tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post115635394125521502..comments2024-03-11T14:23:19.494+08:00Comments on EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA: Foreign versus Local Grads: Take XXXUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1162396261279401602006-11-01T23:51:00.000+08:002006-11-01T23:51:00.000+08:00kafkalee said...I am a local grad, working as an e...kafkalee said...<BR/>I am a local grad, working as an engineer in semicon industry + part-time postgrad at local univ.<BR/>My thoughts on this: <BR/>1. generally, local lecturers lack of industry exposure. in engineering world, things move fast and local lecturers are lagging behind. so, do you expect the contents taught are up to date?<BR/>2. language wise, i see foreign graduates are more outspoken. analytical skill, i do not see much difference between foreign and local grads that work in malaysia.<BR/>3. exposure is important. foreign grad has a huge advantage vs. local talent. <BR/><BR/>What should be done?<BR/>University should encourage industry experts to deliver talks/seminars to the local univ students. i believe this would be a good start to bring up the local univ standard.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1158411242843957522006-09-16T20:54:00.000+08:002006-09-16T20:54:00.000+08:00Local public graduates are very low quality based ...Local public graduates are very low quality based on the following reasons:<BR/>1. very low level academically and entrance requirement. Entrance not base on merit.<BR/>2. alot of copying in assignment or course work . There is nothing but copying among each other or from senior. What do u expect? By copying u can get A. What type of graduates are we producing? <BR/>3. Poor english <BR/>4. Contents taught are very outdated techonolgy especially in enginering.<BR/> <BR/>Think of it.?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1157465310522112682006-09-05T22:08:00.000+08:002006-09-05T22:08:00.000+08:00Dear all, as you can see we do have a predicament....Dear all, as you can see we do have a predicament. The entire education system needs to be restructured from the ground-up.The quality of teachers & thier pay packets should also be increased. Education should be relevant to the students basic needs of literacy & numeracy. In the seconday school area,the curricullum should be structured to reflect the needed professions of the country & the personal ambitions of the student, placing emphasis on required skills for tertiary or technical courses.Thankfully English is now used in the scientific & maths areas as technological advances are often published in English & catchups should be reduced.Hopefully further reforms & transparencies in various depts should yield results in the next say..10+ years?...<BR/><BR/>We want to see our country progress, education by other means shows that we do need to buck up our national education system & provide places for everyone disregarding any prejudices. Afterall our lives work experiences are the results that should speak, not just the educational hoops that we have to jump in order to attain our qualifications & fulfill personal goals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156762296760653462006-08-28T18:51:00.000+08:002006-08-28T18:51:00.000+08:00another old man....I was just arguing how the publ...another old man....<BR/><BR/>I was just arguing how the public perception come about.<BR/><BR/>I think the perception of the public that foreign grads are better is because when most people think foreign, they are thinking about the famous and good universities in UK, US, Australia, etc, yes I agree our universities have no fight against the few good foreign universities.<BR/><BR/>However, I would not accept the general statement that local grads are not better than foreign grads. And I completely agree with En. Sharom that hirings and promotions should not be affected by such statement. Oxford, UM, USM, UPM, etc they all deserve an equal opportunity to show off their talent. Have a nice day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156736379526271162006-08-28T11:39:00.000+08:002006-08-28T11:39:00.000+08:00From my personal observation, the quality of the g...From my personal observation, the quality of the graduate does not solely depend on the university. <BR/><BR/>I have seen awesome engineers from moderately ranked universities and pretty crappy ones from good universities (both local and foreign). <BR/><BR/>It is however undeniable some good foreign universities provide superior training via additional hands on experimental work, research opportunities, additional professor interaction, etc. In many instances, our local university's intellectual and physical resources are limited.<BR/><BR/>The question turns to the student. I observe some students benefit from this additional training by embracing it while others are reluctant to take up on the challenge. For example, some students rarely mix outside their circle of Malaysian friends. After 3/4 years, their language skills might not have improved by a lot. Some get the grades without learning much.