Private higher education is largely overlooked in the current debate on reform of higher education in Malaysia. Nonetheless, private higher education institutions (HEIs) account for almost half of the student and academic populations and absorb large amounts of government subsidised loans through the PTPTN loan system. In 2016, PTPTN allocated RM2.6 billion or 60% of its funds to private HEIs which made up around half of the revenue for the sector.

The lack of attention to private HEIs is concerning because of the number of students and the public resources involved, but even worse is the urgent need to address reform of the private sector because of significant financial distress, which is impacting tens of thousands of students, graduates and staff in HEIs.

We have recently completed and updated our research on private university finances, presented at a public lecture at Monash University on Nov 27, 2018, which shows the current financial landscape for private universities based on audited financial accounts from Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM) for 75 out of 96 private HEIs. The results show that our private universities are struggling and need help and support if they are to survive and thrive in the coming years..next

Source:FreeMalaysiaToday.com

Date of Input: 12/09/2019 | Updated: 08/10/2019 | aini_abd