There is no way Malaysian universities are on par with the British, German and Australian universities when the national institutions are only attracting foreign students from developing countries, says Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari.

Zairil was responding to the remark by Education Minister II Idris Jusoh, in which he said that Malaysian universities are “world class” as there are 135,000 students, making up 10 percent of students in the local universities.

In a press statement today, Zairil reviewed the Education Ministry’s latest statistics where the top countries of origin for foreign students in Malaysian universities comprised of developing countries such as Iran, Indonesia, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan.     

“The majority of international students in Malaysia do not come from advanced countries but instead from the developing world, whose own universities are far inferior,” he said.

Zairil also pointed out that the country’s educational level cannot even be compared to Singapore, where the National University of Singapore is ranked 22nd in the world and first in Asia, leaving its ‘sister’ Universiti Malaya (UM) far behind.

According to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) 2014 World University Rankings, UM is ranked at 151st place.

“And if we are to use Idris’s argument of foreign student enrolment as an indicator of quality, then the minister’s boast of achieving 10 percent foreign student enrolment is nothing when Singapore had 21 percent foreign students in 2012.

“Instead of making empty boasts, Idris should instead reflect upon why Malaysian students are competing for places in foreign universities instead of choosing to study locally,” he said.

Idris has said that Malaysia’s higher education is now on par with those of developed nations including the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.

He also mentioned that countries which had started to send their students to study in Malaysia include Australia and China.

As such, he urged the public not to be influenced by the slander hurled by opposition leaders who liked to tarnish the government by saying the educational system in the country is still backwards.