ACCREDITATION IN PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA - LEMBAGA AKREDITASI NEGARA (LAN) (NATIONAL ACCREDITATION BOARD)

Passed by

Ms. Zita Mohd Fahmi
Secretary and General Manager

INTRODUCTION

(This paper is a brief overview of the education and training system and accreditation in Malaysia with focus on the National Accreditation Board (LAN).

The education industry in Malaysia underwent a major and rapid change in the mid-90 with initiatives in the democratization and liberalization of the education Impact of the economic recession in the late 90’s accelerated the change and relook at options available in pursuing higher education.  Development plans for year 2000-2010 amongst others, targeted  40% of the youth between the age of 17 to 23 years of age to obtain tertiary education by 2020. The National Budget allocation for educational expenditure increased yearly for education and training. A more dynamic and flexible education and skills training structure which will promote life long learning which requires participation, allocations, infrastructure and commitment of many sectors.

The emphasis in the upcoming 9th Malaysia Development Plans is to accelerate human capital development meet the challenges of globalization. The lack of technical and skill workers as led to heavy reliance on foreign workers in the various industry and economic activities. Issues of internationalization, WTO, education as a source of economic growth, quality and accreditation of education and training, qualifications framework and mutual recognition are current and common issues in many developing countries. 

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Briefly there are a number of ministries involved in providing education and training  and the main ministries are :

• Ministry of Education –general/special national education, matriculation and teachers education
  
  
• Ministry of Higher Education (since April 2004)- governs universities/ universities colleges, polytechnics and Community colleges and private higher education. Technical education are provided by the polytechnics (diplomas and certificate courses) and community colleges (certificate courses).
  
  
• Ministry of Human Resource Development – Vocational/skill training 
  
  
• Ministry of Youth and Sports-industrial training institutes
  
  
• Ministry of Entrepreneurship-Technical / skills training institution and centers
  
  

HIGHER EDUCATION

For the purpose of this paper, the “higher education” refers to post secondary education leading to awards of certificates, diplomas and degrees. A number of education-related legislations were passed in 1996 which covered the public and private education systems which rapid growth the public and private education. To ensure healthy and competitive development in private higher education the government introduced the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 (PHEI Act 1996) and under the Lembaga Akreditasi Negara Act 1996) the establishment of Lembaga Akreditasi Negara (National Accreditation Board) (LAN). In addition,  the National Higher Education Council Act 1996 and National Higher Education Funding Board Act 1997. The public higher education institutions were governed by the Universities and Universities College Act 1971.  

Private Providers (PHEIs)

There are about 517 PHEIs institutions operating in Malaysia (foreign universities campus, private universities, college universities and the institutes/colleges). Universities and college universities conduct foundation, diplomas and degree courses. others   (non - degree conferring PHEIs) may conduct certificate, diploma and foreign degrees programmes. 

The PHEIs provide wide choices of local and foreign courses, generally using English language as the medium of instruction, customer focused, market-driven, flexible and affordable. The levels of courses range from skill training programmes, certificates, diplomas, higher national diplomas (HND), advanced diplomas, bachelors, postgraduate diplomas, masters and doctorates in various disciplines. In addition, courses from local and foreign examination bodies (so call professional courses) there are franchised programmes, twining or vocational offered as external, distance education programme and delivered in conventional mode or on a mix-mode approach. Total number of applications for approval is   6000+ since 1998.

Vocational Education/Skill Training

There are a large number of private and public training agencies/institutions registered with or are under the Ministry of Human Resource Development and other ministries. The Human Resource Development Act provides limited financial assistance to many training centres. Many conduct skill training programmes (National Occupational Skill Standards) which are competence based leading to awards of under the National Skill Certification Qualification Framework (Malaysian Skill Certification level 1-5). which was introduced in 1993 The National Council for Vocational Training regulates the institutions by accrediting the training institutions/centres. Other Ministries also provide various forms of specialized training and awardis  certificates and Diplomas.

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ACCREDITATION

Public Universities/ Universities College /Polytechnics
The public universities’ and universities college are subjected to institutional quality audit by the Quality Assurance Division under the Ministry since 2002. The universities colleges were intended to be the technical universities focusing on engineering and technology discipline. The polytechnics and community colleges which provides technical education has recently set up its own quality assurance unit within the Ministry. The qualifications of the public institutions are accredited/recognised by the Public Service Department for purpose of employment in the Public Service. 

Private Higher Educational  Institutions (Profit and Non-profit)

PHEIs are subjected to quality assessment in the following ways:  

• to obtain approval  to conduct programmes from the Ministry 
  
  
• subjected to compliance audit for minimum standards. 
  
  
• accreditation of qualifications and monitoring

PHEIs generally applies accreditation for the qualification/programs conducted for various reasons such as recognition, funding, mark of quality, marketing, leverage for improvement, enable easier of their student admission to other institutions and transfer credit or it may be made mandatory by the Ministry or purpose of giving recognition by Department of Public Service, professional bodies and funding agencies. It builds on public confidence of the programmes conducted by such institutions

National Accreditation Board (LAN)

The board was established in May 15th 1997 under the Lembaga Akreditasi Negara Act 1996 by the current Deputy Prime Minister. The establishment of LAN reflects the government’s aspiration to ensure educational excellence and that the PHEIs builds their reputation based on high standards to ensure quality and competitiveness regionally and internationally.

Mission Statement

LAN endeavors to ensure that the courses of study offered by the PHEIs are of high quality and of international standards, able to contribute to the growth of human resource development  and to develop the potential of individuals to the maximum.

Functions

LAN is responsible for ensuring quality of the educational programmes in the PHEIs. The board’s function are:

• to formulates policies and sets standards and criteria for quality assurance for certificate, diploma and degree level programmes,
  
  
• to conduct quality assessments for purpose of recommendation for approval, 
  
  
• to conducts assessments for minimum standards,
  
  
• to accredit qualifications (optional) and
  
  
• to  conduct monitoring compulsory  subjects
  
  

The Organisation

The Board is composed of a chairman/chief executive officer, 9 members and a Secretary/General Manager. The members are largely professors from public and private universities and the others are representatives from the Public Service Department, industry and the professional bodies.

Currently LAN has 150 staff members and is organized with 4 accreditation divisions, General Accreditation division, Policy/Standards and Rating, Corporate and International Division and the general administration division. Each division is headed by a Senior Manager. Desk officers manages institutions  as whole.  LAN receives annual grants from the government.

CURRENT STATUS OF ACCREDITATION

Accreditation is defined as formal acknowledgement that a qualification conferred by PHEIs has met standards set by LAN. The approach is standard compliance and evidence based. 

Standards
The Board formulated policies on standards and criteria for quality assurance and accreditation for courses of study at certificate, diploma and degree levels. They are guided by the policies of the National Higher Educational Council, good practices of institution of higher learning and quality assurance agencies and professional bodies. Industry feedback is highly regarded.

The standards are generic to cover bachelor programme and below. There separate standards and criteria for Post-graduate and Distance Education. It is also supplemented by discipline programme standards at various level. The general standards are set on the following aspects:

• Vision/Mission
  
  
• Objectives and learning outcomes-clear and measurable
  
  
• Academic staff
  
  
• Teaching and evaluation
  
  
• Curriculum/Assessment
  
  
• Learning and teaching resources
  
  
• Management system /industry linkages/feedback mechanism
  
  
• Student and support system
  
  
• Rationale for offering the course Nb. Evaluation on research is more focused in universities and universities colleges)

Some specific and measurable criteria or indicators are prescribed to assist peer assessment. The evaluation is both quantitative and qualitative with a combine approach looking at inputs, systems and currently greater emphasis is on output.

Accreditation Instruments

There are guidelines on standards and criteria for accreditation of courses-general, postgraduate course and distance/e learning, accreditation procedures, guide on self assessment, guide to preparation of documents, formats and an assessment workbook. A new format for evaluating and reporting is currently being tested with greater emphasis on Outcome based education. To assist understanding and usage of formats and guidelines, regular workshops and weekly clinics are provided. 

Accreditation Process

LAN client’s charter states that the exercise will complete within 7 month from date of submission of complete set of material. Before visit, PHEIs are required to submit documents (format provided) of the courses of study, self evaluation reports (recent implementation except for medical and pharmacy courses). Panel of assessors are required to review material provided prior to visit (for general overview, sufficiency of documents and issues to focus). Additional material may be requested. Dates and visit programme  are agreed. 

