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| Malaysia has done well in gross enrolment ratio and university enrolments have shot up but there’s still a lot more investments needed |
WEAK crude oil prices have given Malaysia the opportunity to do away with the fuel subsidies late last year. But it is also now giving the country’s policymakers the opportunity to implement the changes that can make the economy more competitive and in the process raise incomes and living standards.
At the core of making the country’s economy more competitive lies human capital development. This is important given that Malaysia’s exports competitiveness lies in the manufacturing sector and not in the extraction of natural resources.
Gross manufacturing exports (including those derived from chemical, petroleum and rubber products) comprised nearly 77% of last year’s exports, of which 48.5% came from the electrical and electronic (E&E) subsectors.
Therefore, the country needs to move up the manufacturing value chain faster if its economy is to remain competitive. To do so, a skilled workforce is needed to adopt technology and knowledge for innovation that can then be translated to higher productivity.
To read rest of the story of this section, please click this link - Investing more in the people
Future skilled workforce in Malaysia
At the heart of the transformation of the Malaysian economy is the quality of the workforce. It has stood up fairly well over the decades when the economy transformed to one increasingly based on low-end manufacturing, especially in the exports-reliant E&E subsectors from one largely reliant on tin and rubber exports.
However, the pace of transformation is vital because the low-cost model of making lower valued goods is not feasible as Malaysia aspires to a high-income nation by 2020. But employers perennially complain that there is a shortage of skilled workers, the mainstay of innovation and productivity.
Pentamaster Corp Bhd executive chairman Chuah Choon Bin tells StarBizWeek that quality engineers are needed for the E&E subsectors to be competitive. The Bayan Lepas, Penang-based company exports automated semiconductor equipment to China, the United States and Europe.
While Pentamaster today exports the goods to countries from which firms in the industry used to import from, Chuah cautions that local players and multinational firms cannot always rely on the low-cost based model to stay competitive. “Cheap doesn’t mean we can compete indefinitely, we need to instil the quality mindset and the Malaysian education system is lacking in this respect,” he says, pointing to Germany and Japan as good examples of how the education system has supported the creation of a skilled workforce.
An education system that can reliably supply a skilled workforce is important but as the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (in 2012) administered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows, even at the basic level, Malaysia is not faring well.
The assessment saw Malaysian 15-year olds ranking in the bottom third for mathematics, science and reading as well as for problem-solving skills. The OECD’s education and skills director Andreas Scheleicher had noted then that today’s “15-year-olds with poor problem-solving skills will become tomorrow’s adults struggling to find or keep a good job”.
He goes on to say that “policymakers and educators should re-shape their school systems and curricula to help students develop their problem-solving skills which are increasingly needed in today’s economies.”
Although access to education is not an issue, quality is. “Malaysia has done well in gross enrolment ratio and university enrolments have shot up, overtaking many countries including India but there’s still a lot more investments needed,” Basu observes.
The reluctance to participate in the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings and be scrutinised by the global academic community has not done much good, as the latest THE rankings again showed local universities’ lack of participation.
Indeed, several key issues were brought up in the World Bank’s December 2013 Malaysia Economic Monitor, among them being that the quality of education has not kept pace with its regional peers and the questionable quality of teachers.
The report says the disproportionate share of post-secondary graduates among the unemployed further suggests that the education system is not producing the skills sought by the labour market.
“Malaysia’s performance in standardised international student assessments is below what would be expected of a country with its income per capita or level of educational expenditures, and well below the performance of the high-income economies that Malaysia aspires to compete against for innovation and knowledge-based investments. Moreover, performance appears to have deteriorated over the past decade. The level of English proficiency is widely perceived to have declined over time, a hypothesis that is supported by data on English teacher proficiency,” the report’s author Frederico Gil Sander noted.
Read rest of the story of this section here. Source - The Star
So education quality is an issue in Malaysia. There are plates full of private higher learning institutions established in Malaysia to take care of our tertiary needs. But the quality of some private colleges are the main concern. Also, the fees imposed are exorbitant high and not affordable to many.
In addition, the general perception is there is no constant monitoring the quality, standard and performance of these private universities by the relevant authorities. Ask yourself, do you want to pay such a high tuition fee that do not commensurate with the standard of quality. Worse still, I seen many of these so called private university and colleges do not offer wholesome and fulfilling campus life while you are spending another memorable chapter of life in university.
With the high tuition fees, I also believe many parents use their life savings to support and finance their children education and many also resort to education loan to pursue their dream. If some of these private colleges close down due to financial constraint, what would happened if you are half way thru?
Well, weigh your study option well before it is too late.
Study engineering courses like E&E, Manufacturing and Automation and other bachelor degree courses like MBBS, Business, Marketing, Logistics, IT, computer Science, etc in China can be very reasonable and affordable. The tuition fee is heavily subsidized by China government as these universities are fully funded and administrated by Ministry Education of China.
