Thai varsities lose ground in Asia

[webfact]

Thai varsities lose ground in Asia
The Nation



Though KMUTT, Mahidol stay in region's top 100, both slide in the rankings

BANGKOK: -- Two Thai universities have continued to rank among the Times Higher Education list of Asia's best universities this year, but both have slipped.

King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) is now ranked 55th on the list, down from 50th last year.

Mahidol University, meanwhile, sits in 91st place. Last year, it was in the 82nd spot.

"It should be cause for concern that both of Thailand's representatives in the Asian top 100 have lost ground; indeed, Mahidol University has fallen a dramatic 30 places since 2013," said Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education rankings.

He said that while the Thai government's National Research Universities Project had pumped money into its institutions, the nation would have to dig deeper to ensure it does not get left behind.

Last year, Chulalongkorn University - one of Thailand's prestigious universities - slipped out of the top 100 rankings.

While such a trend does not bode well for Thai higher educational institutions, Thailand remains one of only two Asean nations on the list. The other is Singapore, which has two institutes on the list. Both are highly placed: The National University of Singapore retains second place, while Nanyang Technological University moves into the top 10 for the first time.

On top of the "Asia University Rankings 2015" is the University of Tokyo. Altogether, Japan has 19 representatives on the list.

When it comes to the number of universities among Asia's 100 best, however, Japan trails China this year. For the first time ever, mainland China dominates the rankings with as many as 21 representatives.

China's special administrative regions also do well, with six universities from Hong Kong (two in the top 10) and one from Macau represented.

"The world expects that Asia will be the next global higher-education superpower, after Europe and North America.

These new data from Times Higher Education demonstrate that many of the continent's leading universities are already competing on equal terms with the best in the West," Baty said.

He said the table also showed the region's huge academic potential, a region now led by China, whose academia is "reaping the rewards of serious, sustained investment and internationalisation - a model for other Asian nations to follow".

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thai-varsities-lose-ground-in-Asia-30262097.html


-- The Nation 2015-06-11

[NongKhaiKid]

Let not your heart be troubled as education reform is a priority AGAIN !

[BigBadGeordie]

Thai varsities lose ground in Asia

The Nation

He said the table also showed the region's huge academic potential, a region now led by China, whose academia is "reaping the rewards of serious, sustained investment and internationalisation - a model for other Asian nations to follow".

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thai-varsities-lose-ground-in-Asia-30262097.html

-- The Nation 2015-06-11

Does not bode well for Thailand if the model for success includes the words "sustained" and "internationalisation".

[eeworldwide]

Excuse my ignorace, but how are these Universities assessed? On what criteria etc?

[Cuchulainn]

Surprised to see old Singapore as low as this!!

[gandalf12]

Turkey so high and Singapore so low???? Some one is really taking it out of you

[zakk9]

Turkey so high and Singapore so low???? Some one is really taking it out of you

The population of Turkey is 70 million, Singapore 5 million. Multiply with 14, and you get per capita. Shouldn't be too tricky, should it? Is your university on the list? Do they do maths?

[Luang]

Turkey so high and Singapore so low???? Some one is really taking it out of you

The population of Turkey is 70 million, Singapore 5 million. Multiply with 14, and you get per capita. Shouldn't be too tricky, should it? Is your university on the list? Do they do maths?

Firm but fair.

[Andreas2]

Turkey so high and Singapore so low???? Some one is really taking it out of you

The chart shown is not the ranking of the universities. It only shows the number of universities per country, which are placed in the "Top 100".

[Andreas2]

Turkey so high and Singapore so low???? Some one is really taking it out of you

The population of Turkey is 70 million, Singapore 5 million. Multiply with 14, and you get per capita. Shouldn't be too tricky, should it? Is your university on the list? Do they do maths?

Firm but fair.

Not really, I think it's rude and wrong.

The chart has absolutely no association to the size of a country's population.

[zakk9]

Turkey so high and Singapore so low???? Some one is really taking it out of you

The population of Turkey is 70 million, Singapore 5 million. Multiply with 14, and you get per capita. Shouldn't be too tricky, should it? Is your university on the list? Do they do maths?

Firm but fair.

Not really, I think it's rude and wrong.

The chart has absolutely no association to the size of a country's population.

That's correct. You are supposed to know that there are more people living in Turkey and Thailand than in Singapore. This is a list of number of universities for each country among the top 100, not the average standard.

[geriatrickid]

Surprised to see old Singapore as low as this!!

It isn't. What we have is a case of stupidity on the part of Nation Media.

The writer It has placed a higher emphasis on gross numbers, rather than per capita results and the actual rating. The fact is that Singapore's NUS ranked No.2 For a country with a population of 5 million it places place 2 high ranked universities in the top 100, That's pretty good. Israel has a pop of 8 million and placed 4, but they were mid ranked. The most impressive was Hong Kong at 6 for a 7 million pop. Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are as solid as ever.

