The stark divide between public and private varsities in Malaysia

If public universities were properly, fairly and efficiently run, there would be no place for private universities in the country.

COMMENT

By TK Chua

Seriously, what baloney was Abdul Razak Baginda talking about when he said that the proliferation of private universities had brought about a racial divide in the country?

The two systems i.e. private and public universities, are the consequences of economic circumstances and hard reality. Public universities are either poorly run or popular courses are not readily available to all. The mushrooming of private universities is to fill the void left by public universities.

Private universities are expensive to attend because they are funded by private capital and they operate more like business entities. But this does not mean public universities are cheap if we look at the issue from the “resource utilisation” point of view. Public universities are funded by the Treasury and that is why no one feels the pinch.

I do not have to conduct any study – I know for sure that public universities are more inefficient and cost ineffective when compared with private universities.

Just look at the facilities, the faculties and the salary scale of lecturers and professors in public universities. They are definitely more “well-endowed” than those in private universities.

But what do we get in return from public universities? Why are they not providing quality education as expected? Just take a look around us – inflexibility, the inability to cater to market demand, bigotry, polarisation, parochialism, and unwarranted discrimination have become the hallmarks of our public universities.

I think we ought to know the difference between private and public universities. Public universities have the choice to make themselves inclusive and available to all. Private universities are economic entities borne out of unfulfilled needs.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that if public universities were properly, fairly and efficiently run, there would actually be no place for private universities in the country?

Students attending private universities are already paying full fees. I think it is absolutely unnecessary to impose more regulations on private universities to cater to students with no financial means or to satisfy racial parity on student enrolment. It will only result in higher costs and higher fees for students studying there.

If Abdul Razak Baginda is really keen on social justice and unity, it would be easier for him to ask public universities to meet these two requirements and to be more inclusive. The rest, are spurious arguments.

TK Chua is an FMT reader.