obmar
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Something is not rightA lesson in higher education
HOW much are parents required to pay to enrol children in a private university or college?
Free, says a friend. Unbelievable but it’s true, he adds.
“Just take a look at the pamphlets and leaflets in the mailbox. All a parent needs to do is sign a form which allows the private college or university to arrange for a loan under the National Higher Education Fund Corporation.
“It’s a catch that misses some desperate parents, and it could be an expensive one. A parent or student could end up owing the corporation RM50,000 for a substandard education,” says the friend.
It’s a scam, he adds, which I believe he has gone a bit too far on that count.
Yesterday’s statistics on the 2007 tertiary intake, which appeared on the front page of an English newspaper, was an eye-opener.
Out of the 68,110 applicants, 40,116 received the good news that they have secured places in public universities.
And the remaining 27,994 will have to find other alternatives. They will have to seek places at private universities or colleges at their own cost.
“My mailbox is clogged daily with pamphlets and brochures from private colleges and universities, and the phone keeps ringing as their promoters try to ‘sell’ their universities and colleges to my son,” he says.
After a search on the Higher Education Ministry’s website, I was puzzled how a country of our size could have 352 private institutes.
A simple arithmetic would reveal that if the 27,994 students are evenly distributed among the 352 institutes, each will get 79 students.
And if each institute offers 10 courses, the enrolment will come to 7.9 students per course. Is that a good business deal?
Let’s not be concerned by the interest of the operators of private colleges and universities as they know their risks.
What we should be concerned about is whether our children are getting the best education after coughing out thousands of ringgit to study at these private universities and colleges.
A recent complaint by a parent from Temerloh seems to be the tip of the iceberg.
It was a story about Atikah Muklis, who dreamt of becoming a nurse. After registering for a nursing course, she thought she was on her way to achieving her dreams.
However, the 19-year-old from Temerloh had given up after she did not receive any response from the college after paying the registration fees.
To make things worse, she received a lawyer’s letter from the college instructing her to settle RM3,500 for a semester’s worth of fees.
The course was scheduled to start in November last year but was postponed to March this year because the college did not have enough students to run the course.
Our apprehension is why are we giving room to these errant colleges and universities to shortchange our children?
Do we really need 352 private institutes to fight over 27,000 students each year?
Another alarming question is how much has the quality of education been compromised by these private universities and colleges as they fight to stay afloat?
The authorities should have the answers.
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obmar
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Nursing dreams dashed
By KHAIRUN NIZAM AB GHANI
SHE dreamt of becoming a nurse and after registering for a nursing course, she thought she was on her way to achieving her dreams.
However, 19-year-old Atikah Muklis from Temerloh, Pahang, had given up after she did not receive any response from the college after paying the registration fees.
Imagine her shock when she received a lawyer’s letter from the college instructing her to settle RM3,500 for a semester’s worth of fees.
Atikah said she received a call from the college in Shah Alam last September offering her a place in their business msanagement course.
“I wasn’t interested in the course and rejected it.
“Instead, I inquired about their nursing course,” she said.
“A month later, I received a call from the college offering me a place in the nursing course.
“I was also asked to come to the college’s campus in Petaling Jaya to make the necessary arrangements.”
Atikah and her father then checked out the college.
“After seeing that they were approved by Lembaga Akreditasi Negara and were the recipients of several awards, I was confident I would be able to receive quality education there,” said Atikah.
Her father wanted to pay the registration fees on the spot.
“We were surprised when the college administration said they could not issue a receipt on the spot,” Atikah claimed.
“They said the receipt could only be issued by a higher authority.
“So, we did not pay the fees that day.”
Atikah said after a discussion with her father, the family decided to bank in the fees, amounting to RM1,625, on Oct 31.
“We checked the recipient’s account and it was stated that the account belonged to the college,” she said.
Atikah said she checked with the college and was promised that a receipt would be sent to her within three days to a week.
“The course was supposed to start on November last year,” she said.
“I was all geared up for it but after several months, they told me that it was postponed to March 2007.
“I became fed up and asked for a refund.
“They gave me excuses, such as they were waiting for more students from Johor, who were affected by the floods,” she said.
Atikah said she received a letter on May 30, dated May 24, from the college’s lawyers, demanding that she pay up RM3,500 owed to the college for one semester’s fees.
“A letter was also sent on June 7, demanding that I pay up or face legal action,” she claimed.
She lodged a report on June 12 at Petaling Jaya police station.
“I want the situation to be resolved.
“I’m also calling for other students who share my plight to come forward and lodge a report,” she said.
Efforts for comments from the college were futile.
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The Inquisitor
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Wow,
That sounds like typical college problems. It seems like the problems are manageable, though cantankerous. In any free market system there will be those enterprises that fair poorly and approach bankruptcy. These will typically try to squeeze money out of every possible source. For every person who speaks up publicly to denounce the travesty, there will be two who pay just to get the problem resolved and three who never pay and allow the loan to slowly fade into memory.
I worked for Meade Instruments, makers of small telescopes, who had a very unique way of handling their orders. Every month I, as the Materials Manager, would give the president a list of those telescopes that would be finished during the month. He would instruct Customer Service to bill the clients accordingly, even though their telescopes weren't yet built. The client would invariably call to inquire about the shipment and would be told that UPS was being contacted to inquire about their shipment. Most paid after only a few calls, even though their telescope was still being worked on.
My other task as Materials Manager was trying to get the vendors paid. We would let bills go way past 90 days past due before paying. Once a vendor threatened my life in the parking lot. He got paid soon thereafter.
Hey, I have worse cases of our capitalistic system.
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