Educational Psychology : Parenting Styles

CHAPTER 13 : EDUCATION INDUSTRY

Education is the process of teaching and learning in school or college.

Industry is the activities involved in one type of business or something which is produced in large quantities which makes a lot of money.

Objectives of Promoting Education Industry in Malaysia.

1. Malaysia as a regional centre of education excellence.
Government aims to achieve vision 2020, changing Malaysia into an industrialized country. When the government started their economy revolution in privatizing sectors, one of the sectors included is education. Their aim is to bring the world class education to Malaysia.
According Professor Rosabeth Kantor’s “World class suggesting both the need to meet the highest standard anywhere in order to compete and the growth of a social class defined by its ability to command resources and operate beyond borders and across wide territories.”
Applying the 3 C’s concept, competence, connections.
a. concept – the best and latest knowledge and ideas
b. competence – the ability to operate at the highest standards in any place anywhere
c. connection – the best relationships which provide access to the resources of other people and organizations around the world.
By promoting the establishments of private universities it is hoped to bring the quality education comparable to the standards provided by world renowned universities. They are known for their quality research and publications that enhance the knowledge and contribute towards the advancement of sciences (Research and Development).

2. Education as an Industry Rather Than a Social Obligation.

By turning the eduction sector into an industry, the government has ease some of its burden when come to providing the best education to the public. Education in this context is no longer considered as a social obligations to the government but of a mean to generate the economic wealth. Instead of subsidizing the education to the public, the government in turn are turning the education sector as a profit making industry and people would enjoy better education that they can afford.The expanding of higher education market began to attract overseas students, and given a small domestic market, Malaysia started to reposition itself as regional centre of excellence in tertiary education to benefit from economies of scale.

3. Provide human capital to cater for the industrial needs.

Education reforms were introduced since the later 1980s to encourage the private sector to play a more dynamic and expanded role in higher education to meet excess demand and to produce sufficient skilled workers for an economy that was experiencing severe labour and skill shortages. It was apparent that self- sufficiency in education was critical to the nation's drive to achieve developed nation status by the year 2020.
4. Preparing our society for globalisation.

Education is and will always remain a public service and as such, we need to exercise a large degree of social responsibility. As we prepare our society for globalization, we also need to be mindful of the fact that there will be people who are left behind. Therefore, the education system has to be flexible enough to pay equal attention to both high and low achievers. At the end of the day, we would like to see the emergence of growth with equity to be based on a much more egalitarian basis, without hindering the quest for excellence.

Many people would argue that education is a determinant and also a reflection of society. Therefore, in a multiracial, complex and sophisticated society like ours, reforming education has to take into consideration many conflicting, extreme as well as contradictory views. At present, our reforms already reflect changes in the society, brought about by rapid economic growth.
Malaysia as A Regional Centre of Education Excellence
The education minister and his deputy as well as policy makers have indicated that the higher education reform is vital to help realize the vision 2020, national goal to be a developed, industrialized country. In addition the country aims to be a hub in education and information technology in the region therefore making especially higher education / tertiary level education an export commodity.
In the context of tertiary education, the privatisation of higher education and the corporatisation of the universities are in fact an extension of the twin policies of privatisation and “Malaysia Incorporated” of Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir where by May 15 1994, the government had privatised 103 entities and more than 15 previously governement owned companies. The reformation is driven mainly by the economic needs and economic agenda of the country. The country aims to make education an export commodity.
The vision will come to fruition only when all institutions of higher learning public or private can compete and have the competitive edge when compared to foreign institutions of higher learning both at regional or international level.

Malaysia has already established numbers of local universities, some are specialized into certain field of study. Malaysia also has many private universities and encouraging top foreign participation, it will indirectly provide competitions as well as improvement in the overall quality of education in the education in the country. Currently we already have the existing twinning programmes which are very popular even with foreign students would be able to come here to study without having to go too far or to shoulder a heavier financial burden.
The quality of education in Malaysia, at least equal to that of other countries in the region. This is apparent now that we have an open and liberal education system, especially with the new Acts, such as the Private Higher Education Act. The government is also investing a lot of the latest information technology such as installing computers in education and those that are at the forefront of technology and knowledge. They believe that the students must be equipped with the latest equipment to assist students.
Malaysia strives for education excellence and tries to increase the pool of our manpower. The government are moving away from elite education, one that is based on egalitarianism to. We are in a way, bringing elite education, one that is based on excellence, to general population.

