The Universiti Malaya (UM) management today met with a student group opposing UM's new “direct intake” programme, explaining its purpose was to fundraise for the university in the midst of severe budget cuts by the government.

“The management has admitted that this (programme) is to help the university generate income, to help the university in its financial administration,” Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) president Kon Hua En told reporters on the campus grounds today.

Kon's meeting with assistant registrar Mohd Nasruddin Kachi Maiden of the deputy vice-chancellor’s office was the first time he had been granted an audience with the university management on this issue.

"We were told this ‘direct intake’ is a pilot project. They want to see whether this programme can achieve a good outcome," Kon said.

The “direct intake” programme is being offered by the university’s engineering faculty in partnership with the University of Malaya Centre for Continuing Education (UMCCED), a private wing of UM.

UM had recently come under fire for offering various Bachelor of Engineering degrees on the UMCCED website for RM90,000, or nine times the subsidised price.

This is the first time a bachelor’s degree has been offered through UMCCED.

Minister of Higher Education Idris Jusoh previously said that such “direct intake” programmes were not a normal process".

Changed posters

On another note, Umany strategy officer Ho Chi Yang, who was also present at the press briefing, said he realised posters advertising the "direct intake" programme on the UMCCED website had been changed since yesterday.

A check by Malaysiakini revealed that the original “Direct Intake to UM for Malaysian students in September 2017” poster had been changed to “Direct Intake to UM International Degree Programmes in September 2017”.

"I asked them but they said it was a marketing mistake. 

"But we think the first poster showed their intention to use UM degree for sale, they changed it after the matter became widely discussed," Kon told Malaysiakini. 

He was referring to Umany’s concerns that UM was moving towards privatisation by selling its degrees through its private wing.

UM, the country's oldest and top-ranked public university, received RM370 million in government subsidies in 2017, a 41 percent reduction from the RM630 million it received in 2015.

In January, Minister of Higher Education Idris Jusoh had explained that the budget cut was to encourage UM’s financial autonomy, in line with the Malaysian Education Blueprint for higher education.

Umany called this “an absurd excuse to rationalise the budget cut”.

“The autonomy of a university should be reflected in the administration, academic research and the freedom of expression (given to) academicians and students,” Kon said.

The university has not issued a reply to Umany's claims despite being approached numerous times by Malaysiakini.