Monday, February 12, 2007

China Universities to be Recognised?

The Malaysian government appears to be finally lookiing to recognising qualifications from the top 2 universities in China - Peking and Tsinghua University. It was reported in various local dailies last week that the Cabinet has agreed "in principle" to recognise the academic qualifications of the two renowned universities.

Based on the global universities ranking by the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), both universities are in the top 50 in the world. Peking University is ranked 14th while Tsinghua University is 28th. A separate ranking system by the Shanghai Jiaotung University, placed them in the 150th-300th bracket but still within the top 40 in the Asia-Pacific region. Note that the latter system had no Malaysian universities present in the Top 500.

Hence it has always been an anomaly that degrees from established Chinese universities are not recognised by the Malaysian government. This is despite the fact that Malaysia is fairly liberal in giving recognition to much lesser universities from developing countries. For example in the medical profession, degrees from Uganda, Burma, Pakistan and Iraq are given recognition.

Anyway, it's always better late than never, and we wait to see when the "in-principle" approval gets actually "approved". ;)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its about time....

I heard that some of MIT's degrees are not recognized in Malaysia....Can someone please clear this up....

Blueheeler - the hound who sniffs out fishy news said...

I wonder if it should be common courtesy for China to recognise degrees from UM, USM, UKM...etc?

Anonymous said...

It doesn't really matter whether Malaysia recognizes such degrees, because no one is going to give a damn. It's not as if Peking and Tsinghua's grads will come flocking to Malaysia after it is recognized. And anyway, no countries in the world (other than some Arab countries) will take Malaysia's stand seriously.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Universities in China are much better off than Australian universities

Anonymous said...

Ya man, no one gives two hoots if these two universities are recognised by the government. They can live in their world of their own by not recognising them. Graduates from these universities don't mind one bit either...

Anonymous said...

folks,
bolehmen ONLY recognize
"CHINESE Language degrees" from these two univ.
What a low grade establishment!

Anonymous said...

The top 2 Chinese universities do not need the recognition from the M'sian govt. They have already won the accolades and recognitions from around the globe as evident in the published ranking lists. Even the top Unis from US, UK, Aus, and other countries look forward to collaborating with Chinese researchers. Where have the M'sian govt and academics gone huh?

Kian Ming said...

I have a suspicion that the comment about recognizing only Chinese language degrees from two of the best universities in China is correct. This comes on the heel of one or two professors would couldn't teach at UM in the Chinese studies department because their degrees were from Beijing and Tsinghua and were not recognized by UM. I remember Chan Kong Choy speaking about this at length since he was a Chinese studies graduate. The one Bernama article I found didn't make reference to whether it was only Chinese language degrees or all degrees from Beijing and Tsinghua. I suspect that more universities from China will be recognized as trade and investment relations between the two countries continues to grow.

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=245062

Anonymous said...

KM,

The the CENTRE OF CHINESE STUDIES just outside the UM is just an almost empty building for years!

I passed the building everyday to work and see almost no cars or inhabitants inside!

There are many such CENTRES sitting in the campus doing nothing...just a FORM but no substabce

Anonymous said...

It is.
Indeed, reading from Chinese papers reporting here,
they only 'INTEND (instruct Education Minister / LAN to STUDY it) to recogzine "Chinese Language" major graduates.

Laughing stock behavor in global SINO study community.

Anonymous said...

From the issues of recognization of chinese universities, both taiwan and china, again clearly indicate the establishment's asset/ liablity view toward certain community, even after 50 years of indepedenthood.

One has to ask wether this is the right place to excel and thrive, for the future kins.

Anonymous said...

Not recognizing the Chinese language degrees from Beijing University and Qinghua University is almost the same as not recognizing the English language degrees from Oxford and Cambridge. In Malaysia, recognition of overseas has become a political decision. Recognition simply means that Malaysian students can go to China and come back with recognized degrees to teach the Chinese language. The admission requirement to Beijing U and Qinghua U is very high. The students there are among the cream of the country.

Anonymous said...

What a sad waste of talent in not recognising degrees from better known universities! The end losers are ALL Malaysians because of this stupidity. Most universities in the developed world will assess each degree on its merits if it is not recognised. The assessment is genuine and not predetermined and intended only to help upgrade the graduate's qualifications if necessary - Not to LOCK OUT someone because of their language, race or culture.

China has many fine universities - their gradutates are welcome in Australia in the usual way. If you have a degree from such a university, can speak English and are under 45 send me a brief email about yourself at "easymigration@iprimus.com.au" for a free assessment.

Anonymous said...

These two Universities are only a few that deserve international recognition, and in fact they already do. It basically depends on the fields. The Chinese University education system is very similar to that of the US. For any country not to recognize Chinese University degrees is nothing but discrimination against China.