MOHE sets up committees to boost IPT excellence

The national task force for facilitating private higher learning institutions (IPTS) as an industry (PEMUDAH IPTS) was established by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) as an effort to recognise private higher education as a strategic industry for economic growth, said its minister Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad.

She said the task force, comprising various government agencies and the IPTS would identify issues and challenges and offer the best solutions for IPTS' to advance and compete globally.

"I am aware that the IPTS ecosystem is still restricted with policies and regulations that are less flexible, high promotion cost and less sustainable financial management and the situation is worsened by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," she said at MOHE's monthly gathering, broadcast live on the ministry's official Facebook, today.

According to Noraini, the Malaysian Association of Private Colleges and Universities (MAPCU) projects a decline of 84.1 per cent in students admission to IPTS', with an income loss of RM6.9 billion this year, which should be seriously addressed.

She clarified that IPTS' played an important role in the country's higher education ecosystem by contributing a significant RM31.5 billion to the economy.

Meanwhile, she said the formation of a steering committee and technical committee to strengthen governance in public universities (MANTAP IPTA) could be a platform for MOHE and public universities to improve governance in public universities especially in terms of their financial management, project management, subsidiaries governance and so on.

With regards to empowering entrepreneurship among IPT students, Noraini said there was a need to review academic curriculum and programmes offered by the universities towards producing competitive graduates with a strong mindset to face career challenges.

She hoped that the ministry would take the initiative to drive efforts in ensuring students acquire new skills with the implementation of reskilling and upskilling programmes apart from focusing on carrying out job matchings in the industry.

-- BERNAMA