Putrajaya defends tertiary education non-ranking

Malaysian universities were a no-show in a report released based on the largest survey of leading academics across the world, Times Higher Education (THE) World Reputation Rankings 2015.

Education minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh defends the absence by citing the newness of Malaysian tertiery institutions.

"Our universities are young. We need time. We are not as bad as stated. We are soaring upwards. Hopefully, by 2020, two of our universities will be placed in the top 100 in the world," he said in referring to the ministry's target when replying to points raised by MPs debating the royal address today.

The oldest standing local university in Malaysia is Universiti Malaya (UM) at only 60 years old.

Malaysian universities consistently have performed poorly in university rankings tables in the world, hardly cracking the top 200.

Despite the poor showing, Idris has declared on previous occasions the country's education system is world class, earning him brickbats from opposition politicians and educationists.