Drop It

The college universities around Malaysia are requesting for the word 'college' to be dropped as the term 'college university' is very confusing for the students and their parents and the Higher Education Ministry is considering the request. The term was introduced five years ago to describe new higher education institutions which had fewer faculties than universities. College universities offered 'very practical courses' tailored to the needs of the industries. However, students and their parents are of the opinion that college universities are not on par with universities, which is wrong. Coming from one of these college universities, I can validate these misconceptions.

Frankly, I've seen more advantages of KUSTEM (a college university), the place of my undergraduate studies, compared to USM (a full-fledged university), where I'm currently doing my graduate studies. Not only are the standards much higher in KUSTEM, the facilities are getting better and the togetherness between lecturers-students and students-students are closer and more evident. Students from KUSTEM are more able to think critically compared to those in USM from the classes I've thought. The undergraduates' viva were more challenging in KUSTEM and had to pass a certain degree of standard which I do not see in USM. So far, the best viva I've attended for an undergraduate's final year project in USM is only comparable to one of the worst from KUSTEM. So, I urge the ministry to drop the term already! Stop making them sound inferior when they are actually much superior!