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MALAYSIA
HISTORY & BACKGROUNDMalaysia is a commendable example of how a country, with definite goals and pointed persistence, can achieve impressive progress in the field of education in a relatively short period. According to one source, its literacy rate of 93 percent at the end of the twentieth century is one of the highest in the world. Malaysia has taken important strides consistently since its independence (Merdeka) in 1957 and even more dramatically since Consisting of the Malay Peninsula or West Malaysia and the states of Sabah and Sarawak (East Malaysia) in the northwestern coastal area of the island of Borneo, Malaysia covers an area of 127,581 square miles. The two areas are separated by about 400 miles of the South China Sea. West Malaysia covers an area of about 50,806 square miles, or 40 percent of the country. Sabah and Sarawak cover about 60 percent of the total area, though they have only 21 percent of the population. Peninsular Malaya is bounded on the north by Thailand while Sabah and Sarawak are bounded by the South China in the west and by Indonesia's Kalimantan in the east and the south. Historically, the Malay Peninsula was a sparsely populated area. The land had little possibility of agriculture and its mineral deposits remained largely unexploited. The narrow northern neck of the peninsula was used for trade between the East and the West. The Malay people are of the same racial stock as those of the Indonesian islands but few settled in Malaya, preferring the fertile lands of Jagva. In the process of transmission of Indian culture to Southeast Asia, the people of Malaya absorbed Hinduism and Buddhism. The tradition of a Buddhist monk doubling as a village school teacher began in the early centuries of the Common Era and continues through the centuries. Unlike neighboring countries Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, and Cambodia, no major kingdoms developed or lasted in the Malay Peninsula for lack of economic resources. Not until the fifteenth century did the first major polity encompassing all of Malaya emerge. In 1402, Parameshwara, a prince from Palembang in Sumatra across the Straits, established his kingdom on the Malay Peninsula at Melaka (Malacca). In a bid to attract the East-West trade as well as the regional trade and shipping, he provided excellent facilities for merchants and mariners from India, China, Java, Champa, Pegu (Lower Burma), and Arabia, who needed to spend several months in a year until the monsoons subsided. In the process, he and the dynasty he established created the tradition of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society thriving in an atmosphere of coexistence and cooperation in separate quarters of the city-state. Islam was spreading fast in the insular region particularly among the trading and shipping communities. In order to spread the religion and create a thalossocracy embracing the entire peninsula, the Malacca sultans (rulers) entered into matrimonial alliances with the ruling chiefs across Malaya. For a century until the Portuguese conquered Melaka in 1510, it remained the center of commerce in Southeast Asia and of Islam in the peninsula. The population of peninsular Malaysia is more multiracial, multi-religious, and multilingual than that of Sabah and Sarawak. Malays and other indigenous people are called bhumiputeras (children of the soil); Chinese and Indians are the two other major communities. Of these, Chinese are about 36 percent in peninsular Malaya and in Sabah and Sarawak. Indians number about 11 percent in peninsular Malaya and in Sabah and Sarawak. These numbers are relevant not only for the country's political balance and racial harmony but also for the formulation of educational policies directed toward national integration. CONSTITUTIONAL & LEGAL FOUNDATIONSThe Federation of Malaysia was born in 1963. Two years later, Singapore seceded to form an independent and sovereign state. Malaysia, thereafter, constituted 11 states of peninsular Malaya—Perak, Kedah, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Johor, Pahang, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengannu, Melaka and Pulau Pinang and two states on the island of Borneo, namely, Sabah (formerly North Borneo) and Sarawak. Sandwiched between Sabah and Sarawak is the small sultanate of Brunei, whose extreme fortunes are built on oil. Besides the 13 states, there are two federally administered territories, namely, the country's capital of Kuala Lumpur in Selangor State and Labuan. Malaysia has, since its inception in 1963, been a federal democracy with Kuala Lumpur as the federal capital where the federal legislature and the Supreme Court are housed. Nine states of peninsular Malaya are headed by hereditary rulers, the sultans, who constitute the Conference of Rulers and elect, mostly by rotation, one of themselves, as the Yang Di Pertuan Agong (Supreme Head of State) for 5 years. Melaka and Pulau Pinang on the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia are not members of the Conference of Rulers. Each of the 13 units of the federal polity has an elected government on the Westminster pattern with the chief minister and his cabinet belonging to the party with the largest number