More private colleges improve in quality
PRIVATE colleges in Malaysia has shown improvements in their standards and quality based on the rating system by Malaysia Quality Education System (MyQUEST).
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said that MyQUEST 2016/2017 recorded a 27 per cent increase in the number of private colleges achieving ratings from four to six stars ever since the rating was introduced in 2011.
MyQUEST was developed by the Ministry of Higher Education in 2010 with an initial purpose to evaluate the quality of private colleges in Malaysia. The evaluation and rating system are conducted once in two years through three categories generating three different reports. They are on quality of the institution, strength of clusters as defined by National Education Code and international student services.
“The evaluation is necessary to ensure the private higher education in Malaysia is raised to competitive levels through continuous improvement and capacity building,” said Idris.
This year, 336 out of 398 registered colleges participated in the first phase which recorded an increased participation of 25.8 per cent in comparison to the ratings in previous years. Of the total, 206 colleges (51.8 per cent) were qualified and audited in the second phase.
The five criteria that are evaluated in MyQUEST are students (10 per cent), resources (30 per cent), quality management system (30 per cent), programme recognition (10 per cent) and graduate recognition (20 per cent).
The ratings can assist the public to make informed decisions in choosing quality providers and study programmes to reduce the risk of making inaccurate decisions.
The private colleges registered with the ministry under the Act 555 are the main participants of the MyQUEST system. However, the college must fulfil two criteria in order to qualify to be rated. They must complete the entries of all five evaluation criteria and at
The evaluation is necessary to ensure the private higher education in Malaysia is raised to competitive levels through continuous improvement and capacity building.
IDRIS JUSOH
Higher Education minister