Is higher education ministry focusing on quantity over quality, asks Rafidah

 

Rafidah Aziz said the unusually large number of approvals in the area of private colleges is alarming.

PETALING JAYA: The higher education ministry must evaluate institutions under its purview to ensure the quality of teaching has not been compromised in favour of the quantity of graduates, says Rafidah Aziz.

Her rebuke comes after it was revealed that eight postgraduate courses at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology did not have their accreditation extended after an audit performed by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency earlier in the year.

In a Facebook post, the former international trade and industry minister said it is “alarming” if a course is offered by an institution but is not recognised, and questioned how thoroughly university curriculums are being assessed when there are so many institutions in the country.

“I looked up the statistics and found that there are currently 20 public universities, 47 private universities, 34 university colleges, 414 private colleges (and) 10 foreign university branch campuses in Malaysia.

“This, to me, seems to be an unusually large number of approvals given, in the area of private colleges. But, the most important questions are, who (gave the approvals) and how are the curricula vetted?”

While private institutions are profit-making endeavours, Rafidah said this does not exclude them from the responsibility of ensuring students are up to industry standards.

She said it was up to the higher education ministry to ensure that every institution adheres to global standards of education so that students have the calibre and skill sets to meet job market requirements and have their qualifications recognised.

“The higher education ministry must undertake proper evaluation of each and every entity in the education system, whether public or private, and ensure the appropriate follow up action.

“Do not be buoyed by numbers, like the proudly-touted 632 PhD graduates in 2019 alone, from one university! It was a ‘world record’, sadly for the wrong reasons,” she said, in reference to Universiti Putra Malaysia.

Students will be depended upon to push the country forward, she said, and thus the system they are placed within must provide the framework and content for them to meet the demands of the industries they will soon enter.

On Monday, in response to the media coverage of the eight unaccredited courses, Limkokwing said it was continuing to work with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency and expects to have the situation resolved by September.

The university advised students to continue with their studies as their courses were registered with the higher education ministry and therefore are valid. - FMT