of elected representatives in the lower house. At the federal level, the prime minister and his cabinet belong to the majority party in the lower house of the parliament. EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM—OVERVIEWA decade before the end of the British rule, the educational system in Malaya was reorganized along the lines of the Barnes Report of 1951. Up to that point of time, Malaya's educational system lacked uniformity in curriculum and an articulated rationale for a policy which would be relevant to the political and socio-economic goals of the people. The country's three principal ethnic communities—Malays, Chinese and Indians (mostly Tamils from South India)—ran their own schools, the latter two often importing a syllabus used in the countries of their origin. The Barnes Report recommended a national school system, which would provide primary education for 6 years in Malaya and English, hoping that over a period of time, the attraction to have separate schools in Chinese and Tamil would wane and disappear. The reaction of the Chinese community to the Barnes Report was not totally positive. While the community agreed with the basic recommendation that Malay be treated as the principal language, it felt that there should be some provision to recognize Chinese and Tamil as important components of a new definition of Malaya's national identity. Partly to pacify the ethnic sensitivities, the colonial government approved a modified formula that would allow bilingualism in Malay schools (Malay and English) and three language "solution" in Tamil and Chinese schools (either Tamil-Malay-English or Chinese-Malay-English). It recommended a common curriculum for all schools, hoping that a national school system would evolve. In 1955, two years before Malaya's independence, the Razak Report endorsed the concept of a national education system based on Malay (the national language), being the main medium of instruction. A key paragraph from it was reproduced in Section 3 of the Education Ordinance of 1957: A national system of education acceptable to the people of the Federation [of Malaya] as a whole which will satisfy their needs and promote their cultural, social, economic and political development as a nation, having regard to the intention to make Malay the national language of the country while preserving and sustaining the growth of the language and culture of other communities living in the country. In the national discussion that followed the Razak Report, two alternative models figured: Switzerland with three languages had fostered national unity "without impairing the autonomy and equality of different languages and cultures." On the other hand, the United States had assimilated the divergent immigrant communities by the use of a common dominant language. The Razak Report revealed an intention to follow the American model. At the same time, the last part of the concluding sentence endorsed the need to include the Swiss component of "sustaining the growth of other languages and cultures" in order to foster the unity of all people. The Razak Report recommended two types of secondary schools: those using Malay as the medium of instruction to be called "national schools" while those using Chinese, Tamil or English were to be designated "national-type schools." Both being "national," the government should give financial aid to both the types. With the attainment of independence, the new government basically followed the Razak Report. There was no problem at the primary school level since the child's mother tongue would be the medium of instruction. The parents had the option to choose any other language; in practice, such a choice would narrow it down to the use of English as the medium of instruction. There was also a general consensus that at a later stage at the primary level, English and/or Malay could be learned as a "foreign language." The emphasis in these early years was on the need to establish a system that would foster national unity but not at the cost of harmony among the three communities, each of them being keen on preserving its own cultural traditions. Therefore, until the mid-1960s, the government focused on upgrading the content of education rather than on the medium of instruction. Thus, the grant-in-aid to schools were tied to adopting the national curriculum and to offer professional training to teachers to qualify them to teach the advanced syllabus in most subjects particularly, mathematics and sciences. This was because the government felt obliged to link education to the needs of an expanding, modern economy. In 1967, Malaysia proclaimed Bahasa Melayu the national language for purposes of administration and education. In an effort to promote national integration, it was progressively made the main medium of instruction in schools and institutions of higher learning. At the same time, the people had the option to use their mother tongue and other languages. In late 2000, the Malaysian government announced that technology education and high-tech industries would have leading roles in the country's economy which would thereafter be predominantly "knowledge-based" or "K-economy." It would address the country's "digital divide by de-emphasizing past practices of promoting businesses run