ALTHOUGH it may lack significance, 3M’s humble Post-It passes as a great accidental discovery.
Originally conceived to be a reusable, pressure sensitive adhesive, the product did not take off for years until an employee decided to use it to anchor bookmarks in a hymnbook.
The double coincidence involving second-rate science and the frustrations of a choir member is now history and the Post-It is a necessity in offices.
Extrapolate things and one could argue that accidental developments influence global affairs.
The chance discovery of Iranian oil in 1908 drew the Western powers to the Middle East and the continued pursuit of “black gold” has influenced the geopolitical situation in the region till today.
Truly international: Local and foreign students are a common sight in most private institutions these days. Unexpected events over the years, have had a part to play in Malaysia’s rise as an education hub.In a localised context, Malaysia’s steady rise as a regional education hub makes for good discussion and Higher Education department deputy director-general (private higher education institutions) Prof Datin Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir suggested that there was some degree of “accidental” elements in the matter.
The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, she said, saw the value of the ringgit plummet against the United States dollar and savings for overseas education became insufficient overnight.
Fortunately, twinning programmes allowed students to pursue overseas qualifications locally as such programmes were offered in greater variety during the crisis.
Locals were not the only ones who benefited, and Malaysia’s unique offering led to an influx of international students.
Their increased presence, continued Prof Siti Hamisah, convinced the ministry – then part of the Education Ministry – that Malaysia could indeed be a regional education hub.
“The positive post-crisis developments were accidental as we did not plan them,” she said.
“The timing was right as twinning programmes and the internationalisation of higher education had been ongoing.”
Turning back the clock, Prof Datuk Dr Hassan Said, Taylor’s University vice-chancellor and president and former Higher Education department director-general, stressed that although the accidental element could not be discounted, efforts to make Malaysia an education hub started much earlier.
“The liberalisation of higher education began when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was Education Minister from 1995 to 1999,” said Prof Hassan, who also served as a director in the Education Ministry’s department of higher education from 1998 to 2004.
“The Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 (Act 555) was launched before the crisis, and this served as the ground work for future expansion as the private sector was recognised.”
The crisis, he added, convinced foreign students that they could benefit by pursuing a foreign degree in Malaysia – paying a fraction of the price – via twinning programmes and the weak ringgit at the time ensured that they would enjoy a lower cost of living.
Ng: Although twinning programmes helped the private sector, breaking away form them ushered in a new epoch.Interestingly, the notion of chance did not go down well with some private providers and UCSI University founder – and group chairman – Datuk Peter Ng argued that it would be unfair to write everything off as an “accident” as much of this must be attributed to hard work.
“Twinning programmes may have been Malaysia’s post-crisis draw but these programmes were already offered in the 1980s and much of this stemmed from the efforts of the private sector,” he opined.
“Thanks to the hard work, twinning programmes are essentially a Malaysian success story.”
On the same note, Sunway University executive director Elizabeth Lee said that the move to award 3+0 programmes to private providers was not revolutionary in nature.
The move, she explained, was “the next step” as Malaysian institutions were already offering 1+2 and 2+1 programmes.
Preferring to describe unplanned incidents as “opportunities”, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology founder Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing ventured that the firm acknowledgement of the private sector served as a “magic wand” over external enablers.
“Under the Sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-1995), RM8.5bil was allocated for education and training development.
“Within the plan, the private sector was looked upon to provide industry-specific training centres to build human capital,” he mused.
Although the trio agreed that 3+0 programmes helped private providers, it must be noted that their institutions enjoyed mixed fortunes when the programmes were first introduced.
“Despite being one of the larger providers at the time, UCSI, then known as Sedaya, missed out on the business and engineering programmes and we were given a microelectronics course instead,” said Ng.
Sunway, on the other hand, did not get any 3+0 programmes initially and Lee conceded that it was an oversight as the group was then too focused on setting up the Monash University Malaysia Campus.
Both Sunway and UCSI later received popular 3+0 when more programmes were awarded in subsequent rounds.
However, Lee stressed that the crisis also presented unique challenges for private providers and this could not be forgotten.
Sunway, for instance, resorted to contingency plans and the institution allowed local and international students to delay or stagger their payments during the crisis.
The 9/11 factor
Despite mixed reactions to the unexpected role of the Asian financial meltdown, the interviewees were unanimous on the impact played by the aftermath of the September 11, 2011 (9/11) terror attacks.
Both Ng and Lim pointed out that western nations, particularly the United States, tightened student visa regulations and the general sentiment in those nations prompted Middle Eastern students to look elsewhere; benefiting Malaysia.
