Malaysia HEI Background

Malaysians go through 11 years of basic education which is divided into pre-school, primary school and secondary school. The Malaysian education system follows a 6-3-2 structure (6 years of primary school, 3 years of lower secondary school, and 2 years of upper secondary school). Higher education certificates and diplomas are for students from the age of 17 with Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) qualifications (equivalent to GCSE ‘O’ levels in the UK) while the Bachelor degree is usually for students from the age of 19 or 20 onwards with post-secondary qualifications such as Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) (equivalent to GCSE ‘A’ levels in the UK) or Pre-University/University Foundation qualifications (Kamogawa, 2003). There are plans by the government for those with diploma certificates to gain their degree, but these are for those mainly taking their bachelor degree through part time courses (Agadjanian & Hui, 2005). This suggests that the Malaysian government also encourages lifelong learning amongst Malaysians.

Basically, HEIs in Malaysia are categorised as either publicly-funded, including public universities, polytechnics, community colleges and public colleges; or privately-funded including private universities, private colleges and foreign university branch campuses. The Higher Education sector in Malaysia is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) which was only established in 2004. Before this all matters of HEIs

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came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education (MOE). The establishment of MOHE is in line with the government’s aim to create Malaysia as a centre of educational excellence. MOHE is directly responsible for the operation and performance of public HEIs, while The National Council on Higher Education oversees and steers the overall development of HEIs in Malaysia. Private HEIs are guided by MOHE’s policies.

In Malaysia there are comprehensive blueprints for the allocation of the national budget which follow a five year cycle. These plans have shaped how Malaysia has transformed itself from a producer of raw materials in the 1970s into a competitive emerging multi- sector economy to date. The government is moving the economy further into a more value- added production chain with a focus on high technology industries, especially with the launch of projects such as the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), the government designated zone for high-speed internet access. In trying to attain such a high-end economy the government recognises the need to train more knowledge and skilled workers, and HEIs of the country are to produce these types of workers (Vicziany & Marlia, 2004). There is a sense of urgency about the ‘right’ economic growth and development would have a critical role in the decision of Malaysia’s progress. The burden is placed on Malaysian HEIs to play a role in transforming the country from an industrial base into a k-economy (knowledge economy) which is based on knowledge and information technology. Thus, it can be said that HEIs in Malaysia are under pressure to produce knowledgeable, marketable and employable graduates to meet the needs of the country’s growth.

The 9th Malaysian Plan was the five-year national development agenda that spans the period from 2006 till 2010. Under this plan education, particularly in HEIs, was accorded a high priority as part of national development. More than 17 public and 20 private universities and colleges, including various polytechnics and industrial training institutes, offering courses leading to certificate, diploma, degree and postgraduate degree qualifications were formed (Norraihan & Aziah, 2007). This is in conjunction with the change of economic drivers as mentioned earlier. The 10th Malaysian Plan (from 2011 to 2015) is the current national development plan and the continuity of the country’s development blueprint. One of the aims of the plan is to achieve a high-end economy which means the country would need to develop more knowledge workers (National Higher Education Strategic Plan Beyond 2020, Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, 2007). This means that human capital development

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is a key agenda item in the national development plan as well as urging HEIs to play a key role in the knowledge-based economy (Reichert, 2006).

The Malaysian government perceives education as “a means to restructure the Malaysian society and implement various affirmation action policies to reduce the inter-ethnic differences in education attainments, particularly at the tertiary level” (Lee et al., 2005, p.43). The government uses these education policies to control access to HEIs because education is perceived as a means of social mobility. Since the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP), the government views HEIs as a means to restructure Malaysian society. Previously as part of the British legacy of ‘divide and rule’, each ethnic group was segregated within the country’s economy, for example, Malays in agriculture and Chinese were labourers in the tin mines (Sato, 2005), while it was common for Indians to be rubber tappers. The NEP, through education, aims to eliminate the identification of ethnic communities with particular economic functions, rather “Education is perceived as an instrument for promoting national unity, social equality and economic growth” (Lee et al., 2005, p.43). Hence, the Malaysian government is attempting to steer its HEI policy in a direction that is considered for the national interest (Morshidi, 2010) where national interest can be interpreted as nation building. The National Higher Education Strategic Plan 2020 responded to the need of the nation building with detailed plans including the National Higher Education Action Plan 2007-2010. This plan is to drive the transformation of HEIs in Malaysia.

An essential direction is for Malaysian HEIs to produce sufficiently high quality human resources geared towards the needs of the nation, and one recognized way is through the use of ICT by these knowledge workers (National Higher Education Strategic Plan Beyond 2020, Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, 2007). Furthermore, Warger & Dobbin (2009) states that a country’s economy “requires greater numbers of ‘knowledge workers’ and members of the workforce increasingly must update their skills to maintain levels of employability” (p.11), thus HEIs are seen as one type of institution in the country which can promote and introduce ICT skills necessary for the type of workers the country requires. The next section will discuss further Malaysia’s drivers in relation to ICTs and the impact they currently have in Malaysian HEIs.

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