I am not against ranking local universities, nor against public opinion polls. But as for using public opinion to rank universities, I am not sure. Rankings of universities are done everywhere. In Britain, local newspapers often conduct ranking surveys. Invariably, however, they are based on experts' evaluations and the proper use of universities' performance indicators. And they can be trusted as a reference. 

However, if one simply asks people what they think of the academic performance of Hong Kong's eight universities and that of their presidents, the results, ostensibly, cannot be trusted. 

That is exactly where the ludicrousness of Robert Chung Ting-yiu's survey on Hong Kong universities' performance - commissioned by education18.com - lies. Mr Chung runs the University of Hong Kong's Public Opinion Programme. 

The public, of course, always has an impression of a certain university. But it should never be used to rank universities. A taxi driver may say that Tsui Lap-chee, the vice-chancellor of HKU, performs better than Paul Morris, president of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. He rates Professor Tsui higher largely because of HKU's prestige. 

There is a serious issue of public interest not being served. Mr Chung's survey purports to give an objective ranking of the special administrative region's universities. Parents, as well as A-level students, may be misguided by the survey and mistakenly select a certain university based on the survey results. That would be a shame. Parents and students could be misled because they do not realise that the ranking was based largely on a public opinion poll, and arguably on improper use of performance indicators. The survey does explain, in appendices, how it is done, but unfortunately few people read them. The public has a right to know the truth. The government spends a massive amount of money on higher education, and hopes that the public understands the strengths and roles of different universities. 

Now, unfortunately, people's selection could be misled by Mr Chung's public opinion poll. It is unfair to both the potential applicants, and to the universities which are wrongly assessed. 

The public's interest is at stake. Perhaps education officials should look into this ranking fiasco, the damage of which is unfathomable. 

It is common sense that one should divide the number of annual publications of a university by its number of teaching staff to arrive at a meaningful publications performance indicator and not use the absolute number for comparison. Another grave defect is, in assessing universities' teaching quality, the survey just counts the number of commendations and recommendations in a government report, without giving weighting to them. 

I welcome university rankings - if they are done properly. Others, such as those of the Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly and the Ming Pao Daily News, were based on interviews with experts and students, and proper use of university performance indicators. 

Let me reiterate: I am not against public opinion polls. There are issues which can be gauged by using polls or referendums. But such issues must have been widely debated in society, and the public must thoroughly understand what they are before polling. 

Rankings done professionally, scientifically, objectively and fairly will undoubtedly provide useful information to parents and students about a university's performance, and help them make an informed choice.

Edward Chen Kwan-yiu is president of Lingnan University.