The Malaysian government has axed tax concessions for Malaysian nationals studying abroad in a move which could seriously diminish fee income for a number of Irish colleges.
The decision to eliminate tax concessions, which comes in the form of tax relief to parents, was made in an apparent effort to encourage such students to study at home and to reduce the flow of capital abroad from the troubled Malaysian economy. A spokesman for the Embassy of Malaysia in London says the cuts will come into effect almost immediately.
According to the most recent figures from the Higher Education Authority, which refer to the year 1995/96, there were 567 Malaysian students studying in the Republic. Of these, 226 were studying in the Royal College of Surgeons. UCD had the second largest complement of Malaysian students with 97, followed by TCD (88), UCC (87), UCG (65) and four others in DCU and UL.
At present, many Malaysian students go abroad to study because of admission quotas in law, medicine, accounting and business in the better Malaysian universities. Ethnic Chinese and Indian-Malaysians are subject to admissions quotas which give preference to Malays, or Bumiputras.
Malaysian students abroad fall into two categories: those sponsored by the Malaysian government and those, mainly non-Malays, who are selffunding.
Professor Ronan O'Regan, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in UCD, says that it is a "very serious" matter for the colleges involved. "All of the medical schools would have both categories of students in relatively large numbers," he says. "It's obviously going to affect our recruitment of these students."
The Irish Universities' Medical Consortium, which is a marketing and promotion arrangement by representatives of the medical schools in TCD, UCD, UCC and the University of Galway, is due to meet this week and will discuss the subject of Malaysian students.
Con O'Brien, deputy registrar of UCC and secretary of the consortium, says he hopes that the current economic difficulties in the Far East, including Malaysia, are a temporary setback. "But, immediately, it will impact adversely in terms of the increased costs that students are going to have to bear," he says.
A spokeswoman for the RCSI declined to comment on the tax-relief cuts.
