More than 85 percent of Higher Learning Institutions (IHL) were rated as Competitive under the Integrated Rating of Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (SETARA) system and the 2022 Malaysian Quality Evaluation System for Private Colleges (MyQUEST).
The Department of Higher Education, in its statement yesterday, said 90 out of 104 universities and colleges, or 86.54 percent which took part in the SETARA rating were rated Competitive, while 14, or 13.46 percent were rated Viable.
The MyQUEST rating saw 158 (90.29 percent) of the 175 colleges that took part being rated Competitive and 17 colleges or 9.71 percent rated Viable.
“This encouraging achievement proves the ministry’s sustained effort to provide impactful and quality higher education to students.
“It is also hoped that these results will enable the IHLs to build sustainable capacity and encourage them towards international-level higher education,” read the statement.
According to the Department, the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) has streamlined the 2022 SETARA and MyQUEST systems by dividing them into only two categories, namely Competitive and Viable, compared to six previously.
The statement said the new categories took into account the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the management of IHLs and it is a fair and realistic approach considering the evaluated data covered the years 2019, 2020, and 2021, when the country was in the midst of the pandemic.
“Therefore, the 2022 rating evaluation only used data from 2021,” it said.
SETARA is a ranking system that measures the quality assurance and standards of Malaysia’s public and private universities and colleges, while MyQUEST evaluates the performance of private colleges.
The full list of 2022 SETARA and MyQUEST ratings can be accessed at the Department of Higher Education, MOHE website at https://jpt.mohe.gov.my/portal/index.php/ms/setara-myquest.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency