In a statement today, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) said it had cleared the matter with the Omani attaché based in Kuala Lumpur, dismissing suggestions that the ban was due to the quality of the institution’s academic programmes.
“The ban on USIM is regarding the administration management such as visa applications, academic administration and financial processing.
“In a review made, we admit that a few things raised are due to the weakness of the internal administration of the university and several problems are still ongoing.”
USIM vice-chancellor Musa Ahmad said a special task force comprising representatives from the varsity as well as from the Omani cultural office would be set up to look into the issue.
“We will also seek further clarification from Oman’s higher education ministry on a clearer interpretation of the withdrawal of recognition on the university, and will provide an official response to the Omani cultural attaché towards any issues that were raised by the ministry,” he said.
He added that USIM had never recruited agents to handle international students who furthered their studies at the university.
The Times of Oman reported on Sunday that the country’s higher education ministry had decided to impose a ban on four Malaysian universities after they were deemed to have committed “alleged abuses” and failed to address “challenges” facing students from the Middle-Eastern sultanate.
USIM was identified as one of them, along with SEGi University, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, and Binary University of Management & Entrepreneurship.
According to the report, there are 378 Omani students currently enrolled in the four institutions.
Oman’s cultural attaché in Malaysia, Yahya Salam Al Mandhari, was quoted as saying that the accreditations were revoked over various “violations”.
However, Binary vice-chancellor Dr Sulochana Nair refuted the report on the alleged violations, saying even the students from Oman were not happy about it.