However, the Thai results are awful. It is in the same league as Iran. Only India and mainland China are worse.

[geriatrickid]

Turkey so high and Singapore so low???? Some one is really taking it out of you

The chart shown is not the ranking of the universities. It only shows the number of universities per country, which are placed in the "Top 100".

https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2014-15/regional-ranking/region/asia

The scores are here.

[zakk9]

What is worrying for Thailand is that neither Chula nor Thammasat are on the list. Those are after all seen upon as the two most prestigious universities by most Thais, and traditionally attract the top students from high schools all over the country. I wouldn't worry about being placed in the same league as Iran. Iran has some very good universities.

Edited June 11, 2015 by zakk9

[gandalf12]

Turkey so high and Singapore so low???? Some one is really taking it out of you

The population of Turkey is 70 million, Singapore 5 million. Multiply with 14, and you get per capita. Shouldn't be too tricky, should it? Is your university on the list? Do they do maths?

It isnt as straight forward as that unfortunately. No mine isnt on there but the chart doesnt show UK Universities

[Prbkk]

What is worrying for Thailand is that neither Chula nor Thammasat are on the list. Those are after all seen upon as the two most prestigious universities by most Thais, and traditionally attract the top students from high schools all over the country. I wouldn't worry about being placed in the same league as Iran. Iran has some very good universities.

Aside from a couple of (very shallow) pockets of excellence, these 2 universities have been on the slide for decades. Chula has rested on its laurels in expectation of continuing to be high status and has become a third rate university. It would barely scrape into a Thai top 10.

A

[NCC1701A]

where is this copy and paste place called Asia again? Tokyo is number 31 in the world. numbers 1-30 are for the most part in the USA and UK. And they will always will be.

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2014#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search=

here is thailand. ranking number 243, 257, and then 500+... some are ranked 700+ on the list.

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2014#sorting=rank+region=+country=131+faculty=+stars=false+search=

Edited June 11, 2015 by NCC1701A

[ronwparker]

I am not surprised by Thailand's poor showing but it depends on department.

Thai education has always been below par-schools and universities-they base their system on the American!(need I say more)

Chiangmai University is usually goodish

[ronwparker]

There are hundreds of Dentists in Chiangmai

[Kiwi1]

I have not reviewed the tables lately, but my understanding is that China (and associated entities) has shown an impressive increase in the scores for their universities year on year. Implies that they know the formula for improving the quality of their universities. By the same token, other ASEAN countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam have upgraded their secondary schools to world class.

The implication is that the techniques are known, and can be copied.

In the case of Thailand it appears that all that is lacking to upgrade the education system is political will.

I might say that I am delighted to meet so many bright, talented and imaginative young Thai people as I do here in Chiangmai.

It would be wonderful if things could change so that they have a better chance of reaching their full potential.

[JimHuaHin]

Excuse my ignorace, but how are these Universities assessed? On what criteria etc?

According to their website - https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/ - The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014-2015 list the best global universities and are the only international university performance tables to judge world-class universities across all of their core missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The top universities rankings employ 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available, which are trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

I suspect these variables include research publications (books and academic journals articles), amount of external research funds attracted, naumber of national and international awareds won by university staff (eg a Nobel Prize) proportion of graduates getting jobs within a few months of graduating and the salaries they attract, how highly students rank their teachers, how the teachers rank nationally, involvement in international scholarship and exchange programmes.

[JimHuaHin]

Excuse my ignorace, but how are these Universities assessed? On what criteria etc?

According to their website - https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/ - The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014-2015 list the best global universities and are the only international university performance tables to judge world-class universities across all of their core missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The top universities rankings employ 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available, which are trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

I suspect these variables include research publications (books and academic journals articles), amount of external research funds attracted, naumber of national and international awareds won by university staff (eg a Nobel Prize) proportion of graduates getting jobs within a few months of graduating and the salaries they attract, how highly students rank their teachers, how the teachers rank nationally, involvement in international scholarship and exchange programmes.

Apologies ... I was partially right ... see full methodology here ... https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013-14/world-ranking/methodology

[Seastallion]

What is worrying for Thailand is that neither Chula nor Thammasat are on the list. Those are after all seen upon as the two most prestigious universities by most Thais, and traditionally attract the top students from high schools all over the country. I wouldn't worry about being placed in the same league as Iran. Iran has some very good universities.

And Prince of Songkhla and Chiang Mai U's. They were on the list previously.

[Thai at Heart]

Of course, this would mean, if they only announced the top 50, Thailand wouldn't have any......anyone ever heard of that world famous Macau University?

[Praematura]

Lol they included Lebanon. If you have a measure of intelligence you don't live here or send your kids to school. Even my wife's friend who comes from a middle class family sent their daughter to a community college in California.