During visit, a site inspection of the delivery of programme by a panel of peer (2-5) assessors for  2-5 days depending on the level and discipline of the course of study. It will seek to verify and assess the quality of programme and whether learning outcomes have been met effectively. Exit meeting are held at the end of site visit with the institution.  After  visit the  draft reports requires feedback from the institution for factual corrections and transparency. The management reviews report before presenting to the Board for final decision. Member are provided with all papers a week before meeting to enable focus be given on issues during the deliberation.
 
Grades and Decision

The accreditation is confered  generally if the scores and qualitative reports(and suitable)  is  70% and above (for all 5 areas). On an application for accreditation status, the Board may make the following decision

• confers full accreditation to the course of study with validity period up to 5 years or 
  
  
• accredits it at a lower level (no such decision yet), 
  
  
• conditional accreditation (to be satisfied within 6 months) or
  
  
• a rejection with reasons. Institutions are allowed to reapply after six months of the decision.  
  
  
• Board’s decision is final.
  
  

A Note on Multiple accreditation (special accreditation)

Generally occurs for professional courses and a joint accreditation exercise will be implemented. It allows for joint or mutual decisions by the respective accreditation bodies. Failure to be accredited is serious as it will not enable graduates to be registered to be a professional member and therefore cannot practice in principle.

It must be noted that for Professional Courses such as medical, engineering, architecture, quantity survey, dentistry and pharmacy conducted in public as well as private institution, the evaluation is carried out by and together with the professional bodies. A number of Technical Committees consisting of representatives from accreditation authorities act a one-stop processing secretariat.

Assessors

There are currently 900 assessors appointed in LAN after undergoing auditors training. Selection for accreditation assignments are based on qualifications and relevant work experience. They are selected from the public and private institutions, industry and professional bodies. Reference may be made to foreign experts where essential.   This year all active assessors will subjected to retraining in batches.

CURRENT ISSUES

The common issues in accreditation generally maintaining effectiveness /timeliness of service delivery. The 7 months process (LAN’s client charter) allows the accreditation exercise to be done effectively and meet the assessors and PHEIs needs. However there are pressures to reduce the time taken.  For purpose of assuring quality in the process, LAN prescribed to the MS ISO 9004-version 2000. A number of institutions with apparent weaknesses will not meet the requirement (lack of quality of staff, management system, financial/facilities and lack preparation to meet accreditation exercise) and has impact on the students. Balancing between institutional autonomy and quality control is necessary to allow room for growth and creativity. The developmental approach has been continued to assist institutions to improve.  In some cases policies, standards and instruments need to be reexamined to address effectiveness on regular basis to adjust to changes ang needs (eg. internationalisation, mis-match graduates and unemployment.) The presence of transnational providers creates challenging issues on regulation, quality and recognition of qualifications in higher education.

Professionalism in staff and expert  assessors requires allocation for  retraining to keep up with new instruments and policies introduced, development of new knowledge and technology and to continuously ensure effective, fair and consistent evaluation. Quality enhancement programmes  assist institutions to build capacity and enhance internal quality management system.

In the field of quality assurance of higher education, code of good practice and initiatives to accredit the accreditor has begun with the involvement of INQAAHE on a voluntary basis.  In some instances, to be  a member of such association one will be required to  fulfill the eligibility criteria.

FUTURE PLANS

The creation of a single Agency for Quality Assurance /Accreditation is expected in the near future with added function and wider jurisdiction is expected in the near future. It will require amendment to LAN’s Act or a new Act of Parliament.

In addition, the proposed Malaysia Qualifications Framework (MQF) will be implemented in the near future. The framework encompasses all levels and types qualifications (vocational/technical and academic).  It provides clear pathways to higher qualifications, allows horizontal and vertical mobility and facilitates credit transfer. It will assists in issues of recognition of qualifications and of recognition of prior learning. Clear characteristics, credits and descriptors are made transparent for easy consumption of all interested parties. Institutional and programme accreditations will continue where appropriate. Work to ensure coordination in implementation of the MQF will be extremely challenging as the MQF is intended to bring in all qualifications within the framework.

Increase usage of ICT is apparent and the need to development of software to facilitate assessment, submissions on line, e-accreditation, e-Lembaga and databases.

Networking, strategic alliance and internationalisation initiatives need to continue by accreditation agencies as regional standards, harmonizing quality assurance and qualifications are being discussed in many regional and international forums in recent years. It will help benchmark processes and instruments and good practices of quality assurance and accreditation bodies.