LONDON: Malaysian universities continue to improve in their world rankings based on subjects, with an increase in their overall share of places rising from 1.27 per cent to 1.51 per cent. In the just-released seventh edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject by Quacquarelli Symonds, three Malaysian university programmes rank in the top 30. They are University of Malaya's Electrical Engineering (at 23rd) and Development Studies (at 26th); and Taylor's University's Hospitality & Leisure Management (at 29th). University of Malaya (UM) continues to be the best-performing local institution, with five subjects ranked in the global top 50. Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh congratulated the universities for their “stellar performance” in this year’s Rankings by Subject. “Having 11 subjects across four universities ranked within the world’s top 50 is a highly-commendable improvement from three subjects in 2016. “Furthermore, Malaysian universities have doubled the number of subjects ranked in the top 100 to 52. “Congratulations to UM, which achieved having five subjects placed in the top 50 and 19 subjects in the top 100. UM has excelled in various Engineering fields and for the first time, its education programme is ranked 41st. “USM has also done us proud, with four subjects in the top 50, notably with Hospitality & Leisure Management ranked 32nd and Mineral & Mining ranked 35th. “Speaking of firsts, we have a private university ranked in the world’s top 50, namely Taylor’s University, at 29th place, for Hospitality & Leisure Management; while IIUM also appears at 46th, for Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies. “I am proud that our universities have excelled across diverse areas of knowledge, from Engineering to Education, Hospitality to Environmental Sciences. “As the higher education space becomes more connected, accessible and competitive, the ability to offer high-quality education in such subjects will enable our higher education institutions to stand out worldwide, and en