I refer to the letter Private education putting money ahead of quality .

Omes' attack on the private higher education institutions (IPTS), apart from being anonymous and non-specific, is presumably the result of a negative personal experience. The poor quality provision needs to be highlighted and dealt with, but let's not tar everyone with the same brush.

Although one may sympathise with him, such generalisations - 'dubious, unscrupulous, highway robbers, gold diggers, bums, loafers, riff-raff and dropouts' - and so on, are harsh to say the least, and fail to shed any light on the context within which these IPTS operate. Nor do they attempt to discriminate between the good, the bad, and the ugly of private higher education.

The private sector offers a wide variety of choice, and of quality, too. The top 30 or so provide an educational experience that is easily on par with (if not better than) that available at public universities. Witness the fact that reputable international universities are prepared to offer 'joint degrees', to say nothing of employability, international exposure or portable qualifications.

These are some of the reasons, among many, that the Malaysian middle-class of all races opt for the big, private colleges.

Another factor to consider is that the private sector operates without the assistance of government, despite educating around 50 percent of all Malaysian school-leavers. As a result, they lack the financial resources to provide the kind of facilities available in the public sector.

Whilst it is true that a few operators are making decent profits, the reality is that the vast majority of them are kicking hard just to keep their heads above water.

The Malaysian private colleges are attracting international students (around 30,000 so far, but this is a whole new topic) for many reasons. Cost is obviously one of them, but so is the ability to transfer credits, to gain internationally recognised degrees, and to experience the multicultural reality that is Malaysia.

There are many reasons to be sceptical about the education system, but I would venture to suggest that the IPTS are not one of them.