KUALA LUMPUR, 14 May 2009: The government will set up a company under the Finance Ministry to manage Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) which was previously placed under Majlis Amanah Rakyat.
It would remain as a private higher education institution under the Higher Education Ministry’s supervision, said Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin.
UniKL’s study fees would be reviewed with a view to making it more affordable while learning opportunities would also be made available for foreign students, he said after opening the Seventh International Seminar on Membrane Science and Technology hosted by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) here today.
He said that as a government subsidiary company, UniKL would receive assistance especially in the form of scholarships for science courses which were not sponsored by the Public Service Department.
On the five local universities listed by Times Higher Education as among the top 100 Asian universities on 12 May, Khaled said the ministry and the universities would identify their strengths and weaknesses so that they could improve their standings.
“We are not too engrossed with ranking but it is a measurement to encourage the universities to strengthen their performance,” he said.
Meanwhile, UTM Vice Chancellor Datuk Dr Zaini Ujang said the university would cooperate with the Saudi government and natural gas producer Saudi Aramco in conducting research and development on membrane technology.
Khaled would visit the country on 30 May to sign the agreement, he said.
Zaini said UTM aspired to become a major contributor in the field at the global level since it had the expertise and the only membrane technology research centre in Malaysia.
“I hope this seminar will come up with many more ideas for the development of membrane technology especially in tackling environmental and energy issues,” he said.
More than 250 people from 23 countries attend the seminar that began on 12 May and ends tomorrow. — Bernama
James says
At the rate Malaysian education is going it will be soon when our govt universities rank among those in Africa or some other undeveloped countries. UniKL is on the same path too because we are not too concerned with rankings.