Why study Engineering in China? The benefit to study abroad in China can be summarized as follows:
1. Many colleges set to fail without funding
2. More Jobless Among Private Varsity Graduates
3. Course Fees of Engineering Degree In Malaysia Compared with China Universities
4. Course Fees of Medical Degree In Malaysia Compared with China Universities
Future skilled workforce in Malaysia
At the heart of the transformation of the Malaysian economy is the quality of the workforce. It has stood up fairly well over the decades when the economy transformed to one increasingly based on low-end manufacturing, especially in the exports-reliant E&E subsectors from one largely reliant on tin and rubber exports.
However, the pace of transformation is vital because the low-cost model of making lower valued goods is not feasible as Malaysia aspires to a high-income nation by 2020. But employers perennially complain that there is a shortage of skilled workers, the mainstay of innovation and productivity.
Pentamaster Corp Bhd executive chairman Chuah Choon Bin tells StarBizWeek that quality engineers are needed for the E&E subsectors to be competitive. The Bayan Lepas, Penang-based company exports automated semiconductor equipment to China, the United States and Europe.
While Pentamaster today exports the goods to countries from which firms in the industry used to import from, Chuah cautions that local players and multinational firms cannot always rely on the low-cost based model to stay competitive. “Cheap doesn’t mean we can compete indefinitely, we need to instil the quality mindset and the Malaysian education system is lacking in this respect,” he says, pointing to Germany and Japan as good examples of how the education system has supported the creation of a skilled workforce.
An education system that can reliably supply a skilled workforce is important but as the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (in 2012) administered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows, even at the basic level, Malaysia is not faring well.
The assessment saw Malaysian 15-year olds ranking in the bottom third for mathematics, science and reading as well as for problem-solving skills. The OECD’s education and skills director Andreas Scheleicher had noted then that today’s “15-year-olds with poor problem-solving skills will become tomorrow’s adults struggling to find or keep a good job”.
He goes on to say that “policymakers and educators should re-shape their school systems and curricula to help students develop their problem-solving skills which are increasingly needed in today’s economies.”
Although access to education is not an issue, quality is. “Malaysia has done well in gross enrolment ratio and university enrolments have shot up, overtaking many countries including India but there’s still a lot more investments needed,” Basu observes.
The reluctance to participate in the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings and be scrutinised by the global academic community has not done much good, as the latest THE rankings again showed local universities’ lack of participation.
Indeed, several key issues were brought up in the World Bank’s December 2013 Malaysia Economic Monitor, among them being that the quality of education has not kept pace with its regional peers and the questionable quality of teachers.
The report says the disproportionate share of post-secondary graduates among the unemployed further suggests that the education system is not producing the skills sought by the labour market.
“Malaysia’s performance in standardised international student assessments is below what would be expected of a country with its income per capita or level of educational expenditures, and well below the performance of the high-income economies that Malaysia aspires to compete against for innovation and knowledge-based investments. Moreover, performance appears to have deteriorated over the past decade. The level of English proficiency is widely perceived to have declined over time, a hypothesis that is supported by data on English teacher proficiency,” the report’s author Frederico Gil Sander noted.
Read rest of the story of this section here. Source - The Star
So education quality is an issue in Malaysia. There are plates full of private higher learning institutions established in Malaysia to take care of our tertiary needs. But the quality of some private colleges are the main concern. Also, the fees imposed are exorbitant high and not affordable to many.
In addition, the general perception is there is no constant monitoring the quality, standard and performance of these private universities by the relevant authorities. Ask yourself, do you want to pay such a high tuition fee that do not commensurate with the standard of quality. Worse still, I seen many of these so called private university and colleges do not offer wholesome and fulfilling campus life while you are spending another memorable chapter of life in university.
With the high tuition fees, I also believe many parents use their life savings to support and finance their children education and many also resort to education loan to pursue their dream. If some of these private colleges close down due to financial constraint, what would happened if you are half way thru?
Well, weigh your study option well before it is too late.
Study engineering courses like E&E, Manufacturing and Automation and other bachelor degree courses like MBBS, Business, Marketing, Logistics, IT, computer Science, etc in China can be very reasonable and affordable. The tuition fee is heavily subsidized by China government as these universities are fully funded and administrated by Ministry Education of China.
Why study Engineering in China? The benefit to study abroad in China can be summarized as follows:
- Most affordable Engineering degree in the world
- China is today the largest producer of engineering graduates in the world
- The great educational infrastructure in Asia is available in China
- A lot of big fortune 500 companies are garrisoning in China constantly
- Complete program taught in English
- Highly subsidized tuition, and hostel expenses
- 3 star category hostels for international students
- Easy visa
- Teaching based on 'problem based learning' and also traditional method
- High quality training by visiting faculties from Europe and USA
- An opportunity to study Aeronautical Architecture, chemical mechanical, electrical automobile and Business Program
- Fulfilling and colorful campus life
1. Many colleges set to fail without funding
2. More Jobless Among Private Varsity Graduates
3. Course Fees of Engineering Degree In Malaysia Compared with China Universities
4. Course Fees of Medical Degree In Malaysia Compared with China Universities
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