NGOs Are Calling For The Reform Of Malaysian Tertiary Education

Higher Education Association Malaysia (HEYA) together with Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Malaysia (PKPIM), the Centre for Governance and Political Studies (Cent–GPS) and Naratif Malaysia, is calling for the government to review the tertiary education system in Malaysia.

This alliance of NGOs and Think–Tanks have consulted relevant stakeholders including student unions, lecturers, academicians and political parties for the past 18 months. Through the National Student Leaders Conference (NaSLeC) in 2020 and 2021, particulars concerning the state of our tertiary education have been shared and discussed.

“From these engagements, we drafted a Blueprint on Higher Education Reform focusing on three main issues: politically free higher education governance system, university autonomy and academic freedom, and student participatory governance.”

Among the reform agendas proposed include:

1. Autonomy should be given to the university to avoid external interference in decision–making processes.
2. Reform the University Board of Governance by including more academicians, subject matter experts and students.
3. Include students in university management and let students be a part of the decision–making process.
4. Student Unions to have freedom to adopt different styles of governing framework to suit university needs.
5. Students to be allowed to participate in political activities without any repercussions.

“For Malaysia to be able to compete in the age of globalization, we must ensure that the level of education system is on par with other developed nations. We call upon the government to consider these reforms which we believe will address the systemic problems concerning Malaysia’s tertiary education. We urge all parties to join us in pushing for the betterment of our higher education system so that the system is tuned to bring out the best from our students in the coming generations.”

“For the mentioned purpose, we have engaged lawmakers and politician from the major political parties in Malaysia,  namely: UMNO, Pakatan Harapan, Bersatu, PAS, Warisan, Pejuang and MUDA. The objective of the engagement is to advocate for the inclusion of the Higher Education Blueprint into their parties’ reform agenda, as well as include it in the upcoming general election manifesto. Constructive discussion has been carried out during the engagement and we are looking forward for a progressive action from the respective parties.”.

Have an idea on how to further develop tertiary education in Malaysia? Feel free to share in the comment section.

Also read: Malaysia’s System is Failing So Badly That Public Figures are Calling For a TOTAL OVERHAUL