I would like to refer to Stifled Citizen's letter entitled Why prevent students from going abroad? which in response to the Higher Education Ministry's proposal to 'license' students going overseas.

I cannot agree more with the writer in that there are ulterior motives and a hidden agenda in this proposal made under the pretext of protecting the welfare of the students concerned.

I suspect this is another devious scheme hatched by ministry to rope in students for enrollment at local universities run by government-linked cronies. The excuse will be that this move would help the country save on foreign exchange.

Students would be directed to enroll in designated branch campuses of local or foreign universities if there were local places available for their courses. The no-objection certificates would not be issued for these students.

For quite sometime, the ministry has been encouraging more foreign universities to set up branches in Malaysia. Currently, there are two the University of Nottingham and Monash University.

Who are the local partners for these universities? The licences are granted readily for the well-connected ones as there is a guarantee on returns for the investment thrown in. Such ventures are 'win-win' situations not unlike our tolled highways.

These private university branch campuses would flourish in years to come as they would not have to struggle to recruit local students. The government - via the no-objection certificate - would see to it that students wishing to study overseas would be diverted to such branch campuses.

Is this not a convenient way to recruit students while enjoying a near-monopoly and easy returns on investment?

And for the many private local institutions, they might as well close shop or merge (as the government will advice them). They are at the moment struggling with the many restrictions imposed by National Accreditation Board and the ministry.

Looking back, the scenario is very similar to when there were too many banks around and too many share-issuing houses. The order of the day was to merge and government would then grant new banking licences to a few, new chosen players.

The no-objection certificate ruling for overseas-bound students is the first move of a similar modus operandi for latecomers to the education industry to gain a profitable market share.