Different types of private institutions in Malaysia.
1. Sekolah Rendah Agama Swasta
2. Sekolah Rendah Swasta
3. Sekolah Menengah Agama
4. Sekolah Menengah Swasta
5. Sekolah Persendirian Cina (Private Chinese High School).
6. Kindergartens / Daycare centres
7. Sekolah Pendidikan Khas / Istimewa
8. International School
9. Expatriate school
10. Gaya Pos
11. Pusat – pusat bahasa, tuition, perdagangan dan kemahiran
12. Persatuan – Taekwondo, Silat etc

Strategies of Education Industry
Offer short courses
v e.g. courses like LCCI, language courses such as Arab, Japanese, computer courses such as Microsoft Office : MS Word, MS Power Point , and MS Access which will only need shorter duration to complete.
v all this courses are offered by private colleges which only need a few months or a year to complete.
v the students will be interested and eager to join the courses offered as it will be fast and they can gain a certificate after completion of the course.
v by offering this courses the institutions can gain a lot of income in a shorter period.

Conducting seminars, workshops
v there will be some seminars or workshops held in schools to improve the students’ skills and capabilities.
v besides that, seminars can help the students to gain knowledge and encourage them with hands-on activities.
v conduct brainstorming seminars where they can exchange ideas on certain topics.
v e.g. mathematics workshop, free or paid seminars for PMR students.

3. Offer training programs to teachers/lecturers
v training programs are to increase the teacher’s capabilities, strengths.
v during the programs teacher will be given some strategies on how to teach students efficiently and make the lesson interesting.
v also some methods of improving their teaching skills by incorporating the latest materials such as computers which will bring benefits for the students and also cater to their needs.

4. Attracting foreign students
v government should set up well-run and recognized industrial programs in institutions to attract students.
v let’s say if this foreign students studies in Malaysia, the institutions can gain a high currency flow.

5. Offer courses that are highly in demand
v the institutions should offer more courses that are in demand.
v students will be interested to take these courses as they know that it will be beneficial to them in the future.
v and all the courses fulfill the industrial needs.

6. Promoting the institutions through marketing
v some marketing officers will be coming to schools to promote their colleges and courses that they offer.
v also the facilities provided, some brief explanations on job opportunities with that particular qualification.
v besides that, there are also some institutions such as Cosmopoint which provides 2000 laptops to the first 2000 registries, Nilai College promotes Perodua Kancil and freebies such as pen, book, files and so on.

7. Institutions conduct open house/day
v students are able to visit the institutions and have first-hand experience of the facilities provided and also on how the lectures and tutorials will be conducted.
v this is being carried out by almost all of the institutions such as polytechnics, universities and private colleges.


ACCREDITATION

Accreditation means a formal recognition of the fact that the certificates, diplomas and degrees awarded by Private Higher Educational Institutions (PHEIs) are in accordance with the standard set by the Lembaga Akreditasi Negara. Students pursuing accredited courses are qualified for consideration to serve in the public service sector. Students who pursue accredited courses of study will also have the chance of obtaining scholarship or loans from sponsors or further their studies in any Public Higher Education Institution. The Lembaga Akreditasi Negara Act (Act 555) functions to ensure that all courses of study and training programmes offered achieve a standard acceptable to the norms and conventions of a higher institute of education. The idea of establishing National Accreditation Board (LAN) was mooted as a result of a resolution made at the Workshop on The Establishment of the National Accreditation Board. The rationale of the establishment is to:
a) Assurance of Quality Education
Malaysia is currently experiencing rapid development in both public and private education sectors. The quality of education at public institutions of higher learning is well monitored. There are set mechanism at these institutions and Ministry levels to monitor the standard and quality of the courses offered. LAN was established to help strike a balance between standard and quality in the PHEIs and the quest to create reputable integrated the holistic national higher education system.
b) Excellence in Education
Quality in a highly competitive world is a factor that guarantees the potency of an organization. The establishment of LAN should help the PHEIs improve their quality to enable them to compete with public higher education institutions in the creation of an excellent national higher education system.

c) Making Malaysia a Center of Educational Excellence.
It is the government’s aspiration that Malaysia becomes the regional centre for educational excellence. The certification and accreditation assessment by LAN can be used as the basis for international recognition and acceptance.
d) Creating an Independent Accreditation System
LAN was set up as a statutory body under the Ministry of Education, with the status of an autonomous body to monitor the standards and quality of higher education provided by the PHEIs. LAN also set up to become and authoritative body for determining the standards and quality of private higher education.

