam on the national language.

This is not to say that I excel in Bahasa Malaysia. My command of the formal language, written or spoken, is average at best.

In the SPM examinations, I “scored” what was then known as C5 for the Bahasa Malaysia paper. Same with the wife (maybe that’s why we communicate with each other so well).

C5 is exactly half way between A1 and F9. Like I said, average.

My son, who is in primary school, inherited from his parents the genes that control potential proficiency in the national language, if there is such a thing.

He is not doing too badly, but in comparison to his grasp of other subjects in school, he is struggling a bit with Bahasa Malaysia.

No, we do not speak much English at home.

In fact, the family communicates in Bahasa Malaysia almost 90% of the time. And he has good Bahasa Malaysia teachers.

For whatever reason behind his less than stellar performance in the language, my son is getting tuition to help him along. Hopefully, with a bit more effort, things will turn out all right.

When it comes to English, however, the boy is doing much better. His command of the language is advancing rapidly. He finds it easy.

Obviously, so do I.

I think there is a consensus in this country that having a good grasp of English is highly beneficial, if not crucial, at least for economic reasons.

So should a pass in English be compulsory for SPM candidates to be awarded the certificate, as proposed recently by Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin?

The reaction to this suggestion has been mixed.

Most of those who support the move probably have a good grasp of English. They have likely benefited in many ways from their proficiency in the language.

But are the benefits that can be had from English proficiency strong enough justification to penalise those who fail the English paper by denying them the SPM certificate?

Not having the certificate can be a considerable disadvantage to school-leavers.

They can literally say goodbye to entrance into public universities and to working in the public sector, as well as to being accepted for a few jobs in the private sector.

Some might argue that the situation is the same for those who do not have an SPM certificate because they did not pass the Bahasa Malaysia paper.

That is true, but I think few would disagree that young Malaysians about to enter the adult world as full-blooded citizens of the country should at least have a passable (in all senses of the word) command of the national language.

For this reason, I will make sure that my children get through, come hell or high water.

Moreover, we have the human resources for the effective teaching and learning of Bahasa Malaysia at the primary and secondary education levels.

It would be both ironic and tragic if Malaysia can’t teach its children Bahasa Malaysia well.

The same cannot be said of English language instruction in our schools. It is way past tragic, as the general level of English proficiency in this country used to be much higher.

For these reasons, let’s leave the English paper as it is, at least until we fix the part on teaching English properly in schools, especially in rural areas.

Let’s not make getting an SPM certificate unjustifiably more difficult for more people.

It would definitely not be like getting a driver’s licence.

Need to produce thinking students

By Nik Roskiman Abdul Samad

There has to be a system able to educate and equip the people with all the tools necessary to face the complex pressures of modern society.

WE celebrated Teachers’ Day a few weeks ago. Talk of education always brings to my mind a speech given by Dorothy L. Sayers at Oxford in 1947, which was later printed in essay form bearing the title The Lost Tools of Learning.

Although Sayers was not an educationist, but rather a novelist, her profound critique of the modern education system has initiated a classical education movement in the US and Europe.

I first came across her ideas several years ago, and those ideas have stayed in my mind. And I find them to be relevant more so now as our government is planning to review or revamp our education system and curriculum.

It is indeed timely for the Government to introduce a new education system that is able to really educate and equip the people with all the tools necessary to face the complex pressures of modern society.

This is the crux of Sayer’s critique of the modern education system: the inability to produce educated people equipped with the necessary tools of modern life.

Our national education system has failed, the public has said. They are clamouring for a better education system to replace the present one. Our system is accused of being exam-oriented and produces trained “parrots”. Why?

One of the reasons is that our system today is burdening students with too many subjects. Since there are too many subjects, teachers are not able to concentrate on developing personalities and individual characters. Their focus is on completing the entire syllabus of every subject, otherwise the students may not be able to answer questions in the coming term examinations.

No time is spared for inter-personal discussions, counselling or informal advice-giving sessions between teachers and students. The situation in our country is worsened by the attitudes of some of our ministers or politicians, who want to have their say with regard to the education system.

It is as though every minister deems he has the right to have his say in deciding what subjects should or should not be taught in our schools, without being duly qualified.

When we feel that the trend is towards Information Technology (IT), we want subjects related to IT to be taught in schools.

Later, when we dispatched our angkasawan to the moon, we wanted Astronomy to be part of our curriculum.

