Rectors have asked the Commission of Higher Education to postpone the plan to rank the top 50 universities in Thailand, saying the unclear criteria might result in information that is unreliable or biased.

Professor Suchart Upatham, rector of Burapha University, said most universities thought the criteria might disadvantage those that specialised in the fields of social science and humanities. Criteria include the number of academic researches published in international journals, even though the journals are mostly in the field of science.

The Evaluation and Certification of Educational Standards Office had recently evaluated the quality of universities, Suchart said, so the commission should allow them to improve in line with the evaluation results before ranking them.

Associate Professor Dr Namyuth Songkhanapithak, rector of Raja-mangala University of Technology, said the information that some universities had sent to the evaluator was incomplete because of the limited amount of time.

To complete the ranking, the commission should divide universities into groups according their areas of expertise, he said. The result should indicate where each university is ranked in a particular field.

"However, some areas cannot be given a credit mark, such as the satisfaction of students who might only be able to obtain a low-paying job after graduating but are happy with it," he said.

Associate Professor Dr Wanchai Sirichana, rector of Mae Fah Luang University, said ranking might lead to controversy because there were many more sensitive factors that should be considered, such as the budget each university received.

Dr Pavich Tongroach, secretary-general of the commission, yesterday insisted the ranking was proceeding fairly and the result would be declared on August 31.

"Moreover, the overall criteria came from the ideas of academics from several universities and were not set by the Higher Education Commission," he said.

He said the ranking was needed in order to inform the public about how each university worked and what it achieved.

"Students should have information to help them consider which university is good for them."

The ranking would also motivate the universities to set their direction and improve, Pavich said. He said the ranking would be held every year and each university would have the chance to climb to a higher position.

Professor Dr Somwang Piriya-nuwat, the director of the Evaluation and Certification of Educational Standards Office, said giving a grade such as A, B, C and D for each section of a university was better than ranking them all together, which would cause the kind of competition that would not be suitable.

Somwang said the organisation that performed the ranking should be independent, such as magazines or companies that had no connection to universities, in order to prevent any bias. It should not be the duty of the commission, which was a state organisation that oversaw the universities.

"The ranking is a business concept. And the Higher Education Commission is trying to use the idea with education," he said.

Senator Prasert Chitpong, former chair of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand, said ranking had advantages and disadvantages. But people should realise the objective was not to make universities strive for fame, but to ensure which direction they needed to take to improve.

Jidakarn Limkoonset,

Chatrarat Kaewmorakot

The Nation