Private HEIs face stiff penalties for unaccredited courses

Malaysia’s parliament has been told that any private higher education institutions (IPTS) found offering programmes not accredited by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) risk being hit with a fine not more than MYR100,000 (US$22,500), a jail sentence not exceeding two years or both, wrote Rahimy Rahim, Tarrence Tan and Martin Carvalho for The Star.

In response to a question on state efforts to control the growing number of private institutions not accredited by the MQA, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said any IPTS that has not received proper accreditation but had confused the public by claiming otherwise can be charged under Section 96 and 97 of the Malaysian Qualifications Agency Act.

“These two sections provide any parties who enrol students under a course that claims to be an accredited programme without proper certification commits an offence, and upon conviction, may be imposed with a fine of not exceeding RM100,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both,” he said in reply to the question from Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan).
Full report on The Star site