33 private colleges shut this year

KUALA LUMPUR: Thirty-three private colleges have been closed down by the Higher Education Ministry this year for various reasons including failure to comply with Act 555 (Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996), said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.

Among the reasons for the closure include insufficient lecturers, too few students, expired registration and colleges that are no longer operational.

“We have already closed 33 private colleges this year.

“The quality of education needs to be adhered to. Any colleges that do not comply with our requirement will be shut. We cannot jeopardise the quality of education,” he said after the rating ceremony of the Malaysian Quality Education System (MyQuest) for private colleges yesterday.

Act 555 regulates private education institutions, with recent amendments in November allowing the ministry to monitor and regulate them.

“There were more colleges closed this year because of the enforcement of Act 555 and we also have an online system for the colleges to key in their data and information.

“Through this, colleges found to have not fulfilled the requirements, were closed down,” he said.

From 2012 to 2016, 46 colleges were shut down by the ministry.

Meanwhile, MyQuest 2016/2017 recorded a 27% improvement by private colleges in their education quality since the system was introduced in 2011.

The bi-annual evaluation system rates the colleges quality of service and best practices.