When we feel entrepreneurship is important, we want it to be part of the subjects taught in schools.

Recently, we seem to feel that national unity and patriotism is at stake, therefore we demand that these subjects be included in the national curriculum. It goes on endlessly.

We have actually lost sight of what education is all about and what its true objective entails.

Education is not about teaching particular “subjects”. Neither it is about the number of subjects taught in schools. It is about nurturing a human being to be a “good man”.

Modern students today are certainly taught more subjects, but that does not mean they are actually “good” or know more; nor does it mean they are better equipped than those before them.

Compared with students of the Athenean Middle Ages, who only studied three subjects at the trivium and four subjects at the quadrivium, for example, today’s students should perform better, considering their intellectual growth.

But this is not the case. Many a time an interview panel is frustrated with the performance of our graduates, despite their having spent more than a decade at the primary and secondary education levels and approximately four years at the tertiary level.

They certainly “studied” hundreds of subjects and, yet, they do not know the basics, have no confidence in speaking, no critical and logical thought when arguing, have no common sense, rational thought and so on. Why?

Because they had never been taught to think, how to use reason or how to argue during their entire “formal” education.

The only reason they have succeeded thus far is, perhaps, purely because they were good at memorising data – not that their intellect has been developed.

The findings of child development psychiatrists and research workers have emphasised the deep impressions early experiences have on children and the lasting effects of such impressions.

Comenius, in The School of Infancy, Montessori, in his The Secret of Childhood, and countless others have stressed the importance of right education at an early age.

In Islam, emphasis is given even when the parent is still searching for his spouse, seeking only for one with upright religious bearing since their children will be affected by their parents’ character.

At their early stage, children should be taught the proper use of the tools of learning before they begin to apply these to “subjects”, which should only be taught at a later stage.

At the foundational stage, they should only be taught three things, the trivium: Grammar, Logic (Dialectic), and Rhetoric.

This is quite similar to the traditional Islamic primary education where children at an early age should be taught, among other things, the Qur’an, language, literature (adab), ethics (akhlaq) and logic (mantiq).

Only at the secondary or university levels perhaps whatever subjects suit the national interest and the contemporary age may be introduced.

In general, children in Malaysia are reluctant to go to school, unlike children in the developed countries who exhibit eagerness and enthusiasm.

Children in Europe find school very interesting, and their teachers to be very loving and friendly. In Malaysia, even before going to school, we have a hard time with our children.

Teachers are assumed to be fierce because of their demeanor, like “teacher-cum-police” officers.

They also envision being bombarded with too much information that they are required to know, not to mention writing.

But their ability to reflect, think and ponder is not being groomed and developed. They are required to memorise data where all the answers are given.

Our education policy makers should sit down seriously with educationists and “experts” to come up with a better education policy for the sake of our future generations.

We have had enough of the same old moans whenever review of our education system is mentioned. Nothing substantial has been done thus far. Even the perennial issue of heavy school bags has not been effectively resolved yet.

Hopefully the “people’s Prime Minister” will look into this matter more urgently.

- THE STAR

Stupidity in numbers

By A.ASOHAN

Individuals may be idealistic, smart and articulate – until they join a group.

The late grandmaster Isaac Asimov bequeathed two great legacies to the world of science fiction: His three laws of robotics, and his fictional take on the science of “psychohistory”.

In the mundane world, psychohistory is the study of historical events using psychological motivation as its lens. In Asimov’s version, it is a predictive science that uses a combination of psychology and sociology, with a mathematical underpinning using the laws of statistics.

In simpler terms, Asimov posited that you could predict what was going to happen to a society using mathematical formulae. In his Foundation series, the psychohistory pioneer Hari Seldon, with his calculations and foresight, guided the fate and future of an entire galactic civilisation through a few millennia using this tool.

Asimov used gas and the kinetic theory of physics as an analogy – it’s extremely difficult to predict the movement, actions and reactions of a single molecule of gas, yet we can analyse the entirety with a high degree of accuracy.

Sociology, psychohistory – all sciences devoted to studying groups – are all predicated on the belief that while individuals are impossible to pin down, they’re very shallow and easily manipulated when you put enough of them together.

That single devotee of any religion may strive to be forgiving, caring and compassionate. A group of them, however, sees nothing wrong in killing non-believers despite their religion’s teachings to the contrary. Adherents of the faith may be tolerant and accepting; institutions are rarely so. Devotees can find strength in themselves and in their divinity; organisations are usually scared and insecure.

