Former premier Najib Abdul Razak has credited the BN government for the improved rankings of local universities.

In the process, he also took a potshot at Education Minister Maszlee Malik over the latter's “black shoes and black socks” episodes.

“Behind the allegations that the BN government ignored the quality of education, the reality is that over the past several years, we have seen our universities constantly improving their rankings.

“This proves that education policies do not start with black shoes and socks. Hopefully, this trend continues and is given attention by the Pakatan Harapan government,” he added in a Facebook posting this afternoon.

The former premier also noted that Universiti Malaya has been rated as among the top 20 universities in Asia and shares the 19th spot together with Shanghai's Jiao Tong University.

“Jia Tong was established in 1896 and was once called the 'MIT of the East'.

“I am proud that UM is now at the same spot (with Jia Tong) and if this trend continues, it is not impossible that UM could overtake Jiao Tong,” he added.

Earlier, the Star Online reported that all five Malaysian research universities are in the top 50 of the 2019 edition of the QS University Rankings: Asia.

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) is in 34th place, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (41), Universiti Sains Malaysia (43) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (47).