Private varsities concerned over rescheduling intakes

PETALING JAYA: Rescheduling intakes for pre-university courses may be difficult for private higher learning institutions as it would mean a major rescheduling in operations.

Malaysian Association of Private Colleges and Universities (Mapcu) president Datuk Dr Parmjit Singh said these institutions did not shut down for breaks.

“We can’t really do that as it is a major rescheduling of operations.

“Private colleges and universities do not close for the two to three months’ summer breaks, which provide the flexibility required,” he said.

Hence, Mapcu hopes that the

Higher Education Ministry would consider allowing students to be conditionally admitted based on their forecast results, and review the students’ status based on their actual results when it is available.

Dr Parmjit said the exception would allow universities and colleges in the country to admit those affected during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also hoped that the Education Ministry would allow the release of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination results in eight weeks, compared to the present 13-15 weeks.

Sunway Education Group chief executive officer Dr Elizabeth Lee said the institution had some flexibility when it came to its homegrown pre-university programmes, such as the Foundation in Arts,

Foundation in Science and Technology, and other various diploma programmes.

This is because assessments for these course are conducted internally.

“Nevertheless, we will also need to consider the university intake dates,” she added.

However, Sunway said it had no control over the exam schedules for the external programmes offered, such as the A-Level, Australian Matriculation (AUSMAT), Monash University Foundation Year (MUFY) and the Canadian Matriculation Programme (CIMP).

“Hence, we must be mindful of the university entry dates and try to prepare our students to meet these dates to ensure they can progress into university without further delay,” said Dr Lee.

She also hoped the government would consider either a one-off cancellation of the SPM and Sijil Pelajaran Tinggi Malaysia (STPM) for this year and use predictive grades or forecast SPM results for application and enrolment into pre-university and university programmes.

UCSI Group Corporate Affairs said it was only able to make a decision when the Education Ministry announced the SPM dates.

“The university will also decide on its next course of action should the ministry allow to accept forecast results for our intakes.

“At present, the university has opened an intake in July to accept students who missed the May intake,” said UCSI in a statement.

Prior to this, UCSI had intakes in January, May and September.