by ethnic Malays." For this purpose the government would focus on education "as a means to deliver the promise of empowering the individual in the twenty-first century." In real terms, economy and education would aim at closing the digital divide between the rural and urban centers of population. The emphasis on high-tech economy and education shifted the government focus from the practice of hand-picking individuals and businesses under the indigenous or Bumiputra policy to The government had emphasized developing a technology infrastructure program called the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). By the end of 1999, there were 32 MSC-approved companies, 33 percent of which were software companies and 29 percent dealt with multimedia. Together, the MSC companies helped to augment the manufacturing output of the country by an estimated 20 percent for several years. There was criticism, however, that the MSC helped the upper class industrialists and businessmen leaving the middle and lower classes and rural populations out of the prosperity loop. The anomaly would be rectified through the new policy. The 2001 budget provided for the spread of computer literacy on a mass scale, including computers in all schools, building 167 schools and 4 new universities, and allocating $316 million for training institutes. If the trend continues, Malaysia would join nearby Singapore in its efforts to minimize the digital divide. PREPRIMARY & PRIMARY EDUCATIONIn Malaysia, the preschool education, outside the home, begins at the age of four or five in kindergartens, which are run both by the government as well as nongovernmental agencies and the private sector. The Ministry of Education interferes the least at this level of education. It does provide broad guidelines in terms of a "curriculum," teaching approaches and how to provide a "secure and stimulating environment" for preschool children, but it also allows considerable flexibility to the managements and teachers of such schools to make variation in the style and content of teaching. Such variation is specially allowed at the preschool and tertiary education (university education) levels. In 2000, there were 1,076 public kindergartens with 27,883 kindergarten students and 1,699 teachers. Additionally, there were 2,161 private kindergartens. Education is provided free by the government. It is not compulsory. Yet, 99 percent of all six-year-olds attend the primary school and 92 percent of all students go on to the upper secondary schools. Sensitive to the multi-ethnic character of its population, Malaysia has set up two categories of schools: national schools and national-type schools. Schools of all levels operate on a semester system for a total of 41 weeks in a year. Because of a shortage of school space, some schools in urban centers operate in two shifts: morning and afternoon. While most of the primary and secondary schools are run by the government, there is a growing number of private schools. They are becoming increasingly popular because they give students a greater degree of mobility. At any stage, they can opt out of the private schools and join the national schools and vice versa. Such private schools use either a Malaysian syllabus or one from an overseas school. Some private schools also offer a 2-year Sixth Form program which prepares the students for entry into local or foreign universities. The Malaysian system of education comprises four levels: primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, and postsecondary schools. Parents are free to choose the type of school, national (Bahasa Melayu) or "nationalist-type" Chinese or Tamil. Students completing six years of primary education are automatically promoted to lower secondary level. Those from the "national-type" schools are required to spend a year in transition class in order to acquire sufficient knowledge of Bahasa Melayu to be able to follow the instruction at the lower secondary school level (or Form I as it is called), where the medium of instruction is only in the national language, Bahasa Melayu. At the primary level, the emphasis is on the acquisition of strong writing and reading skills as well as a good foundation of maths and basic sciences. Two assessment examinations at the end of the third and the sixth years enable an evaluation of the student's performance. Those who perform extremely well at the third year examination are often allowed to skip the fourth year and go directly to the fifth year. The government also runs some residential schools providing a stimulating environment for some specially gifted students interested in specializing in sciences. In such schools, there are special facilities for students to cultivate fluency of English so that they are better able to assimilate advanced knowledge in science and technology. In 2000, there were 7,084 primary schools with 2,870,667 students and 150,681 teachers giving a teacher-student ratio of 1:19. The Ministry of Education's policy is to try to accommodate the particular needs of the visually and hearing impaired as well as of those with learning difficulties, within the mainstream school system. Special facilities may be given to some students for some time, but the goal is to integrate them in regular classes as early as possible. In 2000, there were 283 schools that were equipped with special facilities and qualified teaching staff to help integrate such children within the general school system. However, there were 31 "special education schools" for those who need more intensive and personal one-on-one care and attention and who cannot be integrated into the mainstream schools. SECONDARY EDUCATIONThe lower secondary stage consists of three years (seventh to ninth grades or Forms I to III) at the end of which students take the Lower Secondary Assessment Examination (Sijil Rendah Pelajaran or PMR). Many of those who fail the PMR end their education and join the
