The news below made the headline in NST today. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! I will leave it to the readers to decide. Everyday, our politicians seem to be making a fool out of themselves. Our country is becoming a laughing-stock of the world!
I will say this again that it is all about money and some political connection. How many universities do we really need ? do we have that many academics to run these universities? when even our own public universities do not have enough teaching staff?
Anyone who works in these so-called ” universities” knows what hanky-panky things that goes inside. Just read this comment that was posted in my blog recently:
“Dr P, my sister did A-levels as a prep course to study medicine in the UK in this college.. because MARA sent her there. basically MARA simply sent students to any new mushrooming colleges (to support these ‘bumiputra’ colleges) and take a gamble with their students’ future. my sister said the college knows nothing about a-levels for medicine. for medical school applications in the UK, the a levels students basically need confidential reports to be submitted and the teachers NEVER did it until the last minute when in the end they ASKED the student to write it themselves… it was really awful. the quality of teaching given was horrible that many students had to resit their papers due to poor grades, when these students were initially top SPM students. and not to mention accomodation provided as well… the standards were very poor. they tried to fit 14 students into one small single storey terraced house. for this college to start a medical school…its just unimaginable. “
I am very sure few more medical schools will be on the cards. Trust me! The politicians do not know anything about medical degree recognition etc etc. Even our PM is not aware about it ( how he made a fool out of himself when he launched Perdana University !: https://pagalavan.com/2011/05/21/is-this-a-joke-psd-students-among-100-in-first-intake-for-johns-hopkins/) Many of these foreign varsities just want to make money as the cost of education in their country is becoming too high for foreign students. Thus many are unable to attract foreign students to make money. So, they bring their brand name to our country and try to make money!
Education should never be politicised or commercialised! It is a disaster in waiting!
Welcome to the land of Varsities. We have not only recorded our name in Guinness World Book of Records as the country with most number of medical schools percapita and the fastest growing medical schools, we will be in as the country with most number of universities as well ………….
More varsities coming
25 apply to set up campuses in Malaysia Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin says the higher learning sector will boost Malaysia’s growth
MALAYSIA is morphing into a key destination for foreign universities, with 25 applications received to set up campuses here. Interest in the tertiary education sector has shifted to a higher gear, said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin. The latest applicants allowed to set up campuses here were University of Reading and Heriot-Watt University, both from the United Kingdom. “We’ve even received applications to set up new private universities from established players although their internal policies don’t allow them to set up branches abroad. “There are also foreign investors who have no affiliation with any university, but keen to set up new universities in Malaysia.”
The Manipal International University and Vinayaka Mission International University College were instances of new foreign universities in the country. Universities that involve foreign entities are the Al-Madinah International University, INTI International University, Perdana University, Malaysia Institute for Supply-Chain Innovation and Raffles University Iskandar Malaysia. Khaled said many of the applications came from developed nations like the United States, Britain, Australia and Switzerland as well as from the United Arab Emirates, China, India, Nepal and Singapore.
He said he expected to receive more applications, especially from Europe and West Asia, following economic uncertainty and political discord in some of these places. “Investors set their sights on nations that promise good returns and stability for their investments. Malaysia offers these as it has a stable political and economic climate and is free from natural disasters. “We have a strong quality control system via Malaysia Quality Framework, undertaken by the Malaysia Quality Agency. We also have tax incentives and a liberal higher education policy.” Malaysia ranks 11th as the chosen destination for international students to further their studies. It controls two per cent of the total international students’ market. Khaled said the country had much to offer with its strategic location, infrastructure, large land deposit for development, lower operational costs and with English spoken widely as the second language.
“We have the Iskandar Development corridor in Johor and the Kuala Lumpur Education City in Negri Sembilan.” As such, Khaled said the higher learning sector was poised to be the key engine of growth as Malaysia moved towards a developed and high-income status. This had boosted the country’s reputation as one that possesses quality higher education on a par with developed countries and becoming Asia’s leading education hub, he said. “Foreign universities are careful and sensitive in their selection of locations to set up their campuses abroad. “When Malaysia is chosen by several world-renowned universities, it shows that our tertiary education sector has reached a higher level.” By 2015, more than 150,000 international students were expected to pick Malaysia as their choice, he said.
On whether having foreign campuses would threaten local institutions of higher learning, Khaled believed this would create competitiveness among universities. Most developed nations exported their higher learning products to expand their networks of cooperation to reach those in the developing and Third World countries, he added. To strengthen and boost the competitiveness of local universities, Khaled said the ministry had awarded autonomy status to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia. Read more: More varsities coming – Top News – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/top-news/more-varsities-coming-1.50776#ixzz1nCfG17pp
Pagalavan's Avatar 
Leave a Reply