KUALA LUMPUR: Local private colleges have seen an improvement in quality this year, as more achieved higher ratings based on the Malaysian Quality Evaluation System for Private Colleges or MyQUEST.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said this was in line with Malaysia aiming to be the regional education hub in the near future.
MyQUEST is a rating system developed by the ministry to gauge the level of quality of private colleges.
Scored from one to six stars, the system started in 2011 and this year's results exemplified improve performances.
Idris at the MyQUEST Rating Ceremony here said 15 colleges achieved six stars in 2016/2017, in comparison to nine in 2014/2015.
In addition, 63 colleges achieved five stars compared to 52 colleges while 61 colleges achieved four stars compared to 46 stars before this.
Idris said the number of private colleges rated three stars and below decreased with 67 colleges compared to 92 colleges previously.
"The ratings play a big part in our education system because it is a show of the quality of our education.
"From the ratings, students can pick and choose which college to attend," he said after the ceremony.