According to the report released today, University of Malaya (UM) leads other universities in this country at 9th place, followed by Universiti Putra Malaysia (28th), Universiti Sains Malaysia (34th) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (35th). — Picture by Hari Anggara

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 25 — Ten local universities — seven public and three private — are among 110 best universities in Asia based on the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings: Asia 2021 report.

According to the report released today, University of Malaya (UM) leads other universities in this country at 9th place, followed by Universiti Putra Malaysia (28th), Universiti Sains Malaysia (34th) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (35th).

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia came in 39th, Universiti Teknologi Petronas (70th), Taylor’s University (89th), UCSI University (105th), Universiti Utara Malaysia (107th) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (108th).

"This is the country’s best achievement so far and proves that the Higher Education Ministry’s direction is on the right track,” said Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad in a statement today.

She said the achievement had indirectly placed Malaysia as a higher education hub in the Asian region and could assist the institutions in fostering cooperation with the world’s renowned researchers.

Noraini said this was the first time UM managed to be listed among the 10 best universities in Asia by securing the 9th place compared to 13th last year.

She said UM also beat Shanghai Jiao Tong University which came in 10th in this year’s ranking.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University is a renowned university that introduced the Academic Ranking of World Universities or better known as the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Rankings which evaluates the research strength of universities around the world.

A total of 35 local universities are listed in this year’s QS ranking, compared to 29 last year.

"Twenty-four universities manage to improve their performance, three remain at the same rank and two universities drop from their last positions,” Noraini said.

She said the QS report also stated that Malaysia was among the countries with the best performance in this year’s ranking.

"The country’s education system is accepted as highly reputable among academicians and employers at the Asian level.

"Year 2020 is at the half term of implementation of the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (Higher Education) and has shown an improvement in the quality and excellence of local higher education institutions in a short period,” she added. — Bernama