Individual Thais are among the gentlest, warmest, and most gracious people you could ever meet; groups of them were throwing petrol bombs at each other in the capital of Bangkok earlier this week.

While some may truly understand the issues involved – their right to their own government, among others – the rest are just being manoeuvred by media-savvy politicians who know which buttons to push.

Most individual Americans I’ve met have high ethical standards, yet as a society they re-elected a president whose administration saw nothing wrong in invading another land under false pretences, or torturing civilian suspects by just labelling them enemy combatants, or trampling upon civic liberties – in fact, in destroying just about everything the United States stands for.

I have no doubt that many who took part in the illegal assembly organised by the outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force in November of 2007 were genuinely concerned about the marginalisation of an entire cross-section of Malaysian society, and how their plight has been neglected for so many decades.

Yet, going by many photographs on the Internet, some held placards of Mahatma Gandhi in one hand while pelting coppers with stones with the other.

Again, individuals may have been cognisant of the Mahatma’s non-violent non-cooperation model of civil disobedience in India’s struggle for independence, but too many in that group just saw an icon that could be manipulated for emotive oomph.

What an injustice to a great leader. Sure, we can’t expect everyone to have read the dozens of biographies on the Mahatma, but perhaps a required screening of Richard Attenborough’s 1982 multiple award-winning Gandhi may have been in order. Who could not be moved by the scene of the salt march, when demonstrators lined up to be savagely beaten by British troops, all without lifting a single finger in retaliation?

In the movie, the American journalist Walker (Martin Sheen) calls in his story over the telephone, his voice taut and broken with emotion: “They walked, with heads up, without music, or cheering, or any hope of escape from injury or death.

“It went on and on and on. Women carried the wounded bodies from the ditch until they dropped from exhaustion. But still it went on.

“Whatever moral ascendance the West held was lost today. India is free ... for she has taken all that steel and cruelty can give, and she has neither cringed nor retreated.”

Then we come to our local politicians (you knew we would come to this sooner or later, didn’t you?). How many times have we seen a young, charismatic and idealistic young person full of promise join a political party and suddenly become – there’s no other word for it – stupid?

Sure, I know all about playing to the gallery and toeing the party line. I accept none of it as an excuse.

Man is a social animal, true. We need our families, clans, tribes, communities, societies, condominium management committees, and autonomous collectives (despite the violence inherent in the system, as those chaps in Monty Python would tell you).

One’s a person, two’s company, three’s a crowd, four has a certain symmetry, and anything above is a mob. And as the Greek philosopher Diogenes said, the mob is the mother of tyrants.

He was being kind. John Dryden, the 17th century English poet and playwright, said it even better: “A mob is the scum that rises upmost when the nation boils.”

So what can I say? Being in a group is nice, but maintain your individuality. After all, it is what makes you, well, you.

- THE STAR

Public University Applications Entry for 2009

Students who want to apply for a place in public universities (IPTA) must acquire a unique ID number to carry out applications.

From March 3, they can buy the number for between RM10.60 and RM15.60 at Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN).

Giving details yesterday, Higher Education Department director-general Datuk Prof Radin Umar Radin Sohadi said each applicant would be given up to three chances to make changes on applications before the closing date.

“Online applications have been open for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) and Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) leavers since Feb 3 and it will close 10 working days after the public examination results have been released,” he said.

The results of the applications will be out on May 1 and June 19 for SPM and STPM leavers respectively.

Applicants have to confirm their choice of university and course within seven days upon knowing the results. Appeals can be made online within 10 days.

This year, there will be about 40,500 places available at IPTAs for students who sat for STPM, Matriculation or the equivalent, and 28,000 places available for SPM leavers.

“Up to Feb 24, we’ve had a total of 139,207 applications, which is the highest so far,” said Prof Radin Umar.

He said students and parents should attend the National Higher Education Carnival East Zone, to be held in Universiti Malaysia Pahang from Feb 28 to March 1, if they would like to meet counsellors.

Information regarding the application process, status, and forms can be downloaded and read on http://upu.mohe.gov.my

MUET results out on 15 January 2009

The results of the Malaysian University English Test (MUET), held last year, will be out this Thursday, 15 January 2009.

Malaysian Examination Council public relations officer, Khawari Idris, said candidates could obtain their results from the schools or other educational institutions where they registered for the examination, while the private candidates would receive theirs through the mail.

