Academic staff speak out on issues ailing UM
Adriana Nordin MananPublished: May 28, 2005 4:22 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
An independent inquiry is urgently required to investigate several issues beleaguering University Malaya (UM), representatives of its academic staff said.
Speaking on behalf of the University Malaya Academic Staff Association (PKAUM) at a parliamentary roundtable on the situation of higher education in the country yesterday, Rosli Mahat mentioned three specific issues which ail the nation's oldest university, namely inconsistencies in the promotion of academic personnel, tampering of students' grades and alleged misappropriation of funds in its residential housing development programme.
An independent inquiry is urgently required to investigate several issues beleaguering University Malaya (UM), representatives of its academic staff said.
Speaking on behalf of the University Malaya Academic Staff Association (PKAUM) at a parliamentary roundtable on the situation of higher education in the country yesterday, Rosli Mahat mentioned three specific issues which ail the nation's oldest university, namely inconsistencies in the promotion of academic personnel, tampering of students' grades and alleged misappropriation of funds in its residential housing development programme.
"In the instance of promotion exercise, through our own investigations we have discovered irregularities at many levels of the process. As employees of the university and members of the academia, we are extremely disappointed in this situation and wish to see it remedied immediately, not least to change the demoralising atmosphere felt (at work) at the moment."
On the issue of grades tampering, he said: " As academics, it is solely within our purview to decide the grades which students deserve. However, there have been instances in the UM where the final grades have been altered, without the knowledge of the lecturer concerned. Some of these grades have even been 'boosted' by 15%. This is a serious problem in the institution at the moment."
"How can we expect to produce world class graduates when their achievements on paper do not commensurate with their actual capabilities?"
"The budget for residential housing development is separate from that of the university, and is therefore not subject to audit and scrutiny. Therein lies the problem; we have valid concerns and evidence of discrepancies in the budget allocation process in this area, which can go undetected due to this difference in the administrative structure."
"How can we expect transparency in operations when the responsible entity is run in a slipshod, unprofessional manner akin to say, a sports house in a secondary school?"
No response
However, PKAUM also claimed that any efforts to forward their grouses and concerns have not been well received by the relevant authorities.
"It has been close to a few years since we submitted letters of complaint to the Higher Education Ministry, UM Vice-Chancellor and even the Anti-Corruption Agency in the case of mismanagement of funds, but until now we have yet to receive a response, nor have our requests to meet the vice-chancellor been entertained, " said Dr Edmund Terence Gomez, who served as deputy president of PKAUM until his resignation recently.
"These negative developments do not augur well for the future of education in Malaysia, especially since they run contrary to all the pledges made by our current prime minister, which include combating corruption and maintaining academic excellence. How can we even begin to produce eminent scholars if the selection process of such figures is flawed?"
Organised by the DAP, the roundtable was attended by representatives from opposition political parties, former and current academicians as well as members of the NGO community.
It culminated with an agreement to submit a letter of appeal to the prime minister to intervene in the case of Gomez, which will be led by MP for Ipoh Timur and Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.
Speaking on behalf of the University Malaya Academic Staff Association (PKAUM) at a parliamentary roundtable on the situation of higher education in the country yesterday, Rosli Mahat mentioned three specific issues which ail the nation's oldest university, namely inconsistencies in the promotion of academic personnel, tampering of students' grades and alleged misappropriation of funds in its residential housing development programme.
"In the instance of promotion exercise, through our own investigations we have discovered irregularities at many levels of the process. As employees of the university and members of the academia, we are extremely disappointed in this situation and wish to see it remedied immediately, not least to change the demoralising atmosphere felt (at work) at the moment."
On the issue of grades tampering, he said: " As academics, it is solely within our purview to decide the grades which students deserve. However, there have been instances in the UM where the final grades have been altered, without the knowledge of the lecturer concerned. Some of these grades have even been 'boosted' by 15%. This is a serious problem in the institution at the moment."
"How can we expect to produce world class graduates when their achievements on paper do not commensurate with their actual capabilities?"
"The budget for residential housing development is separate from that of the university, and is therefore not subject to audit and scrutiny. Therein lies the problem; we have valid concerns and evidence of discrepancies in the budget allocation process in this area, which can go undetected due to this difference in the administrative structure."
"How can we expect transparency in operations when the responsible entity is run in a slipshod, unprofessional manner akin to say, a sports house in a secondary school?"
No response
However, PKAUM also claimed that any efforts to forward their grouses and concerns have not been well received by the relevant authorities.
"It has been close to a few years since we submitted letters of complaint to the Higher Education Ministry, UM Vice-Chancellor and even the Anti-Corruption Agency in the case of mismanagement of funds, but until now we have yet to receive a response, nor have our requests to meet the vice-chancellor been entertained, " said Dr Edmund Terence Gomez, who served as deputy president of PKAUM until his resignation recently. "These negative developments do not augur well for the future of education in Malaysia, especially since they run contrary to all the pledges made by our current prime minister, which include combating corruption and maintaining academic excellence. How can we even begin to produce eminent scholars if the selection process of such figures is flawed?"
Organised by the DAP, the roundtable was attended by representatives from opposition political parties, former and current academicians as well as members of the NGO community.
It culminated with an agreement to submit a letter of appeal to the prime minister to intervene in the case of Gomez, which will be led by MP for Ipoh Timur and Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.
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