An independent scholar has urged the government to prioritise strengthening academic culture in public universities instead of dwelling on the debate about local versus international student enrollment.
Sharifah Munirah Alatas said the core issues were the poor quality of graduates, weak academic standards, and intellectual repression on campuses – problems that persist regardless of student demographics.
She also said that the fixation on enrolment numbers distracts from urgent reforms, including repealing restrictive laws such as the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (Auku) and the Statutory Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act 2000 (Act 605).
“Act 605, in particular, is mentally stifling and intellectually stunting. This piece of legislation has already created a few generations of timid, uncritical, political yes-men and mediocre academics in the public university system.
“As a result, academe in Malaysia has been ridiculed and mocked,” she said in a Facebook post.
Her comments came in response to the higher education ministry denying claims by Jitra assemblyman Haim Hilman Abdullah that international students were being prioritised over locals in admissions to Malaysia’s research universities.
Higher education director-general Azlinda Azman said local students had always been given priority and were never sidelined when it came to places in research universities.
While foreign students pay higher tuition fees and generate more revenue, Munirah said there were doubts as to whether the funds were being used to improve campus culture and facilities.
“How have university facilities improved? In at least two of the five research universities, there are still dilapidated offices, leaking office ceilings, rusty staircase railings, poorly-lit and dingy corridors and poor ventilation,” she said.
“Have new perspectives on campus and in lecture halls emerged and been encouraged? And especially in the social sciences, arts and humanities programmes?”
Munirah also criticised the overemphasis on global university rankings, saying they drive the rush for international enrolment but undermine quality education.
She called for a task force to reassess Malaysia’s dependence on such rankings, describing them as exploitative and tied to the corporatisation of higher education.