In 2000, some of the students in lower secondary schools joined the upper secondary programs offered by the MARA Institute of Technology and colleges. They offer courses in technology, commerce, business management. MARA's polytechnics offer training courses in commerce and engineering to train technicians and junior executives. In 2000, there were 1,538 lower and upper secondary schools with 1,794,515 students and 96,523 teachers, with a teacher-student ratio of 1:18.6. Technical education has had a longer tradition than higher education in humanities or social sciences. In 1925, a technical school was opened at Brickfrields, Kuala Lumpur, which a half-century later, in 1972, became the University of Technology, Malaysia. After the country's independence in 1957 and formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, the successive five-year plans focused on creating a "market-sensitive" education system, which would train enough people to meet the needs of industry and business. Efforts were also made to locate the technical school close to the location of industries so that the students could take advantage of practical training through observation or apprenticeship. Other objectives of vocational education included encouraging those who are not oriented to white collar jobs to take training in short-term and diploma courses and acquire technical skills to enter a vocation. The technological education would include computer technology to keep the country in the league of developed countries. Another aim was to close the digital gap between the urban and rural populations in Malaysia. The prime Minister, Dr Mahathir's "Vision 2020" included technical and vocational education among the priorities for the nation. Consequently, the percentage of those who opted for these categories of education jumped from the 7 percent of those passing the PMR, in 2000. Two kinds of students tend to take up technical and vocational education. Those who fail the Sijil Rendah Pelajaran or PMR given at the end of Form III or the ninth grade and those who pass the PMR, and move on to upper secondary school and choose technical or vocational school as one of the "streams" (some others being arts and sciences) for two years. There has been an increasing trend to include some technical and vocational education as a part of the regular curriculum in the regular secondary schools. An increasing number of students join the MARA Institute of Technology taking diplomas in engineering or business. HIGHER EDUCATIONAt the time of Malaya's independence in 1957, there was no university in the country. There was, however, a university in Singapore established in 1949 called the University of Malaya, which was established as a result of merger of two well-known institutions in Singapore. The only academic institution that offered courses leading to a degree was the King Edward College of Medicine in Singapore, which had been recognized as a full-fledged medical college since 1915. The second institution was the Raffles College, established in Singapore in 1928, which offered courses in English, history, geography, and some other subjects leading to a diploma. In 1959, a campus of the University of Malaya was opened in Malaya's capital, Kuala Lumpur. Since the birth of the Malaysian Federation in 1963, higher education institutions (HEIs) have expanded phenomenally in number, student enrollment, and the range of specialties they offer. In 2000, there were 11 universities in the public sector, besides 6 private universities and 283 private colleges. The demand for higher education was so high that all six private universities were established The growth of higher education in Malaysia had a Chinese dimension, which affected the Chinese not only in Singapore but also people of Chinese origin in Malaya. Thus, in 1956, those who believed in Chinese education instead of Western established the Nanyang University in Singapore primarily for students from Chinese secondary schools in Malaya and Singapore. The low academic standards, inadequately-trained faculty, and an "inwardlooking concentration on all things Chinese" at the Nanyang University in its early years were so inadequate that they failed to establish credibility among many of the forward-looking citizens. The governments of Malaya and Singapore refused to recognize the degrees of the Nanyang University as qualifications for entrance to the civil service; the industrial and business sector followed the government practice. Not wanting to allow the Nanyang University to lapse into a reactionary stronghold of Chinese nationalism, the government of Singapore