<BR/><BR/>If we would like to improve our education system. I believe the highest return on investment would be to introduce 'imagination' to our kids way before they leave secondary school. (This, I admit, is easier said than done). Many students lack this very essential ingredient for the development of our nation. <BR/><BR/>My idealistic 1.8 cents piece.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156664597413042842006-08-27T15:43:00.000+08:002006-08-27T15:43:00.000+08:00Dr Azmi Sharom's comment in the newspapers today w...Dr Azmi Sharom's comment in the newspapers today was wonderful..." the universities must be good first before trying to achieve world class...."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156583448354502242006-08-26T17:10:00.000+08:002006-08-26T17:10:00.000+08:00Yes, I agree that unis do teach business research ...Yes, I agree that unis do teach business research methods but it is up to the level of writing a research proposal and then a research work based on a given set of data and objectives. For example, one of my friends, who is undergoing that subject, is conducting a reseach on terrorism impact on equit markets around the world which has the potential for journal publication. This is what im trying to say; independent quality research at the undergrad level with the potential for publication and not just another assignment.Benkaiserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17300639726778711641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156582003058935682006-08-26T16:46:00.000+08:002006-08-26T16:46:00.000+08:00Should we also talk about the quality of lecturers...Should we also talk about the quality of lecturers at local unis and colleges as well? Although no finding from research available to substatiate this, it is not wrong to say that the quality of lecturers is directly related to the quality of the grads. I had heard of stories about the lecturers coming in to the class late (very late) and then talk about his family and politics etc. Just wondering how are we going to equip our local grads with the knowledge and skills essential in their jobs with this kind of lecturers. Could be quite interesting to find out more about this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156575860160071472006-08-26T15:04:00.000+08:002006-08-26T15:04:00.000+08:00I should think that most public & private colleges...I should think that most public & private colleges do teach business reserch methods as a core module for undergrads. It all depends on the lecturers skills in supervising the student groups and the learning process the students get from it which also depends on their commitment and efforts put in .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156571157874329372006-08-26T13:45:00.000+08:002006-08-26T13:45:00.000+08:00I do not know much about local uni course struture...I do not know much about local uni course strutures and contents but from my experience in an Aussie uni for an undergrad economics and finance degree, there was a core subject which requires students to complete a research paper albeit at a smaller scale. There are no lectures nor tutorials but consist of a 2 seven-hour seminars for the first two weeks to familiarise students with research work, form a group of five and of course, choose a topic to be approved by the School and relevant professors. The research group will meet the lecturer every week for progress checks and discussion of issues. My research group went beyond the final semester due to huge amount of data work and tests which until today, gave me creeps thinking about it. But it was a great experience that exposed me to finance issues that otherwise a structured subject would not be able to do so. Many of my peers in other unis do not know the existence of alternative asset pricing models such as those of Fama and French Three Factor Model, Carhartt Model or cross the conventional lines to the Behavioural Asset Pricing Model. <BR/><BR/>Last but not least, it got me hooked to reading journals which is essential for people who are serious in finance or investment fields.<BR/><BR/>My 2 cents piece.Benkaiserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17300639726778711641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156558707448440802006-08-26T10:18:00.000+08:002006-08-26T10:18:00.000+08:00Come on...lets rationalise. If you think you want ...Come on...lets rationalise. If you think you want to argue " all foreign " universities to include ALL universities, that is just a dictum regarding defination. It is impossible to put and analyse all foreign universities.<BR/><BR/>Try to get to the spirit of the whole matter when we refer to foreign universities as represented by the few well known ones so as to facilitate bench marking.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156509681624773392006-08-25T20:41:00.000+08:002006-08-25T20:41:00.000+08:00I agree with the old man here.Why limit to certain...I agree with the old man here.<BR/><BR/>Why limit to certain countries? If we want to compare foreign and locals, lets do a fair analysis. Take all foreign universities into account rather a selective measure.<BR/><BR/>How about France, Italy, Germany, Pakistan, India, China, Hong Kong, Korea some countries in africa, so on and so forth?<BR/><BR/>It is just a public perception because some of the best universities are foreign and our universities are no where below 1000 in Newsweek list and 200 in THES?