KUALA LUMPUR – Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) has reapplied for Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) accreditation in May for eight postgraduate programmes.
LUCT governing council chairman Prof Datuk Raduan Rose said this in response to Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad who had said in Tuesday’s parliamentary reply that LUCT was instructed on July 14 to reapply for accreditation.
Raduan told The Vibes that the outcome of LUCT’s application will only be known once MQA conducts an audit on the institution on November 1. Of the eight programmes, one is for a doctorate and the seven others are master’s.
MQA had, on July 12, announced LUCT’s reapplication for full accreditation was on October 15 upon revocation in September.
However, the application was rejected – three on February 25 and five others on March 30.
Mze Alifou Aboubacar from the Comoro Islands, who graduated last month with an MBA in Project Management from LUCT, said he is disappointed with the outcome of the accreditation revocation of his programme.
“I have not been contacted by either MQA or LUCT on the non-recognition of my master’s degree. There have been no discussions of any option to transfer to a recognised programme.”
Bangladesh national Rafatul Haque Rishad completed his PhD in Management last year only to discover that, upon completion, his doctorate’s accreditation had been revoked.
“It’s almost nine months after my graduation and I’m jobless. No institution will take me with an unaccredited degree, and I dare not tell my parents as they will take it badly,” said Rishad, who has since returned to his home country.
The MQA is the governing body that recognises qualifications for public and private universities in Malaysia, and falls under the purview of Noraini’s ministry.
In Noraini’s reply to Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming, she was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini that “on July 14, the ministry met with MQA, Education Malaysia Global Service (EMGS) and LUCT”.
She added that her ministry suggested that LUCT reapply for full accreditation with improvement on quality issues for the eight programmes.
She said the university should have given students a chance to change their programmes to another that had MQA accreditation.
This comes after 10 former international LUCT students who sought RM5 million in damages after the institution’s Bachelor of Computer Science (Hons) in Cloud Computing Technology (BCCT) saw its MQA accreditation revoked.
The group said the RM5 million in damages are for misrepresentation, negligence and breach of contract by LUCT.
The students alleged that the BCCT programme lacked global recognition due to the revocation of accreditation by the MQA in May.
Previously, LUCT had said accreditation of all its courses was an ongoing process as they reach maturity and require scrutiny by MQA.
The university said it has 98 academic programmes registered with the Higher Education Ministry that do have full MQA accreditation. – The Vibes, September 24, 2021