reinstated in 1962, one year before the birth of the Federation of Malaysia, grants-in-aid to the Nanyang University. After Singapore pulled out of the Federation two years later, the fate of the Nanyang University remained no longer the responsibility of the Federation of Malaysia. Admission to national universities in Malaysia for undergraduate education is determined by examination and selection. The minimum requirement is passing the SPM and STPM certificate examinations. Students must apply through the Universities Central Admissions Unit. Each university, however, has the option of deciding which students to admit. To help students from rural areas who may not have adequate preparation at the primary and secondary levels, some places are reserved in some national universities. There are also special facilities for students in the form of pre-university training programs and special incentives such as government fellowships. The government shows the high importance it attaches to university education and its immediate relevance to the country's yearning for economic betterment in the days of increasing globalization. Thus, a Ministry of Education statement states: In the 21st century, the young person entering the workforce will be judged not so much on the knowledge and skills acquired, but on the capacity for lateral thinking, creativity, and an integrated approach to learning. The university system is expected to bridge the fundamental shift from an information-based society to a knowledge-based one. Malaysia is putting in place the hardware and software to equip students to take advantage of the opportunities offered by an increasingly interconnected world. In late 2000, the government announced major plans to promote a "K-economy" or "knowledge-based economy" in which technology education would play a major role. This would aim at reducing the digital divide in the country in which the lower classes and rural population had been left out of by the revolution in Information Technology. The immediate plans, for which the Finance Minister provided $316 million in the 2001 budget included opening 4 new universities besides 167 new schools and funds for putting computers in all schools. If the plans are continued and there are positive prospects for such a development, Malaysian institutions of higher education will have new success not only in the field of computer technology but in its impact in the fields of politics, economics, sociology, social behavior, business management, and many others. The Ministry of Education's Higher Education Division coordinates policies for university education although the universities are considered autonomous. Most of the work with the universities is done by a 10-member National Accreditation Board for higher education. The Board formulates policies on the quality of courses and the accreditation of certificates, diplomas, and degrees. The Board's goal is to ensure high academic standards on par with the best universities in the world. In order to provide equity and a balanced representation of various disciplines and programs, the membership of the Board is drawn from faculty of the various public universities. Unlike academics in many non-Communist developing countries who try to keep distance from business and industry, the Malaysian universities and research institutions have been very open about the desirability of building cooperative and cordial bridges with government and industry. The government encourages the researchoriented department of universities and research and development institutions to interact with industry. Such collaboration is promoted through the National Council for Scientific Research and Development. This includes joint research projects with multinationals who are a large part of Malaysia's economic landscape. A separate government organization, the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation, promotes linkages among companies, innovators, entrepreneurs, and financial institutions for industrial exploitation of university research projects. Malaysia has taken several steps to bring its education in line with the developed world. It claims to have entered into "strategic alliances" between Malaysian universities and selected overseas universities known for specific areas of expertise. There is a discernible urge to "internationalize" the curriculum particularly in the areas of technology, business management and accounting. For this purpose, a number of public (called "national" in Malaysia) and private universities and colleges offering education packages were put together in collaboration with "the most reputable academic institutions in the world." Additionally, several accounting firms have been registered as training organizations for "chartered accountants" offering "articleship" to aspiring candidates. ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHThe Ministry of Education formulates the national educational policy in terms of the goals and objectives set by the Prime Minister, Minister of Education, and the Cabinet. It periodically prepares plans, programs, and projects to fit into the national Five-Year-Plans. Although the country's constitution provides for decentralization of certain powers to the states, the federal Ministry of Education has throughout Malaysia's history played a superior role in laying down policies and guidelines for the state-level education departments, and at times, the district level officials in charge of education. The Ministry of Education functions as two wings: academic and administrative, headed by the Director-General of Education and the Secretary-General. At the apex of policy planning in the Ministry is the Educational Planning Committee (EPC) of which the Minister of Education is the head. Its sub-committees formulate policies regarding curriculum and preparation of text-books, development, finance, higher education, scholarships, and teacher training for approval by the EPC. Roughly corresponding to these committees are 12 academic divisions. The Educational and Planning and Research Division is a very important division connected to the EPC. Another is the Curriculum Development Center responsible for disseminating effective teaching methods and strategies as well as new curricula programs and for producing support materials. The Textbook Division, which gets the textbooks written in conformity with the revisions in curriculum and printed in time for the beginning of the classes. Support in the form of audio-visual facilities and other kinds of technology is provided by the Educational Technology Division while a still separate Technical and Vocational Division assists the vocational secondary schools and polytechnics in revising curriculum and supply of the state-of-the art technical facilities. A special division, the Computer Services Division provides not only the physical facilities and their upgrading but also consult services. Another division named the Examination Syndicate is responsible for conducting all national-level examinations. Inspection and supervision of effective instruction and management of school of all levels comes under the Federal Schools Inspectorate. Still another division deals with all questions pertaining to the teaching of Islam. The Ministry of Education requires all educational institutions, whether they are in the public or private sectors, to observe the rules and regulations regarding the registration of schools. The Schools and Teachers Registration Division ensures the academic qualifications of teachers and that the physical facilities in schools follow certain standards. Teachers and academic administrators needing upgrading receive training at the Aminuddin Baki Institute, which functions directly under the Ministry of Education. The Ministry's Higher Education Division coordinates policies for university education although the universities are considered autonomous. Most work that pertains to connecting with the universities is done by 10-member National Accreditation Board for public and private institutions of higher education. The Board formulates policies on the quality of courses and the accreditation of certificates, diplomas, and degrees. The Board's goal is to ensure high academic standards in keeping with the best universities in the world. In order to provide equity and a balanced representation of various disciplines and programs, the membership of the Board is drawn from faculty of various public universities. Also working with the Division of Higher Education is the External Affairs Division, which looks after the country's cooperative ties with other institutions of higher education in the region as well as across the world. The Scholarships Division deals with financial assistance to students and teachers within the country as well as for Malaysian students studying abroad Lastly, there is the Computer Services Division, which provides technical expertise in management of information services. At the state level, the State Education Departments are headed by directors. These departments are responsible Malaysia has, since its inception, been liberal with funds for its educational establishment, spending on education in 1997, the largest portion of the budget at 22 percent. In that year, the allocation for education was augmented by 30 percent. This is exclusive of expenditure on the well-known MARA Junior Science colleges, which because of their rural bias are not funded by the Ministry of Education but come under the purview of the Ministry of Rural and National Development. The major items of expenditure include 11 years of free schooling at primary, lower secondary and secondary levels. There are plenty of scholarships available to the deserving, both on grounds of academic merit and economic need. The Textbook Division of the Ministry of Education makes textbooks available to the needy on a free loan basis. There are residential schools for secondary-level science students for those coming from the less developed northern Malay states or rural areas. Those who are economically disadvantaged are fully subsidized including boarding facilities. A major item in the education budget is higher education, which includes ten public universities and a number of research institutions. Tuition is free and there are a large number of fellowships and grants available for the economically disadvantaged. The Ministry of Education's Scholarships Division and External Affairs Division jointly assist placement and funding of students going overseas for advanced studies. Until the mid-1980s, the preferred destination was Great Britain. The deep cuts in allocations to universities, which resulted in virtual abolition of financial assistance to foreign and Commonwealth students during the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, sharply reduced the number of Malaysian students going to the United Kingdom. Instead, thousands of them, as many as 20,000 annually made their way to U.S. universities where the prospects of some funding at some time during a student's academic career held hope of financial relief. Malaysia's growing prosperity based on trade and industry ties with American counterparts also paved the way for an increasing number of Malaysian students from affluent families to prefer the United States over the United Kingdom for higher education. The unit costs in 2000 were estimated at US$350 at the primary level; US$560 at the secondary level for arts and science; US__BODY__,500 for secondary vocational; US$950 for polytechnics; US$5,000 for teacher training; and US$7,000 for university education. Since the mid-1990s, the Malaysian government instituted a Total Quality Management (TQM) program in all its ministries and departments, including in the Ministry of Education. A major study in the field of education in Malaysia by Professor Gopal K. Kanji of the Sheffield Hallam University (U.K.) and his associates, Abdul Malek Bin A. Tambi and William Wallace in 1999, evaluated TQM in the Ministry of Education and in higher education institutions (HEIs). A merit of the study was its detailed comparison of TQM in Malaysia and the United States. The government's policy in education, particularly higher education, is to bring it in line with the country's manpower planning and to provide the country with the right and adequate supply of trained manpower to keep pace with economic growth and the country's publicly declared goal to make Malaysia "a regional center of excellence in education." Accordingly, in 1992, the Public Services Department, which is the highest public administrative agency, introduced guidelines in TQM for all the ministries, departments, and other agencies of the government and appointed appropriate certification bodies to conduct audits of their performance in accordance with TQM and ISO 9000. Institutions (HEIs) implement the guidelines and subject themselves to TQM audit. Under these regulations, the Public Services Department regulates Higher Education. In keeping with these requirements, the Ministry of Education introduced the TQM by launching a "customer charter" on April 1, 1996. The Ministry formed a policy and quality section to monitor the education policy at all levels based on the TQM principles. Within 6 months The study of TQM in the field of education in Malaysia and its comparison with European and American experience in TQM was very effective. Gopal K. Kanji and his associates conducted an extensive survey, collecting data from Malaysia and the United States in December 1997 (Malaysia) and February 1998 (United States) to gauge the extent of TQM implementation in Malaysian HEIs, factors involved in the TQM evaluation, and what critical elements in the process affect TQM results. Their objectives included an assessment of the TQM in HEIs in terms of their "contribution to the organizations' performance and business excellence." A preliminary report of the study, published in mid-1999 pointed out that while some HEIs in Malaysia introduced TQM as early as 1992, "quality control circles" had been implemented by some as early as 1978. On the other hand, several HEIs planned to get ISO 9000 certification and not implement TQM at all. The study evaluated TQM in the Malaysian Ministry of Education in general and in higher education institutions (HEIs) in particular. A merit of the study was its detailed comparison of TQM in 216 HEIs in Malaysia and 294 in the United States. The "critical success factors" considered were the following: leadership; continuous improvement; prevention; measurement of resources; process improvement; internal customer satisfaction; external customer satisfaction; people management and teamwork. The study's findings include: (1) Most of the Malaysian HEIs, 88.5 percent of them, are small, having less than 5,000 full-time students, compared to 49.1 percent in the United States. (2) The proportion of HEIs adopting TQM in Malaysia is 50.0 percent versus 95.5 percent in the United States; the adoption in either country of TQM does not depend on the age of the institutions. (3) The correlation between leadership and TQM is very high in both the countries. The institutional leadership was responsible for introduction of TQM in 77.4 percent of the institutions in the United States and 75.9 percent in Malaysia. (4) Some of the barriers to TQM are lack of commitment, insufficient knowledge, and fear of failure. (5) There is less high level expertise in TQM in the United States (25.9 percent) than in Malaysia (17.9 percent). On the other hand, there is a greater acceptance of "quality culture" in Malaysian HEIs (60 percent) than in their U.S. counterparts (47.2 percent). (6) In order to promote a higher degree of "quality motivation," The Malaysian HEIs reward their employees much more than than in the United States. In Malaysia, such incentives are in the areas of job promotion and vacations; in the United States they are given in the form of psychological and sociological rewards such as recognition and organizational support. The study attributes the variation to "typical cultural difference between the two countries." NONFORMAL EDUCATIONNonformal education is a combined enterprise of several government ministries, departments, and special agencies. It is provided also as a vocational or technical education for imparting specific skills for unemployed young people who are motivated to enter some vocational trade as a career. This conforms with one of Malaysia's larger objectives, namely, to create a "market-sensitive" system of education. Among other things, are to prepare candidates for productive activity to participate actively in commerce, industries, and other economic enterprises and to promote an awareness of the working environment, hence bringing about changes in society. Among the government agencies providing education and training programs are the Ministry of Human Resources; the Ministry of Culture, Youth, Sports and Welfare Services; the Ministry of Agriculture; the Ministry of Land and Regional Development; the Adult Education Division of the Ministry of Rural and National Development; and several government statutory bodies such as the National Unity Board, the Council for the Indigenous People, the National Productivity Center, and the Federal Land Development Authority. Programs include courses in apprenticeship, skill upgrading, instructional and technical skills, leadership, business, agriculture, preschool education, electrical and mechanical engineering-related fields, and commerce. TEACHING PROFESSIONDistrict/Division education offices have been set up in all but three states with the purpose of forming linkages between schools and State Education Departments. These education offices assist the state departments in the supervision of educational programs in the schools within the district. The State Resource Centers and the district Teachers Centers have been established to improve teachers' accessibility to media services and reference materials with the aim of enhancing teaching. These centers also provide an environment where teachers can SUMMARYThe Ministry of Education formulates the national educational policy in terms of the goals and objectives set by the Prime Minister, Minister of Education, and the Cabinet. It prepares plans, programs, and projects periodically to fit into the national Five-Year-Plans. Although the country's constitution provides for decentralization of certain powers to the states, the federal Ministry of Education has throughout Malaysia's history played a superior role in laying down policies and guidelines for the state-level education departments, and at times, the district level officials in charge of education. Unlike academia in many non-communist, developing countries keeping ostensibly away from business and industry, the Malaysian universities and research institutions have been very open in building bridges with the industry. Close collaboration among some university departments, research and development institutions, and the private sector have been promoted through the National Council for Scientific Research and development. This includes joint research projects with multinationals, who are a large part of Malaysia's economic development. A separate government organization, The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation is engaged in promoting linkages among companies, innovators, entrepreneurs, and financial institutions for the "commercialization" of university research projects. Notable is the "purpose-built" construction of high technology parks close to major universities to enable interaction between academia and industry and the optimum utilization of resources and capabilities of both. As the Ministry of Education proclaims, "the emphasis is on matching research and development efforts with market needs within a dynamic and flexible environment. This provides students with a unique learning opportunity where classroom knowledge can be immediately tested in a real-life business environment." BIBLIOGRAPHYKanji, Gopal K., Abdul Malek Bin A Tambi, and William Wallace. "Comparative Study of Quality Practices in Higher Education Institutions in the U.S. and Malaysia," Total Quality Management, May 1999. Mohd Nor Wan Daud, Wan. The Concept of Knowledge in Islam: and its Implications for Education in a Developing Country, London: Mansell, 1989. Nordin, Abu Baker. Improving Learning, an Experiment in Rural Primary Schools in Malaysia. New York: Pergamon Press, 1980. Sato, Matsuo. Report and Recommendations of the President to the Board of Directors on a proposed Loan and Technical Assistance Grant to Malaysia for the Technical Education Project. Manila, Asian Development Bank, 1997. Selvaratnam, V. Ethnicity, Inequality, and Higher Education in Peninsular Malaysia: the Sociological Implications. Singapore, National University of Singapore, 1987. Wong, Francis Hoy Kee. Perspectives: the Development of Education in Malaysia and Singapore. Kuala Lumpur: Heinemann Educational Books, 1972. —D. R. SarDesai |
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