The first ranking of top national universities made public on Thursday has created discord in the higher-education world, while some low-ranked universities such as Rajabhat rejected the result.

The Commission of Higher Education announced the top-university list, which ranked Mahidol, Chulalongkorn and Chiang Mai as the best for teaching and research.

Mostly provincial Rajabhat universities were ranked in the fifth group, which is the lowest grading.

Surat Thani Rajabhat Univer-sity's rector Narong Puttacheevin rejected the result, saying that the ranking system had no standard and lacked understanding of the different contexts of each university.

"The most important thing is that Pavich Tongroach, the commission's secretary-general, has a bias against Rajabhat universities. That can be seen from the ranking criteria, which exclude a university's age and its work in developing local communities," he said.

"I may recall this as the worst masterpiece of Pavich, who is going to retire in September."

He added that besides being useless, the ranking would aggravate new universities, which could never compete with established and famous universities.

Nakorn Pathom Rajabhat University's rector Niwat Klinn-gam, however, said the ranking had shown that Rajabhat universities needed improvements in several areas, so the government should give more importance in supporting them.

For the first year of rankings, only 51 out of Thailand's 138 universities sent information for the commission to consider.

The scheme had previously been opposed by some rectors who disagreed with the criteria, which was criticised for not taking into account the overall tasks of each university.

They also believed that the ranking was not the commission's job.

Thammasat University and two famous private universities had opted out from being ranked.

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University rector Prof Pratya Wesarat, who is also chairman of the University Presidents' Council of Thailand, said many universities rejected the result because they had no confidence in the criteria for the assessments.

All parties should meet to discuss how to improve the ranking system, he added.

Rector Thep Phongpanich of Maejo University, which was ranked in the fourth group, said if the ranking was accurate the university should have been graded more highly.

Rector Janjira Wongkhom-thong of Christian University said private universities insisted on not being ranked because they did not believe in the commission.

"How could we be sure that the ranking was conducted fairly?" Janijira asked.

Kamolphan Chiwaphansri, chairwoman of the Parents' Network, said the idea of a ranking was good but the criteria used could not accurately reflect the quality level of universities.

She said other indicators should be considered, such as the number of graduating students who get jobs and the IQ of students.

"If the ranking were conducted accurately, it would be to the advantage of universities, who would clearly know the direction to improve.

"Students and parents would also know whether the universities they choose are really good, as believed, or not," she said.

Mahidol University's previous rector expressed his agreement with the ranking result, which showed the university ranked top in many areas.

The rector of Srinakharinwirot University, which was in the fourth group for teaching standards, said it was difficult to accept the results because the university should not have been in such a low-ranked  group.

Jidakarn Limkoonsert

Chatrarat Kaewmorakot

The Nation