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Higher Education in Malaysia: National Strategies and Innovative Practices

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Mass Higher Education Development in East Asia

Part of the book series: Knowledge Studies in Higher Education ((KSHE,volume 2))

Abstract

The higher education system in Malaysia has undergone rapid expansion and restructuring in the past three decades so as to widen access and equity as well as to improve the efficiency and quality of the delivery system. This chapter is an analysis of the restructuring process, the national strategies and innovative practices adopted in the Malaysian context. The analysis highlights the privatization of higher education and the corporatization of public universities in Malaysia. It also examines the various challenges met in terms quality assurance, diversifying sources of funding, and internationalizing higher education. This chapter features some of the innovative practices in Malaysian higher education such as different types of higher education institutions, public-private partnerships, and international-linked programmes. It is argued that massification of higher education in Malaysia is very much influenced by global trends as well a the internal dynamics of social, economic and political forces. Furthermore, higher education is viewed both as a public good and a private service resulting in an innovative hybrid model of financing higher education in Malaysia.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    MARA Junior Science Colleges is a group of boarding schools established by the People’s Trust Council (Majlis Amanah Rakyat, known as MARA) which is a Malaysian government agency.

  2. 2.

    TAR College is Tunku Abdul Rahman College.

  3. 3.

    The Ministry of Higher Education was merged again with the Ministry of Education in 2013 for better coordination between the school and higher education systems.

  4. 4.

    STPM stands for Sijil Pelajaran Tinggi Malaysia meaning Malaysia Higher School Certificate.

  5. 5.

    Universiti Sains Malaysia was given the autonomy to select its own student intakes directly when it became the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX) university in 2008.

  6. 6.

    Examples are: Public Service Department (PSD), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), Tunku Abdul Raman Foundation (Yayasan Tuanku Abdul Rahman YTAR), PETRONAS, Yayasan Telekom Malaysia, Yayasan Tenaga Nasional, Khazanah Nasional as well as foundations and state governments.

  7. 7.

    LAN is the National Accreditation Board, established in 1997 to monitor the standard and quality of higher education provided by the private sector.

  8. 8.

    The 5 foreign branch campuses are Monash International University, Curtin University of Technology Sarawak, The University of Nottingham Malaysia, Swinburne University of Technology of Sarawak, and Newcastle University of Medicine Malaysia.

  9. 9.

    Some examples of the professional associations are Institute of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants in UK (ACCA), and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in UK (ICSA), and others.

  10. 10.

    At the pre-university level, private colleges offer O-level and A-level programmes from UK and matriculation examinations from Australia and Canada, as well as entrance examinations to American universities such as SAT GMAT, and GRE.

  11. 11.

    Private colleges offer a wide range of courses which provide practical, employment training in technical, trade and craft areas. Many of these courses lead to formal awards of certificates, diplomas and higher diplomas from foreign examination bodies such as Business Technology Education in UK (BTEC), Technical and Further Education in Australia (TAFE), National Computer Centre in UK (NCC), City and Guilds of London Institute (C&G) and others.

  12. 12.

    Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) was set up in 1997 by the National Electricity Board which was one of the privatized public utilities in Malaysia.

  13. 13.

    Multimedia University (MMU), set up in 1994 by Telekom Malaysia Berhad, is the largest telecommunications company in Malaysia.

  14. 14.

    Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UNTAR) was set up by the Malaysia Chinese Association (MCA) in 2002.

  15. 15.

    Wawasan Open University (WOU) was set up by Parti Gerakan Rakyat in 2006.

  16. 16.

    University of Selangor (UNISEL), a semi-government university, was established by the Selangor State Government in 1999.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Higher Education Research Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Bayan Lepas, Penang, 11900, Malaysia

    Molly N. N. Lee

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  1. Molly N. N. Lee
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Correspondence to Molly N. N. Lee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

    Jung Cheol Shin

  2. Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Gerard A. Postiglione

  3. Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan

    Futao Huang

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Lee, M.N.N. (2015). Higher Education in Malaysia: National Strategies and Innovative Practices. In: Shin, J., Postiglione, G., Huang, F. (eds) Mass Higher Education Development in East Asia. Knowledge Studies in Higher Education, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12673-9_6

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