I refer to the article “Our Graduates are on a par with foreigners” (NST, Jan 23). I would like to believe what Universiti Utara Vice-Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak said and similarly echoed by Universiti Malaysia Pahang Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Daing Nasir Ibrahim about the quality of our graduates.
They are not on a par with foreign graduates.
Just look at the question of employment marketability.
Who is more marketable among fresh graduates seeking first-time employment?
Most, if not all employers prefer to employ foreign graduates because local graduates are not only weak in communication skills but also in their command of English.
Both these qualities represent essential ingredients for success in the corporate world.
Even government-linked companies prefer to employ foreign graduates especially those from top universities in the United Kingdom and United States.
Our education system hitherto has been emphasising too much on quantity, not quality.
That is why the number of universities has grown like mushrooms in this country over the last two decades.
They have become like factories producing mass products.
Another example is the quality of our medical graduates, young doctors coming out from our universities of late.
The entry requirements to do medical degrees, which at one time were very stringent, have been lowered and today so many are able to pursue such degrees.
While this may be a popular policy to pursue but the end result is low quality doctors.
The shortage of senior specialist doctors to oversee these fresh medical graduates during their internship and the shortage of places in our hospitals have also contributed to the decline in quality.
Both the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) have expressed concern time and again on this important issue and reminded the government to reappraise our policy and planning programme towards the medical profession as a whole to avoid not only a glut but also inadequately-trained doctors.
Many may not know that Universiti Malaya was the only university in Malaysia where its medical MBBS degree was recognised by the General Medical Council of the UK.
What it means is that UM’s MBBS graduates could practise in the UK, Australia and other Commonwealth countries.
This is not so now, since the late 1980s, again a manifestation of the declining quality of our education system.
We need quality in our education system, especially our public universities, to be on a par with leading universities in this region.
We used to be in that position at the time and immediately after Independence.
Although Universiti Malaya, our premier public university, started in 1962 after separating from the University of Malaya in Singapore, it managed to maintain its reputation on par with Singapore and Hong Kong universities for a considerable period .
Today we are left behind by these two in the ranking of universities in Asia and the world.
We cannot continue to be in denial. We need to call a spade a spade. Education today has become big business.
We encourage foreign students to study here and we anticipate no less than 400,000 foreign students by 2035, according to our deputy prime minister.
In our enthusiasm to bring in as many as possible because of foreign exchange earnings that will benefit our economy, and making the nation a hub for excellent education, we have to make sure that the quality of our education continues to improve and is in an upward trend — to continue attracting students with good potential.
DATUK AHMAD SIDEK,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor