Idris Jusoh: Public universities generating 12 to 30% of operational expenditure

PETALING JAYA: Budget cuts to the Higher Education Ministry in 2017 is expected to hit public universities hard, but the Ministry downplayed those fears.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh (pix) said despite the 9.3% cut to the Ministry, public universities are already having success generating its own funds in the past year.
"With pleasure, I would like to announce that public universities have managed to generate between 12% to 30% of its operational expenditure," Idris told his staff during the Higher Education Ministry's monthly assembly today.
He said the funds came from research fees, rental dividend, holdings contributions, research revenue, and other sources of funding.
For 2017, Idris said, public universities can refer to the Ministry's "Purple Book: Enhancing University Income Generation, Endowment, and Waqf" where several ways to generate revenue is outlined.
These include increased commercialisation of research, offering consultancy services, raising funds from alumni and relevant industries, strategic investments, and creating Waqf or endowment funds.
Among the budget cuts, 20 public universities throughout the country had had their budgets cut by 19.23% as compared to 2016's RM7.57 billion, a reduction of RM1.46 billion.
Idris also announced that the Ministry will be tabling amendments to the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act in the coming Parliament sitting in March.
He said this is to make the law more comprehensive, to streamline supervisory methods, application approval procedures, and also address aspects of ownership and staff.
Idris also said Malaysia's research universities are now in the top 1% in the world, with Universiti Malaya taking the lead at 133, while Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) all showing improvement in rankings.
Also in attendance was Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap and Higher Education Ministry secretary general Tan Sri Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur.