Academic Excellence Through AUN

Education has been Southeast Asia's priority for progress and has yet produced numerous outstanding schools that offer one of the best education in the continent. To further develop Southeast Asian schools into producing competitive graduates for the region, the ASEAN formed the ASEAN University Network (AUN), an arrangement between 20 universities in 10 ASEAN countries.

Founded in 1995, its goal is to strengthen the existing network of cooperation among universities in Southeast Asia. It also aims to promote cooperation and solidarity among scientists and scholars in the region and develop academic and professional resources as well as to produce and disseminate scientific knowledge and information among the universities in the region.

Now these universities are cited the best in their own country and may help you find your way to the best ASEAN education. Let us take a look at these 20 schools that together form the AUN:

BRUNEI
1. Universiti Brunei Darussalam- UBD is the largest and oldest university in the country. Founded in 1985, it is now composed of 7 Faculties including the Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education and the Academy of Brunei Studies.

CAMBODIA
1. Royal University of Phnom Penh-RUPP is also the oldest and largest university in Cambodia. With over 5,000 students across three campuses, it offers a wide range of high-quality courses. It began as the Royal Khmer University and saw closure during the establishment of the Khmer Republic in 1970 and educated persons were targeted and killed. Few educated Cambodians who survived stayed in the country when the borders were reopened and the school was deserted for five years. In 2001, the RUPP opened its first post graduate degrees.

INDONESIA
1. Universitas Indonesia- One of Indonesia's premier universities ranking 395th in the Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings in 2007. Universitas Indonesia or UI was founded in 1851 by the Dutch East Indies Government to train medical assistants. The school consists of 12 Faculties providing courses at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels.

2. Gadjah Mada University-The largest university in Indonesia in terms of population. UGM ranked 360th in the Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings in 2007. It has 18 faculties, 73 undergraduate study programs, 28 diploma study programs, and a graduate program of 62 study programs ranging from Social Sciences to Engineering. It has approximately 55,000 students, 647 foreign students, 2,240 employees, and 2,273 lecturers.

3. Bandung Institute of Technology- Is a public coeducational research university in Indonesia. It is the oldest technology-oriented university in Indonesia founded as the Technische Hogeschool te Bandung. In a global survey of the Times Higher Education Supplement-Quacquarelli Symonds (THES-QS), released at 5 October 2006, ITB was placed on the 258th among other universities around the globe.

4. Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember- Is a public university in Surabaya, East Java focusing on technology and engineering. Due to lack of engineers, the Indonesian Engineers Association set up a foundation to start a technical college which then evolved to what is now the ITS. It is composed of 6 faculties and two autonomous polytechnics.

LAOS
1. National University of Laos- A young university in with departments brought in form other existing colleges. It is the only national university in the country. It consists of 13 faculties including the School of Foundation Studies and the Environment Development Center.

MALAYSIA
1. Universiti Malaya- Is the oldest university in Malaysia and is widely recognised as one of the top university in the country. Many prominent Malaysians are alumni of UM. Among its successful alumni are Tun Abdul Razak (2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia), Mahathir bin Mohamad (4th Prime Minister of Malaysia) and Lee Kuan Yew (former Singapore Prime Minister).

2. Universiti Sains Malaysia- A public university in Penang, Malaysia and is the largest university in terms of population. It was formerly known as Universiti Pulau Pinang in 1969. The university consists of 24 schools.

3. Islamic International University of Malaysia- The private publicly-funded school in Malaysia. Although the school was founded with islamic principles, it also admits non-Muslim students. There are presently 14 faculties or Kulliyyahs.

MYANMAR
1. University of Yangon- It is established in 1878 as an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta (India). It is first known as the Rangoon College which was opened by Education Syndicate. It was renamed Government College in 1904, and University College in 1920. Throughout the 1940s to 1950s, it was the most prestigious university in Southeast Asia and one of the top performing schools in the continent, attracting students from across the region.

2. Yangon Institute of Economics- The first institution in Burma to offer degrees in Economics and Business Studies. An MBA course was conducted in 1995.

PHILIPPINES
1. University of the Philippines- Founded in 1908 through an act of Philippine Legislature, UP is now the top university in the Philippines and considered one of the leading universities in Asia and the world by international academic standards. The foremost symbol of UP is the Oblation, a figure of a naked man with arms outstretched and face pointed outwards. Its flagship campus is the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

2. De La Salle University- Is a catholic private university located in Taft, Manila. During World War 1, the school was turned into a Japanese headquarters and massacred 16 Christian Brothers and families who had taken refuge in the university chapel. It is composed of 6 colleges.

SINGAPORE
1. National University of Singapore- The largest and oldest university in Singapore. NUS has semester-based modular systems for conducting courses and adopts features of British system such as tutorials and the American system (credits).

2. Nanyang Technological University- A Major research university in Singapore. It has 6 colleges, schools and institutes including the College of Engineering, with 6 schools focusing on technology innovation.

THAILAND
1. Chulalongkorn University- One of Thailand's most prestigious universities which includes 18 faculties and a number of schools and institutes. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is the first Thai royal blood to graduate in this unversity. The AUN Secretariat holds office at Chulalongkorn University.

2. Burapha University- A major public university in Chonburi province. The university contains service centers such as the Institute of Marine Science, whose aquarium is a major tourist attraction. The school hosts approximately 12,000 students aided by 500 teaching staff and 300 general employees.

VIETNAM
1. Vietnam National University, Hanoi- One of the two national universities of Vietnam consisting of 10 colleges and faculties. It began as the University of Indochina in 1906, Vietnam National University (1945) and the University of Hanoi (1956).

2. Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh- Founded in 1995 and reorganized in 2001, the university now provides graduate and post graduate education with 35,391 students. It includes the High Schools for Gifted Secondary School Students and the Ho Chi Minh International University.

With these outstanding performing member schools of the ASEAN University Network, education in the region may well be developed more to compete with other large universities especially in Europe and America.

These schools work hand-in-hand to provide quality education for young southeast asians and together build a stronger, progressive and peaceful Southeast Asia.

University of Malaya











Universiti Sains Malaysia










University of the Philippines








Universitas Indonesia






Universiti Brunei Darussalam




National University of Laos




Islamic International University of Malaysia






Chulalongkorn University









Universitas Gadjah Mada

Institut Teknologi Bandung

Nanyang Technological University

National University of Singapore









De La Salle University

Royal University of Phnom Penh

Burapha University




We were not able to find pictures of the following:
Vietnam National University, Hanoi
Ho Chi Minh City National University
University of Yangon
Yangon Institute of Economics
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember

Photos courtesy of Google and Yahoo.

Special thanks to Maricar of http://www.filipinasoul.com/, Dave Lucas' Around the Blogosphere and Katiek of Ode Magazine Online for featuring and linking my previous article "How to Ride the Jeepney" to their sites. ^_^