The government’s latest higher education blueprint has not addressed an urgent need for a total revamp of the private education sector, which think tank Penang Institute said accounts for 42 percent of students.

“The National Higher Education Sector Blueprint 2015 - 2025 was officially launched by Prime Minister Najib Razak on April 7.

“Many of the issues and challenges concerning the private higher education sector in Malaysia was only paid lip service in the blueprint,” lamented Penang Institute general manager Ong Kian Ming.

Ong said the sector was in danger of “catastrophic collapse” with 46 percent of private varsities in the red in 2013 and 45 percent having insufficient assets to cover their current liabilities.

He said the institute’s research showed an “urgent need of a new approach” to save the sector to ensure higher education is not jeopardised.

These, he said, include merging institutions, consolidating universities by area of expertise “so that specialist schools would combine to make more comprehensive universities”.

“Such a process would be similar to the banking consolidation in Malaysia during the 1990s,” said Ong, who is Serdang MP.

 

The government, he said, should also look into regulating the governance processes of private institutions, in particular requiring open recruitment of university appointments especially at the top-levels.

“Management change is also high on the list of areas in need of urgent change in private varsities with replacement of underperforming vice chancellors and reforms in the selection, assessment and rewards for vice chancellors and their deputies a top priority to ensure performance improvements,” he said.

Other measures include reducing reliance on the National Higher Education Fund loan (PTPTN) as a funding source and exploring public and private options, including higher education venture capital funds for restructuring and refinancing varsities that are under financial stress.

He cited the Iskandar EduCity project in Johor, n which common facilities are financed jointly by a number of different universities in a “shared campus” model.