We hope these students get the justice they deserve!
In a press conference organized yesterday (3 May) by DAP, two students from LimKokWing University of Creative Technology came forward to discuss their plights with the media as Masters and PhD students of the university. About 800 foreign and local students from the university are now feeling helpless after they were informed that the university was not able to obtain accreditation for many of its courses unbeknownst to the students’ knowledge.
As of now, the students are bringing up two major issues that are of main concern:
- Inability to secure accreditation for new courses as well as the revocation of accreditation for many existing sources
- Visa issues faced by international students
Local student Muhammad Ameer Fakhri
“We enrolled at this university under the impression that it provides high quality education but unfortunately, this was not the case.”
Students from Bachelors, MBA and PhD courses have had their accreditation revoked by the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA). This is due to Limkokwing’s inability to maintain certain requirements and standards set by the relevant authorities. For the past few years, the students are the ones who have been chasing the university management but they’ve only been given false promises and hollow assurances.
With no accreditation from MQA, the students’ degrees are not recognised locally and internationally which means that the tuition fees and time spent studying were all in vain.” The physical paper that we will graduate with will have the value of a piece of paper, literally!” they said.
International students will not be able to apply for jobs as the “paper qualification” will not be accepted in their home countries. Their “qualification” will also not be considered valid for the students to further their studies.
Similar to the Bachelor students who were not made aware of the accreditation status of their degree which was Bachelor’s Degree of Computing Science in Cloud Computing Technology. These students only found out in their very final semester that the course has not gained full accreditation.
“Many students are now sitting with expired visas, as to no fault of their own, with no knowledge of how to proceed further.”
The international students have applied for their visa renewals but for unknown reasons, their applications have been delayed. The students believe that the visas have been rejected due to a delay on the university’s part.
The expired visa situation is especially dangerous for these foreign students when they’re stopped by the police and asked to produce valid immigration documents.
Foreign student, Muhammed
PhD in just three years?
Typically in other international universities, a research-intensive PhD course can range from four to five years or even more at times. Limkokwing University mandates that a PhD program must be completed within 3 years. This information was not made public and the students were not aware.
Students that are unable to finish their PhD’s in three years are now unable to renew or extend their visas and are forced to leave the country.
What are the students’ requests?
The students believe that by letting the public know their case and through the media, the relevant authorities can help resolve their issues.
Their requests are as follow:
1. Accreditation for their degrees
A sizable batch of students are graduating in July 2021 and they wish for their courses to be accredited and also to graduate with the same courses they chose to enrol themselves in.
“This is the least we ask for and we believe it is the least we deserve. If Limkokwing University is unable to ensure accreditation of our courses, we request compensation.”
2. Credit transfer to a different university without being forced to leave the country.
Students’ requests to have their credits transferred have not been entertained by Limkokwing nor would their credits be accepted.
“We students request to be released from the shackles of Limkokwing, be allowed to take our time and finances elsewhere so we may continue our education at a respectable institution.”
What have the students done so far?
The student representatives have visited the MQA who confirmed that the course will not be certified by the Ministry of Higher Education. MQA stated that the university was given 30 days to appeal but they did not follow the instruction sent to them by MQA.
However, the university still has a window to reapply for retrieving the accreditation of its courses and the students were advised to forward their complaints to the MOHE. Students due to graduate in June/July 2021, will be given special approval for
stamping from the Ministry of Higher Education to certify the documents.
Limkomwing has requested more time to resolve the issue but students that are due to graduate do not have any time left as their visas will expire. Issues pertaining to the accreditation were raised to Senior Management, in which students also requested assurance, and suggested compensation if the accreditation would not be attained.
Dato Gail (Management staff of LUCT) promised the student representatives that an Assurance letter would be released and posted in the University’s portal on 9 April 2021, which has still not been done.
“The university sent out an email addressed to both PhD and Masters students regarding the accreditation status, in which they formally stated that LUCT is in the process of restructuring and liaising with the relevant authorities to be resolved by 15 April 2021. No solutions, deadlines or feedback has been given to the students.”
Former Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching has asked the university to take corrective actions immediately and improve its standards.
Will the students get the accreditation they deserve? Let us know what you think about this situation!
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