Simmering instability in the Middle East, added Lim, was another factor which prompted them to consider coming to Malaysia, a modern Islamic country.
Describing the conditions as a “tipping point”, Lee said that the ministry sensed the opportunity and encouraged the private sector to act fast.
Giving the ministry’s take, Prof Siti Hamisah said that Malaysia’s unique positioning as a multi-racial Islamic country gave the country added appeal.
The nation’s high level of English proficiency, she added, was another upside as many of the Middle Easterners wanted to pick up the language.
“Middle Eastern students have no problems here since Malaysia is an Islamic country the weather isn’t a problem and halal food – including their local cuisine – can be found easily.”
The pull factors have been working well so far and the increasing Middle Eastern student cohort has contributed immensely to Malaysia’s rise as an education hub.
According to the Institute of International Education, Malaysia is now the 10th most-preferred study destination in the world — an improvement from its 11th-placed position last year — with more than 90,000 international students.
However, Lim personally believes that more could be done.
“As the aftermath of 9/11 created a situation which positively affected the flow of students, we could have done better,” he muses.
“We still have an edge today and it would be good if the ministry and all the major private providers made a concerted effort instead of working independently to attract students.”
Going back to the post-‘97 developments, Prof Hassan said that the ministry was committed to upgrade the nation’s private higher education landscape as a significant disparity once existed between public varsities and private providers.
“As private providers spearhead the drive to attract foreign students, their quality had to be guaranteed as Malaysia could not afford to be labelled as a degree mill,” he reasoned.
Prof Siti Hamisah: Malaysia’s unique positioning made it a hit with Arab students in the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks.“The need for a quality assurance framework was great and we had to address this.”
In this light, it is no surprise that the ministry decided to synchronise Malaysia’s accreditation bodies which were previously two separate entitities.
The Quality Assurance Division concentrated on public varsities while the National Accreditation Board — better known by its Malay acronym LAN — focused on private providers.
Work began in earnest to merge the two in 2003 and the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) came into being four years later.
“It was important as the ministry did not want talk of differing standards,” explained Prof Hassan.
“By merging the two, everyone would get accreditation from the same body.”
To provide greater direction, the National Higher Education Strategic Plan was also launched and bodies like the National Higher Education Fund Corporation eased funding woes for locals who opted for private institutions.
Improvements continued over time and today, private providers even get a share of the pie when it comes to the disbursement of fundamental research grants.
“Our efforts have paid off and the gap has narrowed tremendously,” he added.
“This was reflected in the Rating System for the Malaysian Higher Education (Setara) 2009 which focused on teaching and learning.
“In fact, many private providers made it to Tier Five , which denotes “Excellent” status , overshadowing public varsities in Tier Four.”
It must be emphasised that the ministry’s political will went hand-in-hand with the ironclad support of most private providers.
This synergy turned harrowing situations into opportunities and for Ng, the pivotal moment came when UCSI became a university college which was an upgrade that required the institution to phase out twinning programmes.
“Our staff members were upset as it was the twinning programmes that helped us make our name in the industry,” he recalled.
“However, we decided to throw away our crutches immediately by developing homegrown programmes.”
Ng adds that the move saved UCSI a lot of money in franchising fees – about a third of tuition fees collected went to the overseas varsity.
More importantly, it built a connection between the varsity and its students.
“By offering our own programmes, we are no longer a ‘surrogate mother’ for foreign universities and our students can be proud of what they have achieved at home.”
Taking things further, Lee praises Najib for paving the way for foreign branch campuses to set up shop in Malaysia, allowing Sunway to take their long-standing partnership with Monash University one step further.
“Monash was the first foreign branch campus in Malaysia and this is a milestone in the private education scene as it displayed the confidence overseas institutions had in Malaysia,” she enthused.
“The presence of such campuses also serves as a strong draw to foreign students, boosting the nation’s aspirations.”
Prof Hassan said: “I never dreamt of the day where a private provider could actually be like this.
“We have come a long way and while various incidents may have helped us, they are not really accidents.”
The multitude behind the 200 million hits — from 222 countries and territories — received by Limkokwing’s website are inclined to think so and Lim best summed it.
“Malaysia has come a long way. We opened the first Malaysian and Asian campus in Africa 10 years after the ‘97 financial crisis,” he said.
“We were also the first Malaysian Asian and Commonwealth institution to open a campus in Europe and we are exporting made-in-Malaysia degrees and curriculum. That on its own, says a lot.”
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