True Lies about Universities Rankings - Michael Heng
The
London-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World Universities Ranking has been
called “a Fraud on the public.” Another Eminent Professor said: “QS simply
doesn’t do as good a job as the other rankers that are using multiple
indicators”.
Singapore
University NTU has secured top placing as the world's best young universities,
according to QS Ranking, one of three major international university ranking
systems.
The
United Nations Education agency, UNESCO, has challenged the validity and
reliability of University Rankings such as QS Ranking:
“Global
university rankings fail to capture either the meaning or driverse qualities of
a university or the characteristics of universities in a way that values and
respects their educational and social purposes, missions and goals. At present,
these rankings are of dubious value,
are underpinned by questionable social science, arbitrarily privilege
particular indicators, and use shallow proxies as correlates of quality.”
It
is highly questionable whether the 5 Criteria of QS Ranking actually indicate or
measure University Excellence to any extent. No study on their validity and
reliability has been produced by the Ranking organisations themselves. At best, these Criteria are just “popular”
notions imagined by the Rankers themselves and have no true bearings on
University learning impact on their students.
Too
much time has been obsessively invested by NTU and NUS in collecting and using
data and statistics in order to improve their ranking performance on a bogus ranking standard of dubious
excellence. Universities should be more concerned about innovative ways
to enhance our universities’ contributions to society through their students.
This is the Real payback for the millions of public fund spent on our
Universities.
Kopi Level - Green
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ReplyDeleteuniversities rankings should not
be our priority......
what is critical is the ability
to produce graduates with skills
that the we/society/industries
really really need......
In this world, nothing is to be believed. There is always an agenda behind why such data, based solely on statistics, are never the truth.
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is that statistics have always been proven to lie and again, the reason is, there is an agenda behind why such data are always doctored or skewed to serve a purpose.
I never believe in job statistics or inflation figures, because they do not reflect the real position on the ground. While inflation is reported to be so low, why are the prices of cooked food and drinks so expensive, going up by double digit figures every now and then, especially after each and every renovation.
That is beside the point, even if the above allegation by one Michael Heng of QS ranking being questionable is true.
ReplyDeleteThe point is that "good" university rankings, never mind it may be dubious, is a good selling point which will attract more and better foreign talents from the whole, wide world to enroll on scholarships. And this fits to a T with the PAP objective to increase the talent pool to supplement Sinkie talents no enough.
Simple as it is, I hope Michael Heng, RB and others can appreciate this point, and the whole rationale of the PAP investment of giving scholarships for foreign talent policy.
Daft Sinkies are indeed pathetic.
ReplyDeleteNot only talents no enough, numbers also no enough, and most crucial of all, votes against PAP also no enough.
Pathetic or not, u say lah?
Singapore has progressed from 3rd World to First because our Founding Leaders believe in Authenticity. Changi Airport, Singapore Port, Night Safari, Tampines Town and so many other Singaporean iconic achievements are real, credible, and genuine. No BS, that's Singapore. It is OUR BRAND - Authenticity. Now come a Bogus Ranking with Dubious Excellence to tell the World that NTU is Number 1? Seriously, can we believe this? Let's NOT sell NTU this way - "Wearing a Lamb's Face to sell Dog Meat" (Chinese Idiom). WE are better than that. NTU is BETTER than THAT.
ReplyDeleteHoly ghost, NTU better than MIT!
ReplyDeleteWaaaahahahaahhh.....Please don't kill me with laughters.
Did Singapore traded good money and its local lecturers and students for foreign lecturers and students for the sake of gaming hazy rankings?
ReplyDeleteNTU is better than MIT.
ReplyDeletePM Lee's job is more difficult than President Obama's job. That's PM Lee has to be so highly paid.
QS surveyors are not saints lah. They also commited one of the common pitfalls in using metrics: you get what you measure. Moreover, they may have received many free meals, travel, hotels, rolexes etc from ntu.
ReplyDeleteRankings are part of a global disease where (mis)representations have become more real than reality. We regularly prefer to `eat the menu` rather than the dish. Unfortunately suckers are born everyday and there is always money to be made in these things. Who rank the rankers though? How do you prove the `proof`?
ReplyDeleteThe painful part is that public money is wasted on such gamings. And even more painful part is our children's university places were sacrificed for it. Never mind the lecturers and professors if they allowed themselves to be replaced to make this farce looked good.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of people or govt bragging how good they are using such fictitious, irrelevant and useless ranking positions?
ReplyDeleteStupid, silly, conmen, simpletons, self serving, irresponsible, unreliable.....
Best university is University Of Manchester. Watch the Champion of Champions on BBC.
ReplyDeleteNTU number 1? That has got to be the greatest joke of the century. I worked there and I can tell you that this uni is nowhere near top 100. Why? U just need to look at those people around. The ARWU ranking that puts it at 150-200 range is already very kind to NTU.
ReplyDelete