Dr Annuar signs a plaque to launch the books as Khairuddin (second right) and others look on. – Photo by Conny Banji
SIBU (Jan 25): University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) has started its journey to be ranked among the best universities in the world, said Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development and UTS chairman said the drive would complement the state government’s move to provide free tertiary education starting 2026.
“UTS is a very new university and therefore we have to go on to increase our ranking not only to be among the best universities in Malaysia but also worldwide.
“As you know, ranking is very important to attract not only students but more importantly to attract highly qualified academicians to come and contribute to the state of Sarawak.
“So the spin off effect of improving our ranking is very important and of course this also reflects the quality of education that we are giving the students in that particular university,” he told reporters when met after the launching of 11 books published by UTS Centre of Publication at the university campus here yesterday.
However, Dr Annuar added, a lot of factors need to be considered to achieve this and to attract highly qualified academicians to UTS.
“Number one is of course, bright students as I was told that a lot of the academicians would prefer bright students to come in, then they will come in.
“Number two is facilities which are very important. The facilities must go along with the improvement of the latest development that will enable them to do research.
“When they are able to do research, they will be able to produce books. You know one of the factors that will improve university ranking is publication,” he said.
UTS vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Khairuddin Ab Hamid, who also spoke, explained that in Malaysia, ranking is determined by the progress of the university.
Furthermore, he added, the maturity of a university is also considered, which is usually 25 years and above, and UTS is only 10 years old.
“In other aspects, so far UTS has achieved the GBI (Green Building Index) ‘Platinum Index’ rating.
“In terms of the normal university ranking, we have to wait for many more years.
“But this is part of our journey to achieve the ranking where we strive to have more research, publications, international collaboration, highly qualified staff and high graduate employment rate. These are the criteria,” he said.
In his speech earlier, Khairuddin said UTS has published a total of 25 books since the establishment of UTS Centre of Publication in 2021.
He said the book authors were not only from UTS but also from esteemed institutions such as Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM).