Director: Daniel C. Levy

Governmental Aims to Control Illegal Actions of
Malaysian Private Higher Education Institutions

PROPHE Summary (by Prachayani Praphamontripong):

The Malaysian government will be taking action under the 1996 Private Higher Education Institutions Act to shut down private higher education institutions operating without ministry's approval and allegedly corrupting the Employees Provident Fund meant for further education. The government has reported 312 cases of such fraud, amounting to major money. Since 2002, 46 private higher education institutions have been found to be illegally operating without approval. Thus, institutional verification with the Private Higher Education Division is advised for people selecting private institutions.

For the full story, see Malaysian National News Agency, August 3, 2005, "Ministry Warning to Colleges Indulging in EPF Fraud," by Shafie-Scam.

http://www.bernama.com

PROPHE Observation (by Daniel C. Levy):

It is of course impossible for us to assess the validity of charges against the Malaysian private institutions. Furthermore, the article does not inform us about how widespread alleged malpractice is among these institutions. We can see clearly, however, that Malaysia is among the many countries in which private institutions are charged with malpractice.