Malaysian higher education : an international perspective

• Main Author: Anuwar Ali,
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: LC5800 Distance education; LG Individual institutions (Asia. Africa)
• Online Access: http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/692/1/malaysian_higher_anuwar.pdf; http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/692/

No one can deny that the world is more interdependent, interlinked and integrated with the development of information technology. This in turn has facilitated the flow of knowledge, information and people as never before. Higher education is expected to contribute and become far more internationalised to integrate intercultural elements in its teaching, research and services. This paper summarises the initiatives taken by Open University Malaysia (OUM) to market its programmes at the international level. In the initial phase, the university is targeting its neighbouring country, Indonesia as well as countries in the Middle East, particularly Yemen, Syria and Saudi Arabia. The first programmeme to be offered will be at the Masters level in Universitas Riau (UNRI), Pekanbaru, Indonesia, and in the University of Science and Technology, Yemen (USTY), followed by the undergraduate programmes at Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD), Bandung, Indonesia. In the near future, the scope will be widened to include both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the universities concerned. This paper outlines the issues, challenges and the strategic plans to develop and ensure the success of OUM’s Internationalisation agenda, an agenda which is aligned to the Malaysian Government’s policy of developing Malaysia as a Centre of Excellence in education and training. (Abstract by author)