<BR/><BR/>It is always unfair to generalise. Show me some solid statistics man.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156503415516791022006-08-25T18:56:00.000+08:002006-08-25T18:56:00.000+08:00This explains why those courses which do not have ...This explains why those courses which do not have professional bodies in out local universities have a free hand in designing the courses to make it high standard or no standard.<BR/><BR/>Using external examiners is quite alright provided<BR/>1 The external examiners are recognised internationally and should if possible be FRS<BR/>2 The external examiners should not be local....hehehe. This kawan tolong kawan is a debilitating factor in attempts to maintain standards<BR/>3 More important RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY EXTERNAL MUST BE IMPLEMENTED. It is no point saying we have this famous so and so as external examiner but their comments are not adhered to.<BR/>4 External examiners should be the AUTHORITY in the degrees awarded. No point selecting external who knows nothing about the degree to be examined.<BR/><BR/>It is sad to see that the public knows only that this external examiner is used by the University but actually the department or faculty do not follow what the external examiner says.<BR/><BR/>The coming of the external examiner is not just an exercise of "greasing" him with hotels and free dinners and sight seeing tours so that he will be favourable in his comments about the degrees.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156502791992609792006-08-25T18:46:00.000+08:002006-08-25T18:46:00.000+08:00The conclusions I can reach is that if the quality...The conclusions I can reach is that if the quality of courses or degrees are to be sustained, those courses have to be associated with the professional bodies such as medicine, dentistry, law, architecture. These professional bodies have a say to factors such as syllabus, attachment, quality of staff and ratio of students.<BR/>It is is however that these professional bodies are those from international professional bodies and not so much local bodies.<BR/>Medicine for example to be recognised by GMC or architecture by RIBA. As it is our medical courses are not recoginised by international bodies. Our architecture degrees are mostly recognised by PAM but not by ROBA<BR/>Ah Piau my learned friend is absolutely correct!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156501037194424262006-08-25T18:17:00.000+08:002006-08-25T18:17:00.000+08:00Help=CSU=IGS=?????Help=CSU=IGS=?????Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156486786860994552006-08-25T14:19:00.000+08:002006-08-25T14:19:00.000+08:00Ex MMU Lecturer,Local grads especially for profesi...Ex MMU Lecturer,<BR/><BR/>Local grads especially for profesional courses, the course content is not only prepared by the university BUT also with the supervision and 'approval' of relevant profesionnal bodies which is also affiliates with international bodies. In your area engineering for example, you have BOE or what not that supervise the syllabus.<BR/><BR/>Medic, dentististry, law, architecture etc are the same. I'm not sure about non profesional courses.<BR/><BR/>have a good dayAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156485052240065282006-08-25T13:50:00.000+08:002006-08-25T13:50:00.000+08:00Hi allI was a mmu lecturer in engineering, now a p...Hi all<BR/><BR/>I was a mmu lecturer in engineering, now a phd student in australia. The courseworks here are more organized and well designed for students to maximize their learning in a time span of 4-5 years, in respective fields. Compared to local uni, students here are doing more small projects and relavant good experiemnts, closely observed by me while conducting some of these classes. The lecturers actually prepare notes and materials with the consideration of different groups of students (local or foreign), and the contents they are delivering to students is about twice the materials delivered to student in local universities. <BR/><BR/>Hence, foreign graduates in Australia actually learn more in their undergrad career in the classroom, and more outside the classroom as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156476152580131322006-08-25T11:22:00.000+08:002006-08-25T11:22:00.000+08:00Anon said: "I'm limiting these to universities in ...Anon said: "I'm limiting these to universities in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and NZ..."<BR/><BR/>Why are you limiting to those and your proposed Singapore one's? What about Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, European, and etc... Universities?<BR/><BR/>Do you think a Harvard Sinologist can do without a stink at Beijing University?<BR/><BR/>Or a Yale Phd student studying the Political Economy of Malaya before 1969, could do without a study stay at UM?<BR/><BR/>-- Old ManAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156475756756040492006-08-25T11:15:00.000+08:002006-08-25T11:15:00.000+08:00I've 2 points here.1.Local vs overseas gradFrom my...I've 2 points here.