Higher intake for professional courses

NST: With the rising number of students applying for critical courses yearly, places in the medicine, dentistry and pharmacy faculties will be increased by three per cent every year until 2010.
Higher Education Ministry Parliamentary Secretary Datuk Dr Adham Baba said the government realised the three courses were popular among students.
He told Senator Chua Kim Chuan that since this was the case, the ministry decided to offer more seats for the courses in public universities.
It was also aimed at producing more doctors, dentists and pharmacists to meet the country’s needs.
However, he said the ministry could not simply add more seats without jeopardising the quality of the courses and graduates.
"We cannot increase enrolment without referring to the professional bodies which set high standards, like on the ratio of teachers to students and facilities," he said.
For private institutions of higher learning, factors such as infrastructure and teaching strength were taken into consideration before more students could be admitted.