Overseas act cleansed

SWANSEA Institute is to axe all its courses in Malaysia and Indonesia in a move to clean up its overseas operations.

The academic board has called for the withdrawal of 18 franchised courses following damning reports from the National Audit Office and the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts.

The institute is already preparing to scrap courses in Kenya and China. The public accounts committee last week described its arrangements for monitoring and controlling overseas courses as "seriously flawed".

David Warner, the new principal, said this week that the institute was demonstrating its willingness to learn lessons from the past and its commitment to improving quality.

The institute would honour its commitment to hundreds of students currently on the courses.