University authorities, especially in developing countries, must adopt measures to ensure their institutions become self-financing instead of relying solely on fees paid by students.
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Quest International University (QIU), Nicholas Goh, said “when you continue to increase numbers because of the corresponding increase in school fees it gets to a time that you start churning out students without necessarily educating and equipping them for the future”.
He was addressing a group of journalists and media professionals at the QIU campus in Ipoh, Malaysia, last Thursday when the group called on him.
The nine journalists and media professionals, from Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, are in Malaysia to participate in a V-Malaysia 2023 leadership conference.
The conference brings together experienced business leaders and global entrepreneurs and features world-class motivational speeches and training sessions for participants to build on their businesses and leadership skills and also network for the growth of their respective organisations.
In line with that, Mr Goh said QIU was not very interested in numbers but quality, adding that currently the student population was around 2,000 from about 50 countries.
“Even with modern and impressive facilities we have, we are aiming at admitting just around 6,000 students so that we will have adequate time, attention and teaching resources for each student,” he added.
“Currently, we are envisaging a situation where we will fund 70 per cent of our programmes and activities from internally generated funds through research and other activities for industry and 30 per cent from school fees,” Mr Goh added.
He, therefore, charged universities in developing countries to commit to providing quality education while maintaining affordability, “producing well-rounded graduates equipped with the skills and confidence to succeed in a rapidly changing job market”.
Mr Goh further emphasised the importance of students gaining first-hand knowledge of groundbreaking research by working alongside dedicated educators.
He said QIU was committed to social responsibility, with students actively participating in community service and volunteering for good causes.
Caution
Mr Goh cautioned the public against activities of scammers using the name of the university to dupe people, especially Africans, and advised prospective students, parents and the general public to verify information through the university’s official website, saying “any website that does not end with edu.my, should be disregarded.
The trip was sponsored by QNET, a subsidiary of the QI Group, with its headquarters in Singapore.
There were presentations by various deans and heads of faculties that included the Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Mei Chan; the University Relations Director, Pauline Lee; Senior Manager, Loghun Kumaran; Registrar, Muhammad Omar, and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Zita Mohd Fahmin.
SOURCE: GraphicOnline
