The Straits Times of Singapore 27th May 2001

Two Chinese parties call the proposal regressive

KUALA LUMPUR - Two ruling Chinese political parties have criticised the Education Ministry's intention to impose a quota system on private institutions of higher learning.

Officials from both the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Gerakan said making private colleges follow a quota system 'does not make sense, and would in fact severely inhibit the development of higher education in the country'.

They were commenting on a statement by Education Minister Tan Sri Musa Mohamad that private colleges may have to adhere to a quota system to address the imbalance in their intake of bumiputera and non-bumiputera students.

MCA's Central Publicity Bureau secretary Zheng Guangzu claimed that the issue of quotas for private institutions was being raised now to divert attention away from the fact that many brilliant non-bumiputera students were being turned away from government universities.

The issue of quotas at such institutions generated heated exchanges of opinion in recent weeks.

Describing the Education Minister's suggestion as 'regressive', Mr Zheng said the development of private institutions had helped to groom many talented people for the country.

His counterpart in Gerakan, Mr Qiu Ruikan, said Tan Sri Musa's plan to please a certain group of people was not conducive to national unity.

He also lambasted the minister for shifting the focus to the private colleges at a time when the ministry had still not reasonably resolved the public universities' quota controversy.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Association of Private Colleges (Mapco) said imposing a quota on private colleges will not increase the number of bumiputera students if they cannot afford to pay. The association wants the government to sponsor needy bumiputeras.It said the primary issue was not about private colleges failing to take in enough bumiputera students.

'It is whether the students want to and can fork out the money to study in local colleges. We want the students, but imposing a quota will not solve the problem,' the spokesman was quoted as saying in The Sun yesterday.

Mapco and the National Association of Independent and Private Education Institutions (Naipei) suggested that Unit Pusat Universiti (UPU) - the body which allocates places to undergraduates - send qualified students who are not offered a place in public universities to private institutions.

'The Education Ministry has a list of colleges that offer competitive courses, especially those linked with foreign universities.

'UPU can offer places at the private colleges to those who did not make it into the public universities. This will ensure bumiputera students get the opportunity to study in quality institutions,' the Mapco spokesman said.

On average, bumiputera students make up about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the total intake in private colleges.

But, Naipei president Dr Mohd Thalha Ali Thamby said this is because most of them are absorbed into public tertiary institutions, and are expecting sponsorships.

To open up more avenues to bumiputera students, he was quoted in The Sun as suggesting a fund that receives aid from the strong economic sectors like export manufacturing.

--Sin Chew Jit Poh/Asia News Network