The functions of Lembaga Akreditasi Negara (LAN) are:
a) To formulate policies on the standard and quality control of the courses of study and certificates, diplomas and degrees.
b) To set, monitor, review and oversee the standard and quality the courses of study and for accreditation of certificates, diplomas and degrees.
c) To advise and make recommendations to the Ministry of Higher Education for his approval of courses of study to be conducted by Private Higher Educational Institutions with regard to the suitability of arrangements relating to the educational facilities relevant to the courses of study and the standard and quality assurance of the courses of study.
Other than the National Accreditation Board (LAN) there is other Accreditation that enables the graduates to be employed in the Public and Government sector which is Public Service Department (JPA).Recognition from JPA is necessary to enable graduates to be employed in the Public/Government sector. Without JPA's recognition, graduates can only gain employment in the private sector. The list of programmes submitted by LAN will be considered in the JPA's 'Jawatankuasa Tetap Penilaian dan Pengiktirafan Kelayakan (JTPPK)'' which is the government's committee to decide on granting the recognition.
Besides, there are also Accreditation for Engineering programmes and Accounting programmes. For example:
a) Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM)
b) Malaysian Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA)
c) Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

RESEARCH QUESTION
What is the status of employability among graduates in Malaysia today? Why?
Based on a report in Malaysia Today entitled “Malaysia Has 60 000 Graduates Unemployed” (2005), the government has conducted a survey and found that around 60,000 Malaysian graduates are unemployed due to lack of certain skills such as communication skill, poor command of English and lack of work experience. Further, it has been reported by the Deputy Minister of Human Resources that a large number of graduates are still jobless. From the report, it was found that 70% of graduates from public universities, 26% from the private higher learning institutions and 34% of those graduated from foreign universities are still jobless (Suresh, 2006). This phenomenon is alarming as this indicates that the graduates are not qualified to be employed.

There are two major factors that we have discovered why the graduates are unemployed. The first factor is the graduates themselves and the second factor is industrial which are government and private.
Graduates :
· poor command of English
· lack of self confidence
· high salary expectations
· poor attitude (no discipline)
· courses taken are irrelevant to the job market (e.g HR, Dancing, Agricultural)
· qualified but don’t know how to apply it

Industrial – government and private :
· graduates lack of working experience and skills
· government has extended the age of retirement to 65 and because of this there are limited quotas for graduation.
· irrelevant degree – the qualifications that they have does not match the job
· insufficient jobs to cater to the graduates.

There are some actions taken by government to minimize un-employability among graduates.
· Entrepreneurship – government will help those fresh graduates to be entrepreneurs in the future
· Job Fair – all companies get together and offer jobs to unemployed graduates
· Skim Graduan Menganggur whereby the government will offer to teach them some hands on and technical skills to familiarize them with the working world. Here the graduates will be paid RM 500 monthly as an allowance.







BIBLIOGRAPHIES


The 10th Malaysian Education Summit 2006 www.asli.com.my/document/programme 2005.pdf.27 March 2006

2. http://educationmalaysia.blogspot.com/2005/10/budget-2006-human-capital- development.html


3. Lembaga Akreditasi Malaysia. http://www.lanmalaysia.com. 23 May 2007


Help Shape Varsity Education, Industry Urged. www.thestar.com.my/services 23 August 2006

http://fba.unitar.edu.my/news/issue1_07/Nas.pdf


6. Branding Malaysia. http://jaime.trainingmalaysia.com/mapcu/S1- MsRosieHong.ppt 23 May 2007

7. MAPCU – (Malaysian Association of Private College Universities)
www.studymalaysia.com/mapcu/background.html.


Mohd Najib Tun Razak. Malaysia Today towards the new Millennium : Malaysia as a regional centre of educational excellence : The Challenge of Globalisation. (1997) Asean Academic Press : London p.227 – 231.

Okposin, Samuel Bassey. Perubahan Fasa Ekonomi Malaysia. (2003) ITNM : Kuala Lumpur p.184-209.


Tan Ai Mei. Malaysian Private Higher Education : Globalisation, Privatisation, Transformation and Marketplaces. (2002) Asean Academic Press : London p.7 – 11.