I refer to the malaysiakini report Kit Siang: Stop wasting millions on Geneva event and wish to mention another huge wastage of public funds indulged in by our local public universities.

I am referring to the hundred of thousands or ringgit spent annually by the older universities in getting ISO certifications. What is the purpose of this certification? Does the benefit exceed the cost of maintaining the ISO status?

If there are benefits, why don't the private universities bother to seek the ISO certification? A university is not a factory whose products require ISO certification in order to compete in the global market.

A university's product is the graduate. There is no guarantee that getting the ISO will make your students more marketable because graduates are not physical products. There is hardly any relationship between getting an ISO and the graduates' marketability.

I suggest that universities come out with a less expensive method of quality control rather than try to maintain the ISO status. There is so much cheating at the moment in trying to maintain the ISO.

General staff are sometimes made to work overtime to forge student's signatures on attendance sheets, with the blessing and knowledge of the dean!

Universities think they have done a great feat once they gain the ISO certification but the real winners are the consultants employed to train the university staff on the standard operating procedures of the ISO.