The Evolution of Education

The evolution of education We've come a long way from providing short courses to developing internationally recognised degrees, say private education pioneers. In conjunction with Malaysia Day, StarEducate looks back at the country's private education journey, and what lies ahead. The number of private institutions of higher education (IPTS) Stories by CHRISTINA CHIN versity grew, and they wanted inclusive of branch campuses (as of April 2017) [email protected] more options from the private sec tor. Private Foreign PRIVATE education in Malaysia is Private university university at its peak. State university college campus branch College Total Today, half of our tertiary stu 1990s 25 32 dents are graduates of private insti Johor tutions, Malaysian Association of Melaka 16 19 Private Colleges and Universities Twinning and credit transfer pro Negri Sembilan 19 24 (Mapcu) president Datuk Dr grammes remained popuiar until Selangor 22 105 137 Parmjit Singh said. the financial crisis hit in 1997. "Private education was born out Families who could afford to send Federal Territories 13 90 110 of necessity. Our growth was their children for twinning pro Kuala Lumpur demand-driven. Now, even foreign grammes suddenly couidn't. Prime Federal Territories ers are flocking here because they Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun know that with our degrees, they Razak, who was the then Education Putra·a a can get jobs when they go back Minister, approved the 3+0 degree Kedah 10 home," he said, adding that the programmes, allowing students to Perak 4 22 27 best indicator of a good private earn a foreign degree without leav education, is employability. ing the country. Only 10 institu Perlis Dr Parmjit, who's also the found tions were allowed to run the 3+0 Penang 28 32 er and executive director of Asia programme then. But it was such a Kelantan 11 13 Pacific University of Technology success that the 3+0 programme Pahang 12 16 and Innovation (APU), offered a which also gave students the glimpse into the rise of private edu option of going abroad if they Terengganu 10 13 cation in the country: wanted to, eventually superseded Sa bah 24 26 twinning degrees. Sarawak 27 31 1960s Total 53 34 10 398 495 2000s In its infancy, private education catered to students who didn't The birth of private university col qualify for public university. leges and private universities offer Colleges offered short courses for ing their own qualifications. skills like shorthand, and book keeping, to those who wanted to Sunway Group founder and earn foreign certifications from chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah popular institutions like the was among those who responded London Chamber of Commerce promptly to the government's call and Industry and City & Guilds of for the private sector to jointly London. develop higher education here. The call led to the founding of Sunway College, which eventually 1970s grew to become the Sunway Education Group comprising Sunway University, Monash Private education reinvented University's first branch campus in itself when a growing number of Malaysia, the Jeffrey Cheah School qualified students couldn't get into of Medicine and Health Sciences, public universities because of the Sunway International Schools, and limited capacity, nor could they Sunway Colleges. afford to go abroad. Higher level Sunway Education Group (SEG) courses by established professional and Sunway University senior bodies like the Association of executive director Elizabeth Lee Chartered Certified Accountants said the main challenge in the (ACCA), Institute of Chartered early years was establishing the Secretaries and Administrators reputation and stature of private (ICSA), and University of London education. Dr Parmjit says foreigners are The challenge in the early years was (UOL), were offered. These qualifi From offering secretarial and Without a solid education sector, flocking to Malaysia because its establishing the reputation and cations are equivalent to degrees. vocational courses to serious uni other industries will struggle with degrees can get the students jobs in stature of private education, shares versity programmes, and from the lack of quality human resources, their home countries. Lee. being institutions for dropouts to says Prof Chan. 1980s higher education institutions which could rival the public universities, Now, students are spoilt for entire education eco-system. Sunway, like other pioneers, had choice. The challenge today is to a huge talent pool, or partnerships. Crediting Higher Education Colleges started developing their their work cut out. provide holistic quality higher edu What we had, and still have, is a Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh's own qualifications that were vali "Sunway College pioneered twin cation that isn't solely focused on conviction to help Malaysians get innovative spirit for digitising the dated by foreign universities, and ning degree programmes in the text book knowledge, she shared. equal access to higher education," sector, he said Malaysia was offering credit transfer pro 1990s to give local students an In 1986, HELP University Prof Chan shared. among the world's first to achieve grammes. Some colleges estab opportunity to obtain a highly vice-chancellor and president Prof So, with just a shoplot as a cam that status. lished relationships with these for accredited foreign university Datuk Dr Paui Chan and its CEO pus and no facilities, the small "I've spent 52 years in education. eign universities which led to the degree minus the high cost of liv Datin Chan-Low Kam Yoke laid the team did everything themselves, It's vital that we have quality edu degree courses being partially ing overseas. Back then, there was foundation for the HELP Group. It including cleaning the toilets. cation not just for the young stu taught here. This was the start of less than a handfui of private col was an ambitious, back-breaking Much has changed since. HELP dents but also for aduits. Many twinning programmes. The num leges and universities offering such dream powered by passion. grew, as did the industry. ber of students qualified for uni- programmes." "We didn't have financial means, Technology, he said, changed the >TURN TO PAGE 3 >FROM PAGE 2 need re-skilling." A brighter future for private institutions Describing the sector's expansion as multi-faceted, he said the institutions have vast experience Advising private institutions not professionals. Academic reputation Malaysian youths to pursue quality Malaysian Qualifications Agency offering 3+0 degrees from countries to rest on their laurels, he stressed comes at the high cost of research, education while creating jobs and (MQA) is highly regarded globally. like Australia, the United Kingdom on the need to keep at the forefront she noted. Private education today, wealth in auxiliary industries like Every decade since the begin and the US. We withstood scrutiny of development. she opined, is more important than accomm-odation facilities and ning, has been significant in our from their accreditation boards and "Continue investing in the best it's ever been. support services. And, without a story of success, said Dr Parmjit. that experience has helped us team, strengthen your reputation, The dawn of the digital age solid education sector, other "Institutions reinvented develop our own degrees." and make sure you're generating means that the world moves at a industries will struggle with the themselves to respond to student Predicting a brighter future for graduates that the industry wants." much faster pace. And, the young lack of quality human resources. needs. The evolution process was private education, he expects more Education is a necessity for the generation must learn to adapt, "Market forces evaluate us, so all necessary because it led to us foreign students to enrol here. development and progress of any think fast and creatively on their of us must constantly improve. We developing our own courses - "We're at the pinnacle of private nation, Lee added. And while it feet, and keep up with what's going invest and build the human capital which I strongly believe, are on par, education now. Moving ahead, we seems like a lucrative business, cost on around them and globally. of the nation. Our future is assured if not better, than foreign degrees." must be active in research is high as it's hugely dependent on The private sector, said Prof if we have a robust and future Elaborating, he said local private activities," he said. highlv qualified and skilled Chan. creates opportunities for oriented education svstem." This material may be protected by the Malaysia Copyright Act. It may only be used for private study or research. Downloading or reproduction in excess of “fair dealing” may constitute copyright infringement..

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