The Ministry of Higher Education (KPT) will review all courses offered by institutions of higher learning (IPT) in the country so that no more identical or overlapping majors are offered.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud said the matter would be discussed immediately by the relevant parties, including in the post-cabinet meeting this week, so that it could address the issue of student shortages and cost burdens.

"As mentioned earlier, we (KPT) will indeed examine any overlapping courses and we do not want there to be competition between these universities which will cause students to be confused and unable to focus on which one (IPT) they want to enter."

"However, I think this will be coordinated within the University Central Unit (UPU) system and if there is any overlap, it means that the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) needs to examine and coordinate to ensure that there is no overlap," he said.

He said this to reporters after officiating the National Administrators' Day Celebration and the 2024 Public University Administrators' Convention organised by the Malaysian Public University Administrators' Association Council (MASTI) in collaboration with the UniMAP Administrative and Professional Officers' Association (POTENSI) here yesterday.

On Monday, local media reported that MQA proposed collaboration between higher education institutions in the country to coordinate study courses so that there are no longer the same or overlapping majors offered.

The recommendation involves study programs that are similar or overlap between universities which can be coordinated by allowing students to participate in certain classes that have the same subjects or courses of study at other higher education institutions.

Meanwhile, Mustapha said that important aspects of the courses offered at IPTs must be driven by the industry and if their marketability is less than 30 percent, that is something that needs to be considered for modifying the syllabus.

He said the Ministry of Higher Education is also open and wants to resolve this issue as soon as possible because they do not want it to last long as it will not only harm the IPT but also the students.

"I think MQA will call the relevant parties to discuss and coordinate it, the Ministry of Education will also discuss it in the post-Cabinet meeting this week for further action," he said.