KOTA KINABALU: The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) must be more vigilant in monitoring the activities of higher learning institutes in the country.
By doing this, the ministry will be reducing the risks of students and their parents being cheated by unscrupulous institutions, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) deputy president Datuk Eric Majimbun and vice president Datuk Chua Soon Bui said.
Eric, who is also Sepanggar member of parliament, said the mushrooming of higher education institutions had resulted in them competing with one another.
While competition is good, these institutions are eager to claim to be educators and some will somehow find ways and means to find loopholes in the Education Act.
"This is the problem, so MOHE and the Education Department should have a proper system to monitor all the higher learning institutes. Without monitoring, unwanted incidents could occur like what is happening here in Sabah.
"It should not happen at all," he told reporters after receiving a memorandum from a couple. who had initially enrolled their daughter,in a learning institute here but encountered some problems with the institute.
Lastmonth, the concerned parents, Dr Kang Kee Yeow and his wife, turned to SAPP Wanita chief Melanie Chia for assistance over the conditions of accommodation given to students of the said insitute.
In the agreement, eight students will be housed in a 'house' but in reality, as many as 10 students were squeezed into the tiny so called 'hostels'.
The students who had to pay up to RM250 for the lodging, were allegedly made to sleep on bunk beds and the close proximity of the beds worried the couple as there was hardly any space to allow students safe passage in case of emergencies like a fire.
According to the couple, not only was the institute was allegedly operating without a permit and an Occupational Certificate (OC), it was also alleged to not have a syllabus in place for the course their daughter was taking.
Chua, the Tawau member of parliament, said she and Majimbun were more than happy to bring up the case in Parliament and they appreciate the couple's efforts to fight for the interest of the general public on issues.
"In fact, we read in the newspapers recently that City Hall has actually announced that the institute was operating illegally without a trading license and an OC.
“As more than 90 per cent of these students are Bumiputeras from rural Sabah and Sarawak, the institution should be answerable to the people because this is public issue as it no longer just affects the students and their parents," she stressed.
On the issue of the institution's new intakes who were suddenly moved to Kuala Lumpur, Chua questioned if parents were aware of what was happening and the reason why the students had been relocated.
"We will definitely be bringing the issue to the attention of the Ministry of Higher Education as it has infringed the regulations laid down by the Ministry's Higher Education Act," she said, adding that there had been similar cases in other parts of Malaysia after education was opened up to the region to make Malaysia an education hub.
Some of the colleges, she claimed, had operated without a license, especially for courses which were not listed under the license.
"We cannot compromise any abuse in the Act by any education institution, whether big or small and we hope the ministry, especially the enforcement body will view this seriously.
Chua said the private benefits of any institutions could not be allowed to be above public interest.
The Borneo Post
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Page A4
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