KUALA LUMPUR – In its defence to a civil suit filed by 10 former international students, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) has denied any breach of contract or fraudulent misrepresentation.
It said the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) had given authority to the institution to run the Bachelor of Cloud Computing Technology (BCCT) programme.
“The MQA had also given ‘requisite authorisation’ to enrol the plaintiffs and undertake the BCCT programme at all ‘material times’ with provisional accreditation from MQA,” said LUCT in its statement of defence.
The MQA, under the purview of the Higher Education Ministry, governs recognition of qualifications for public and private universities.
The status of BCCT programme
LUCT, in its defence statement, referred to Section 95 of the MQA Act 2007, where accreditation meant provisional accreditation, or an accreditation granted under this act.
The institution said initial provisional accreditation for the BCCT programme was granted by MQA on March 25, 2014 to March 24, 2017 and subsequently extended from March 25, 2017 to May 20, 2021.
LUCT’s defence statement further asserted that it had on November 20, 2017 applied for full accreditation, in respect of the BCCT programme, and this did not “retrospectively negate” the prior provisional accreditation granted by the MQA to run the BCCT programme.
Reference to international recognition for BCCT
In reference to the allegation of “international recognition” to be obtained for the BCCT degree in the plaintiff’s statement of claim (SOC), the defendant said in its defence statement that “there is no international accreditation body for the BCSCCT (Bachelor of Computer Science (hons) in Cloud Computing Technology) programme”.
The defence also asserted that “it is a fact that persons who had obtained degrees and qualifications from its various campuses had been successful in securing employment in other jurisdictions or in using the said qualifications as an entry requirement for other fields of study in other jurisdictions”.
Many of the students, who filed the case against LUCT, when contacted at the time of filing the SOC, remained unemployed.
LUCT denies fraudulent misrepresentation
In the SOC, the students said they signed up for the BCCT course based on alleged fraudulent misrepresentations issued by LUCT’s staff and representatives, including videos and brochures.
The issue of fraudulent misrepresentation was denied by the university in its reply, which said information pertaining to its facilities and courses of study was conveyed through various mediums that included brochures, pamphlets, and online information.
The defence statement also said the various claims relating to the reliance of the students on the materials were vague, and LUCT denied it had committed any actionable misrepresentation or breach of contract.
It alleged the provisional accreditation number was also contained in LUCT’s brochures and pamphlets.
“If and to the extent the plaintiffs entertained any discomfort with the status of the BCCT programme (notwithstanding the university was not in breach in any material respect), the university was prepared to offer alternatives and had in good faith proposed and/or initiated transfer programmes from Bachelor of Computer Science (Hons) Cloud Computing Technology programmes to related programmes for example Bachelor of Information and Communication Technology (BICT) programme.”
At the time of filing the SOC, Chowdhury Atibur Habibur, one of the 10 plaintiffs, denied that LUCT had offered alternatives to any of the 10 BCCT students as alleged in the reply by the university.
Previously, The Vibes reported that the students are suing for fees paid for the BCCT degree, living expenses, travel costs and other ancillary payments.
Apart from special damages, they are also seeking general damages, to be quantified and aggravated, as well as exemplary or punitive damages, which could exceed RM1.17 million.
The 10 students from Syria, Bangladesh, Senegal, Pakistan, Iraq and Nigeria studied for three years at LUCT for their BCCT degree, whose provisional accreditation expired in May 2021.
The MQA, in an email to Chowdhury last year, said that accreditation had been denied to LUCT on November 26, 2019 “for not meeting the minimum requirements of programme standards”.
“This prompted us to file the action against LUCT as the appeal by LUCT to the higher education minister for BCCT’s accreditation failed on December 27, 2019,” said Chowdhury.
Prior to filing the suit for RM1.17 million, the 10 students had sent a letter of demand to LUCT for RM5 million in damages when they discovered full accreditation for the BCCT programme had been revoked.
Last October, LUCT said it had amended and resubmitted eight of its programmes within 30 days of being flagged in an accreditation audit. – The Vibes, February 24, 2022