He said candidates could also check their results through SMS by typing MUET and sending to 39003 or logging on to www.mpm.edu.my from this Thursday.

Candidates who wish to resit for MUET to improve on their results can register with the State Education Department or District Education Office before this Jan 29. The test will be held in the middle of this year.

A total of 79,752 candidates sat for MUET last year.

- Bernama

Majority opted for English when answering PMR Science paper

The percentage of students who answered the Science paper of this year’s Penilaian Me­­nengah Rendah (PMR) entirely in English rose by 138% compared with last year’s figure.

This is the first time ever that a majority of students had answered the paper in English.

This year, 51.2% of candidates cho­se English, compared with 30.8% who answered in Malay and 18% who used a combination of both lan­guages. Last year, only 21.5% of candidates answered the PMR Scien­ce paper wholly in English.

Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom described the increasing trend of candidates using English as “very encouraging.”

“This year marks the fourth batch of students who took the PMR after studying Mathematics and Science in English from Form One,’’ he said.

He said the final decision on whe­ther the subjects would continue to be taught in English rested with Education Minister Da­­tuk Seri Hi­­sham­­muddin Tun Hus­sein.

“We have already decided that the 2009 PMR will remain bilingual,” he said at a press conference to an­­nounce the 2008 PMR results.

The subject that showed the biggest improvement in performance was English – the pass rate increased by 3.6% from 71.2% in (2003-2007) to 74.8% this year.

“Students are more comfortable using the language as they have studied Mathematics and Science in English for three years,’’ he said when asked whether the improvement was linked to the policy of teaching both subjects in English.

A total of 26,378 candidates or 5.96% scored straight As in the PMR. Last year the figure was 5.65%, while in 2006 it was 4.83%.

Alimuddin said that at least 15% of candidates scored As in all the 16 subjects offered under the PMR.

“In many subjects, more than 20% of candidates scored As,’’ he said.

The subjects with the most num­ber of A scorers were Punjabi (56.2%), Iban (30%) and Living Skills – Tech­nical (30.1%).

The disparity between the performance of urban and rural students was also narrowing. “Each year we see an improvement in the achievements of rural students,” he said.

An expert from Cambridge Inter­national Examinations in Bri­tain, Kate Newcombe sat in on the evaluation process and setting of standards of this year’s PMR.

“She said the standard of our Ma­­thematics and Science paper was higher than Britain’s,’’ said Alimud­din.

- The Star

Learning language or what?

As the debate on the teaching of Science and Mathematics draws closer to its end, enthusiastic teachers, anxious parents and eager students anticipate with great fervour the round of talks surrounding the subject area in our daily news, as highly-concerned politicians, policy-makers and all those whose say matter in the final decision assert their stance.

The distressed audience nod, frown, shake their heads, with some even going so far as to let out a sigh as they listen, watch or read the statements that form the news headline and which will later result in a stimulating discussion over coffee with like-minded colleagues.

The collection of thoughts on this issue up to now is varied, ranging from the proposal to retain the current practice of using English to teach both subjects, to that which says we should revert to the old comforting practice of using Bahasa Malaysia for both subjects.

Of late, another school of thought - teach both Science and Mathematics in the students’ mother tongue - has been added to the continuum of suggestions. All of these diverse viewpoints share a common underlying ambition, namely to expand students’ proficiency either in English, Bahasa Malaysia or their mother tongue through the teaching of both Science and Mathematics in these respective languages.

While established pedagogical practices such as ‘content-based teaching’ gain their credibility essentially through the ability to encourage learning of the target language through content teaching, the distinction between those practices and our current concern calls for a moment of reflection.

Is the main objective of implementing either English, Bahasa Malaysia or the students’ mother tongue for teaching both subjects to improve their proficiency in the chosen language?

Or, should we choose a language which will benefit students’ transition to these specialised fields and prepare them to achieve an edge in the field of Science and Mathematics in the future?

As mentioned elsewhere in the lengthy discussions on this issue, due to the fact that scientific or mathematical texts are more commonly available in the English Language, it becomes fundamental to apprentice students early on to access these knowledge fields in the language in which most literature on them are written and discussed.

Surely our aspiration in schools is not to construct the fields of Science and Mathematics, or the literature in both fields, as impenetrable because of the language barrier.

As for students’ proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia and their mother tongue, I trust that our national curriculum addresses these needs, as evident in the existence of subjects that are dedicated wholly to the development of their proficiency in these languages.

