KOTA KINABALU: Liberal Democratic Party Youth secretary David Ong who had earlier called for the State Government to bring in a foreign university to Sabah believed there is a great deal of merit to pursue this proposal for the benefits of the State and every Sabahan especially for the future generations.
“The State enjoys a rapid advancement in its social and economic development in recent years. Given that, human capital development must progress collectively in order to achieve sustainable growth and development in the State.
“Youngsters are our country’s future and the source of talent. In this competitive age, it is vital for youngsters to receive quality tertiary education and be equipped with skills and knowledge so as to do the job that our State’s economy requires especially when we are geared towards a high-income State in 2020,” he said.
Based on number from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, he said there was a total number of 34,213 upper secondary level school leavers from the government and government-aided schools in the State, potentially qualified to enter university.
“Sabah can produce a strong talent pool if these students are given the opportunity and able to attain tertiary education.
“A foreign university in Sabah is needed to help provide more option and more affordable for youngsters to purse tertiary education compared to studying abroad.
“A full-fledge foreign university will also offer a variety of different discipline currently not available in local universities. This will provide a greater opportunity for students to attain different professions and skill sets.
“We must provide sufficient facilities for our youngsters to attain skills and knowledge and become competitive with the rest of world. This is the responsibility of our Government to make available proper facilities and options for our youths in getting equipped with the knowledge of the modern era,” Ong said.
“A foreign university which accepts students based on merit will ultimately produce a strong talent pool for our State. It can help prevent human capital outflow as graduates will tend to stay back to look for jobs locally and eventually settle down in the State for goods. Instead of brain drain we should act like magnet and attract both national and international students to Sabah.”
“From the economic standpoint, the presence of a foreign university in the State will minimize currency outflow to other states in our country, or even more undesirable to foreign countries. Take a rough estimation of 3,000 local born students further their tertiary studies away from Sabah, and spend a total average of RM100,000 per annum out of the State, our State economy would be losing RM300 million annually.
“The amount of currency outflow is substantial and unfavorable to the State economy in the long run.
“The presence of a foreign university will definitely attract both national and international students to study in Sabah. Hence, not only can we prevent currency outflow, this will result in currency inflow and bring about positive impact on our State economy.”
“The amount of tuition fee, along with spending on living expenses, spending by visiting friends and relatives will economically benefit the local community. This source of revenue will contribute sturdily to the State Gross Domestic Product (GDP) even at times of economic uncertainty.”
“Education is a labor intensive industry, as the teaching field needs a lot of people to educate and handle the administration of education. Therefore, the presence of a foreign university certainly will help create more employment opportunity.”
“If we believe the sooner the better it is for Sabah to have its own foreign varsity, then something has to be done as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Ong opined that the central government should consider decentralizing administration of education system to state level to reduce public spending and increase efficiency in the use of resources.
“Our education system seems to have administrative and fiscal inefficiency, poor quality of access to services. The State will have informative advantage over Federal on the local condition and needs.
“As such decentralized education system will likely to be more efficient, reduce bureaucracy, better reflect local priorities, and improve coverage, quality and commitment.”
“In addition, decision-making that is closer to school level will better adapt the curriculum to the local setting, foster a greater sense of ownership and improve student and teacher motivation. This will also help to off-load some of the fiscal burden from the central government.”
“Transfer of authority from federal government to State government is a complex matter and may face some challenges. It has to be done in an incremental approach rather than all at once to ensure smooth transfer and execute successfully,” he said.
“However, truly autonomy of the education does not exist. Only with deregulation comes semi-autonomy, and semi-autonomy can be used effectively if a local plan exists to guide educational action. The existence of local plan is a prerequisite for the transfer of authority,” Ong concluded.