'Malaysia Education Trend\r'

'Historical background of high didactics Ever since the Federation of Malaya gained independence in 1957, theMalaysian rearing scheme has been developing so as to unify the countrystateand to promote economic growth. The instruction suffice of 1961,which followed commandal neaten efforts such as the Razak Statementof 1956 and the Rahman Talib idea of 1960, has governed the modern statement system in Malaysia. These educational activity methodal reforms correlated withsocioeconomic conditions.In the proterozoic 1970s, the New Economic Policy(NEP 1971), or Bumiputera Policy, was implemented. The NEP chooseedto bring around a better balance in enrolment among the unalike ethnicgroups in Malaysia. 1 It resulted in a steady increase in the reckon ofBumiputera students in Malaysian universities. Further more, since theearly 1970s, the Malaysian regime has sought to farm more subjectiveuse of the nation’s Malay human resources in the process of economicdevelop ment, and the per centumage of Malay students at every educationallevel has increased steadily.Basically, the Malaysian education system follows a 6-3-2 structure,with six eld of primary school, three yrs of lower actary school,and two years of upper secondary school (see Appendix 1). 11 yearsof basic education atomic number 18 provided to all citizens. However, the higher(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)educationsystem has been particular to the elite citizens of the country. Performance in the globe examination, cognize as the SPM (SijilPelajaranMalsyaia/Malaysia Certicate of Education), which is taken after theeleventh year of school, determines whether FormIV students washstand enterpost-secondary education (matriculation, or six Form).Until the mid-1990s,the Malaysian brass march ond students to study overseas in theU. K. , the U. S. , Australia, or Japan. The 1st phase of the establishment of earthly concern universities started in1969 under(a) the Universiti es and University Colleges Act. During this time,UniversitiSains Malaysia (USM 1969), UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia(UKM 1970), UniversitiPertanian Malaysia (UPM 1971), and UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia (UTM 1975) were established (see get across 1).Moreover,four general universities were established during the second phase (fromThe Ministry of higher(prenominal) Education (MOHE) was created on 27 March 2004 to take charge of higher education in Malaysia which involves more than 900,000 students pursuing higher education in 20 public universities, 33 common soldier universities and university colleges, 4 foreign university branch campuses, 22 polytechnics, 37 community colleges and about 500 private colleges. The MOHE’s mission is to create a higher education environment that allow for foster the development of pedantic and institutional virtuousness.It is in line with the vision of the presidency to stain Malaysia a centre of educational excellence and to foreignise o f Malaysian education. high educational reform and the roles of private universities in the mid-1990sIn the mid-1990s, four educational acts were implemented: the EducationAct of 1995, the 1995 Amendments to the University and UniversityColleges Act of 1971 (1995 Amendments to the UUCA 1971), the PrivateHigher Education Institutions Act of 1996 (PHEIA 1996), and the issueCouncil on Higher Education Act of 1996 (NCHEA 1996).With theimplementation of the Private Higher Education Institutions Act of 1996,the private sector increased its date in providing tertiary education(Malaysia 2001). The Act allowed private institutions of higher educationand foreign universities to establish franchises and degree courses. Inparticular, private-sector universities were encouraged to stretch out scientific discipline andtechnology courses in order to increase registration at higher-educationalinstitutions and to produce a greater chip of super skilled calibrates(Malaysia 1998: 122).Six pri vate universities, Malaysia multimedia University (MMU), UniversitiTenagaNasional (Uniten), UniversitiTeknologiPertonas (UTP),UniversitiTunAdbul Razak (Unitar), transnational Medical University(IMU), and UniversitiIndustri Selangor (Unisel), began offering degreelevelcourses in engineering, business studies, medicine, and multimedia.Since that time, the number of private universities has increased, as seenin Table 2. IT-focused universities from both(prenominal) public and private sectors,such as Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia(UKM), Multimedia University, and UniversitiTenaga (Uniten), operatein the MSC (see Table 2).Their challenging roles will be examined as follows:the case studies of the Malaysia Multimedia University as the saucilyestablished core university of MSC at 1st; second, the Malaysia NationalUniversity as the traditional university which might pose some difficultiesin attempting the new challenges; and third, University Malaysia Sar awak(Unimas) which shows a need for space learning because of its locationon the island of Borneo. Malaysia Multimedia University (MMU) as a pioneerMalaysia Multimedia University (MMU) was established as the core institutionof the MSC in July 996, and was the 1stst private university to begiven accreditation by the government. MMU has two campuses that offerfaculty in some(prenominal) fields: technology, IT, creative multimedia, and administration at the Cyberjaya Campus in the MSC; and technology, informationscience technology, business, and law at the Malacca campus. on that point ar9,000 undergrad and post-graduate students, including foreign studentsfrom 31 countries (e. g. , Brunei, Sudan, Bosnia, Malawi, Tanzania, India,Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Turkey, China, Thailand, and Guinea 4)enrolled in MMU. MMU uses English as the language of instruction.Knowledge-Campus (K-Campus) projects of UniversitiKebangsaan MalaysiaNot only newly established universities, but too t he guild historic universities(public universities established before 1994) conduct IT-relatedprojects. All nine public universities contribute embarked on open- or distancelearningprograms (Siowek-Lee and Rinalia 1998). UniversitiKebangsaanMalaysia (UKM, Malaysia National University), one of the most prestigiousuniversities in Malaysia, formed a special ICT committee to implementthe blueprint of ICT projects and established the ability of discipline.Distance learning: the case of Unimas, Sarawak University Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), which is not located on the MalayPeninsula but on the island of Borneo, established its cleverness of InformationTechnology in 1993. By July 1994, the faculty offered undergraduateprograms in softw are engineering, information