25,000 pupils to get laptops

All Year Five pupils in Terengganu will be given broadband-enabled laptop computers under the state’s electronic textbook or e-book programme.

State Education, Higher Education, Human Resource, Science and Technology Committee chairman Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman said some 25,000 pupils are expected to get the computers in phases.

With the computers and broadband connection, he said the pupils would gain access to archives or other vital resources.

Ahmad Razif said the first batch of 150 students here would receive their e-books in the first week of January.

For the first batch, the laptop computers would be procured from Taiwan and distributed by Intel Electronic, he said.

Ahmad Razif said all students would get their e-books by April next year.

He added that Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka would help install the required programs for the computers.

The state government is expected to spend RM30mil for the procurement of the computers.

Ahmad Razid said the state government decided to embark on the e-book project to reduce the burden of school children who had to carry many books to school.

There was also a need to keep pace with globalisation, he added.

Ahmad Razif said the state government also planned to work with Intel Electronic to set up a factory in Gong Badak to produce similar laptop computers for Year Four, Three, Two and One pupils.

The factory is projected to produce 10,000 units a month.

An education into our ‘exam culture’

Malaysian mums and dads seem to have forgotten the difference between a good education and good results.

Three major things will happen at the end of next week – all public examinations will be over, students will be going wild everywhere in celebration and parents will wear worried faces for the next three months.

November and December have always been very stressful months for Malaysians – for students taking examinations and, more so, their parents.

While students will see it as a burden over and done with, parents will worry right until the results come out in three months’ time. I have always been amazed at the reaction of parents and their stress levels when their children are in a “public examination year”.

It is generally understandable if the examination is the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or Sijil Tinggi Perseko-lahan Malaysia (STPM), but recently I witnessed something that made me conclude that exams are meant more for parents and not the kids.

It’s a double public examination year for me with my daughter having taken the UPSR and her brother in the last leg of the SPM.

In any other family, the stress level would have been unbearable, but for us, it was just another year, Still, I must admit the kids did do a lot of studying.

What happened on the day that my daughter got her UPSR results was a real eye-opener for me.

When my son sat for his UPSR and PMR exams all those years ago, he went and collected the results himself and just called me on the phone to tell me how he did.

My daughter, however, begged one of us to be present and I, thinking it was time I played the role of a good father, agreed.

While all of her friends and their parents had gathered in the school since 10am, my girl and I were lazing at home till about 11am when one of her classmates called to say the results were about to be announced.

What happen next had me stunned, amazed and, frankly, embarrassed.

There were parents there armed with video cameras. They were shooting everything for posterity.

I know that we often take videos or pictures of our kids’ first steps, first concert at kindergarten or even first day at school but their first public exam results? That is taking the UPSR a little too far.

As if that were not enough, the school took it just as seriously as well, announcing the statistics for how well the school had done.

For every positive announcement, the children clapped, but it was the parents who were giving high fives and cheers. Some of the mothers even screamed out in delight when it was announced that this year was the school’s best achievement in the exam ever.

Then a member of the school authority (I really don’t know who was responsible and, bad parent that I am, I was not even sure who the lady making the announcement was) started calling out names and giving each of them their results.

Imagine the kind of pressure the children were put through as they went up one by one under the watchful eye of their schoolmates and their parents.

Every one of them was given a rousing cheer and clap. Halfway through, the announcer said: “As for the rest of you, you all got 5As.”

The remaining students jumped for joy as their parents hugged each other. The video cameras, I noticed failed to record any of this because the parents holding the equipment were also jumping up and down. A great moment lost forever.

At this juncture, I would like to state that my girl also got 5As, and that this is no sour-grapes story.

I just fail to understand why a Year Six examination is such a big deal. I am proud of what my girl achieved but I must also let her know that 5As for UPSR in real life means very little.

She achieved her 5As without any pressure from my wife or I, and that I think is the achievement.

If at the UPSR stage, parents come armed with video cameras, what will they bring when their sons or daughters go to get their SPM and STPM results? A shotgun?

Parents must not only manage their children’s expectations but also keep a proper perspective of examinations and results.

I am more upset that my daughter does not know what the capital of Brazil is than her not scoring full marks for any test because I believe education must be for life and not just for exams.

Why not?

A proper education that enriches young ones with knowledge is the most important function of schools but unfortunately our system fails such a test.

Video - A Corporate Video of Kolej Agama Sultan Zainal Abidin (KUSZA)