KUALA LUMPUR: The Prime Minister's Department (PMD) needs to review the National Council of Professors (MPN) to decide if it remains relevant as a driving force of academic expertise in supporting the government in nation-building.
According to a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), if the department wants to maintain MPN as a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLBG) under the government, it should be placed under the Higher Education Ministry in line with its functions and role.
"PMD must inform PAC of developments regarding the decision on whether MPN's status as a CLBG under the government should be maintained or otherwise," the report said.
PAC said the effectiveness and function of MPN in supporting the government could not be determined, as no key performance indicators were set or reported to the PMD.
Furthermore, it said, the allocation of funds that was not channelled to the clusters resulted in MPN's activities not being carried out according to its original goals, established in 2014.
"The operation of MPN has not been monitored by PMD since Nov 8, 2021, leading to irregularities in the management of the council.
"There has been no reporting of MPN's activities to PMD, meaning that full control and monitoring of MPN could not be carried out.
"When the government decided to remove MPN from PMD's supervision in 2018, MPN amended its Articles of Association in 2019," it said.
It said this amendment removed the provision for government representation on the Board of Trustees.
After MPN was brought back under PMD in 2021, PAC said, the council continued to use the amended Articles of Association from 2019, despite receiving government funding.
"This led to the absence of government representatives on MPN's Board of Trustees starting from 2021, which is considered a key factor in the lack of monitoring and control over MPN's operations and finances by the government.
"So, MPN must immediately seek feedback from the Companies Commission of Malaysia regarding the status of the latest amendment to its Articles of Association," it said.