MALAYSIA - THE number of new students enrolling at the New Era College, which courted controversy when it did not extend its college head's contract, has dropped by 50 per cent this year, reported Sin Chew Daily.

College student enrolment department head Leong Seng Yee said the figure had dropped by half compared to the same period last year.

However, he said it was untrue that only 13 students had registered as claimed by its student union president Lee See Kiang.

"It is the number of students accepted by the college after much consideration and not the number of students registered with the college," he said.

Leong said only the business foundation course was starting in January while other classes would only begin in April.

He said the results of the Unified Certificate of Examination, which students from independent Chinese schools sit for, would be released this month but only about 6,000 students had taken the exam.

"Our peak period to recruit students is in April next year after the release of the SPM and STPM results," he said.

On students quitting the college, Leong said there was no obvious rise in the number of such students.

"According to our records, there are always students who quit their studies halfway but none have terminated their studies due to the controversy," he said.