<BR/><BR/>1.Local vs overseas grad<BR/>From my observation and experience, I think it depends how u look at it. Why people look up at overseas grads. Generally because of their language command. In term of knowledge, I think local grads are at par if not better than overseas grad. Why? Look at the admission requirements for top courses in local U. Medic for example required perfect 10 (CGPA 4.0) either STPM or Matric. So my point is, we must improve the communication ability of our local grads. We are lacking here. As Dr Azmi rightly pointed out about local grad's background, we must take that into consideration. Language barrier not only refer to one etnic group but to all.<BR/><BR/>2. World Class University<BR/>My learned blogger (Black Mojo)raised this issue for Dr Azmi. May I comment. Personally I think our universities can attain world class standards BUT in order to do so there are thinks that need to be done.<BR/><BR/>We talk highly about oxford, cambridge, harvard and even NUS. How do we know that these uni are good If we at no point of time associated with them? How people from all over the world came to know about the universities? Why students from all over the world want to study there? How these uni able to attract best brains to be part of their team?<BR/><BR/>My point is local unis must make known their uni to the soceity at large locally and internationally. Show your existence and presence in the industry. How? Research, publication, exhibition (many will not agree but look at the bright side, these actually promote the university), publisities (how to attract students from overseas without them knowing about our unis).<BR/><BR/>How about students? Undergrads or post grads. Talking about international standards normally refers to post grads. So in order to attract them, local unis lecturers must equipt themselves with reseach skills in various areas. The potential students normally will browse through their potential supervisors (there - lecturers need to have impressive c.v.) Thus, it requires the management of unis to make a careful studies about the needs in future. Eg. which area to focus and what specialities. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Need to stop for now.<BR/><BR/>Only my 2 cents.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156465810545003272006-08-25T08:30:00.000+08:002006-08-25T08:30:00.000+08:00I'm waiting for Tony and Kian Meng to comment on t...I'm waiting for Tony and Kian Meng to comment on the interview of Rafiah Salim featured in the Sun recently.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156434904825154432006-08-24T23:55:00.000+08:002006-08-24T23:55:00.000+08:00I'm limiting these to universities in the US, UK, ...<I>I'm limiting these to universities in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and NZ...</I><BR/><BR/>I'm curious why you did not include Singapore universities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156432338612187022006-08-24T23:12:00.000+08:002006-08-24T23:12:00.000+08:00......mmm this is interesting - perhaps foreign st.........mmm this is interesting - perhaps foreign students studying in Malaysia are better then their local graduates? depends...<BR/><BR/>-- Old ManAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156416872758809112006-08-24T18:54:00.000+08:002006-08-24T18:54:00.000+08:00KM...Please be careful in your heading of this blo...KM...<BR/>Please be careful in your heading of this blog. The use of capital letters in XXX might reflect our universities offer couses in pornography.<BR/><BR/>This might lead to a rush of foreign and local students to enrol in our universities!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156416711540306292006-08-24T18:51:00.000+08:002006-08-24T18:51:00.000+08:00Dr Azmi,Do you really think our universities here ...Dr Azmi,<BR/><BR/>Do you really think our universities here are world class, or to put it more specifically do you think our universities can attain world class standards.<BR/><BR/>Your frank opinion is highly soughtAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12123329.post-1156414401713039742006-08-24T18:13:00.000+08:002006-08-24T18:13:00.000+08:00From my experiences studying in overseas universit...From my experiences studying in overseas universities I find that there is no difference between the locals that did their degrees overseas and in this country.<BR/><BR/>I tend to see in most of our undergraduates overseas they tend to form clusters among themselves and do not mix with thelocal British Students.<BR/><BR/>In tutorials they tend to keep quiet and do not respond actively like the lovals.<BR/><BR/>The perceived values our overseas graduates are better off than our graduates is a myth. In fact to be fair I do find locals attending local universities do spend more time studying and more classes to attend<BR/>One forget to mention in overseas universities their classes are only 4 and a half days. No classes on Saturday and Sunday and also the second part of Wednesday for sports and extracurricular studies<BR/><BR/>The fact that the locals who went overseas are better or seemed better of seems to be from:<BR/><BR/>1 Survival in foreign land learning to be independent change their mind set positively<BR/><BR/>I cant help however admire our graduates studying overseas in that they are more independent and more proactive after the long exposure overseas...and it is not because they attend oveseas universitiesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com