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We propose that the Malaysian Education Department adopt a friendly attitude towards private colleges while having a very strict supervision over them   Speech - DAP Malacca State Dinner by Dr Tan Seng Giaw (Malacca, Friday): On 26 June, 2003, the House amended the National Accreditation Board Act, 1996, to give a different definitions to diploma, degree and certificate in private institutes of higher learning (PIHLs). Stricter scrutiny of PIHLs is correct.  Malaysia has over 700 PIHLs including 16 private universities, four of which are campuses of foreign universities. There are over 200,000 students in PIHLs ( about the same number in public IHLs). Clearly, these colleges are playing an important part in our education. As the objective of Malaysian education is for the country to become a centre of excellence (attaining world-class), we have to monitor and control the quality of PIHLs.  We don’t want to see unscrupulous individuals using the name of a college to bring in workers for restaurants and other premises. Neither do we like to witness colleges spoiling the name of Malaysia. For example, Kolej Yayasan Mara signed a contract with Nanjing University to bring students to this country. When there was a change of leadership, the contract was said to be reneged. The Education Ministry has not explained this.  The Government must always be on the look out for some of the civil servants who regard PIHLs as their enemy, making life difficult for the latter. Indeed, there should be a spirit of Malaysia Incorporated between the public and the private sectors. After all PIHLs can help to solve certain educational problems in the country.  Now, besides bureaucracy and red-tapes, the applications for PIHL programmes can be very slow, each programme costing RM10,000. The enforcement is not strict. There is shortage of lecturers in PIHLs. Each lecturer may have to teach up to 630 hours a year compared with 240 hours in Public IHLs. How do we expect lecturers to do research that is an important part of a university? (30/6/2003) * Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP national publicity secretary