the malaysian trust school programme: is it a public-private partnership (ppp)?

Dr. Sivakumar Velayutham and Mr. Rashedul Hasan (Nilai University)

The Malaysian Trust Schools Programme is a collaboration of Yayasan Amir (a foundation set up by Khazanah a sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Malaysia) and the Malaysian Ministry of Education to improve accessibility to quality education in public schools (Yayasan Amir, 2017). The above programme has been promoted as a public-private partnership by both Khazanah and the Ministry of Education (Wan Jan, 2014; Devi, 2018; Yaysan Amir, 2017). Yayasan Amir funds the programme through funding by Khazanah, other sponsors, and the issue of a sukuk (Islamic Bonds) and is administered by Leap Ed (a fully owned subsidiary of Khazanah) by way of a service agreement with Yayasan Amir. A review of a public-private partnership literature indicates that the above collaboration does not meet the criteria of a public private partnership. This paper seeks to interrogate the possible reasons for structuring of the above collaboration as a public-private partnership between a sovereign wealth fund and the state in light of the Malaysian 1MDB scandal. The study highlights the need to be more critical of the benefits of public-private partnerships and the scope for abuse.

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