Universities must not rely on fees to run programmes - Varsity don
University authorities especially in developing countries must adopt measures that will ensure that their institutions become self-financing instead of relying solely on fees paid by students.
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In this vein such institutions should remember that school fees as well as number of students an institution could admit had limits.
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Quest International University (QIU), Mr Nicholas Goh, was addressing a group of journalists and media professionals at the QIU campus in Ipoh, Malaysia on Thurday when the group called on him at the university.
Samuel S. Bio reports from Ipoh in Malaysia that, the nine-member journalists and media professionals, from Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, are in Malaysia to participate in the V-Malaysia 2023 leadership conference.
The conference brings together experienced business leaders and global entrepreneurs numbering to several thousands in attendance.
It is featuring a series of world-class motivational speeches and training sessions for professionals to build their business and leadership skills and network for the growth of their organisations.
Mr Goh said "when universities rely on the number of students and fees, there is a limit above which you cannot increase the number of students or fees charged".
"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 the students for their future," he said.
He said QIU therefore was not much interested in numbers but quality, adding that currently the student population is around 2,000 students from about 50 countries, saying "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"
There were presentations by the various deans and heads of faculties, including the Chief Operating Officer, Nicholas Goh, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Mei Chan, the University Relations Director, Pauline Lee, Senior Manager Loghun Kumaran, Registrar Muhammad Omar, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Zita Mohd Fahmin.
Mr Goh 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".
"Currently we are envisaging the 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," he added.
The COO of QIU emphasised the importance of students gaining first-hand knowledge of groundbreaking research by working alongside dedicated educators.
He said QIU was thus committed to social responsibility, with students actively participating in community service and volunteering for good causes
He cautioned that there were reports 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, emphasising that "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.
He said education was to afford people the opportunity to live together, to ensure coexistence and learning of different cultures.
He expressed the desire to meet people of research for the development of the human being and Africa in particular, saying that Malaysia as a developing country must team up with Africa to share knowledge and research towards their development. Africa is developing. "We must develop using our natural resources. The time has come to stop exporting raw materials. Malaysia is a developing country and we must team up with the developing world such as Africa to bring each other up," he added.