systems, internetworkingtechnologies, computational science, and interactive multimedia. Therewere 34 students at the undergraduate level and a fewer at the post-graduatelevel in 1994; by July 1995, the 1st Master’s students in IT graduatedfrom Unimas.The computational science program was introduced duringthe 1995-96 academic year; the joint program in cognitive science, offeredby the Faculty of Cognitive Science and Human Development and theFaculty of Information Technology, began in 1996. Unimas, in collaboration with KolejLatihan Telekom (Telekom TrainingCollege), has begun offering diploma programs in multimedia (businessand computing) and in multimedia technology, which take a shit been accreditedby the LembagaAkreditasi Negara (National Accreditation Board) (1 March2000).Moreover, the Network Multimedia Education System (NMES) waslaunched in October 2002. In the process of achieving a developed nation status by the year 2020, one of the challenges lining thegovernment is how to provide higher education for all levels of clubhouse. wiz solution is to use technology as anenabler to make available education to the masses. Universities are taking up the challenge by updating thecontent o f their programmes but more importantly,utilising the latest technologies to improve the deliverysystems.One of the most talked about emerge delivery systems is Open and Distance Learning that isfast enough a viable alternative in providing education to the masses. Open University Malaysia wasestablished on 10 August 2000 in answer to the government’s call for the democratisation ofeducation. Although it has the status of a private university, OUM is owned by 11 public universities inthe country.As an open learning institution, OUM subscribes to the succeeding(a) principles:Flexible entry requirements to provide moreopportunities for all members of the conjunction to pursue tertiary education; A learner-friendly flexile academic system wherethe constraints and needs of working adults are well understood; and Adoption of the blended pedagogy mode toenrich learning experiences. Malaysian higher education reform is progressing rapidly because thegovernment needs to develo p highly skilled human resources locally toenable the nation to journey toward a knowledge society, in the era ofICT.Malaysian public universities had been traditionally restricted to theelite; however, they began to be corporatized in the mid-1990s. Privateuniversities run through taken on more important roles in expanding enrollmentand maintaining the theatrical role of higher education in science and technologyrelated to ICT. First, higher education reforms toward a knowledge society are affectingaccess and social selection with respect to ethnic and gender equality. Educational policy implemented since 1969 has provided educationalopportunities to a less privileged population, the Bumiputera.Governmentpolicy can have an effect on aspirations and, thus, the demand forhigher education. This has clearly been the case in Malaysia, which isboth an Islamic and a multicultural country make up of the Malays,Chinese, Indians, and indigenous peoples. The implementation of the NewEconom ic Policy (NEP) in 1971, or Bumiputera Policy, attempts to bringabout a better balance in enrolment among the various ethnic groupsand has led to a steady increase in Bumiputera students in Malaysianuniversities.The government of Malaysia has encouraged Bumiputera studentsto pursue science courses in particular. correspond to the National EconomicRecovery Plan, in addition to maintaining the Bumiputera/non-Bumiputera ratio of 55:45, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is to ensurethat at least 55 percent of Bumiputera students are enrolled in scienceand technology ? elds of study at institutions of higher learning (Malaysia1998:123). This mandate is in response to the growing need for highlyskilled human resources, both to encourage economic growth and to unifythe nation, following its independence in 1957.Female Malaysian students earn better grades, in general, than do maleMalaysian students. Yet, female Malaysian students have experienced difficulties in obtaining higher education i n the past. Structural and attitudinalbarriers to the genuine participation of women at the highest educationallevels have existed during the last few decades (Aminah 1998:25). Hence,their past underrepresentation was not a result of their inability but rathertheir cultural backgrounds.As some scholars (Jamilah 1992; Aminah 1994;Fatimah and Aminah 1994; Jamilah 1994; Kamogawa 2003b) have noted,the sterile Malaysian way of thinking is that arts and teaching fieldsare suitable for women and that science and technology fields are suitablefor men. Consequently, Malaysian female students have had a inclining tochoose art and educational courses. Higher Education has generated RM 2. 1 billion through 70,259 worldwide students for the year 2008. Ministry of Higher Education came out with the target: 80,000 foreign students by 2010.As at 15 January 2009, 210 out of 434 private higher educational institutions (PHEIs) and all 20 public universities have been licensed to recruit internati onal students. Most of the international students in public universities pursue post graduate degree courses while those in PHEIs pursue both graduate and post graduate degree courses. In 2005, there were 41,559 international students, of which 7,656 were in public universities and 33,903 in PHEIs. The population of international students made up 6. 4% of the total number of students in institutions of higher education.The different divisions under the Department of Higher Education will concentrate on their respective areas in ameliorate the quality of education services and ensuring that programmes offered by the public and private higher educational institutions in Malaysia are of high quality and international standards. In their attempt to achieve these goals, they have established promotional offices in Dubai, Jakarta, Ho-Chi Minh City and Beijing. A Technical commission has also been formed to make Malaysia a Centre of Excellence. This committee is chaired by the Minister o f Higher Education.A Technical Committee on ‘Edu-Tourism’ was also formed. Other marketing strategies intromit incentives offered to institutions promoting education overseas; recognition of Malaysian degrees by foreign countries and the establishment of the new national quality agency for both private and public higher educational institutions, i. e. Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). The ultimate aim of all these strategies is to make Malaysia a ‘favoured’ destination for international and local students to pursue their tertiary education also making education an important export commodity that will generate foreign exchange for the country.\r\n'