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Department of Higher Education
Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia

The department is made up of several sectors or divisions that manage the vital processes in higher education that gears Malaysian higher institutions towards excellence through the coordination of policies, funding and activities. These divisions play their respective roles in improving the quality of education services and ensuring that programmes offered by the public and private higher educational institutions in Malaysia are of high quality and international standards. These divisions are:

Objectives

To drive the higher educational institutions in producing graduates who are competitive and able to generate new knowledge through world class quality research of world class.

Organisation Structure of The Department of Higher Education (JPT)

Functions

The key functions of the Department are:

• To draft, implement, monitor and evaluate policies, programmes and activities of higher educational institutions with an aim towards higher education excellence.
• To develop an efficient and innovative management system for the higher educational institutions.
• To plan and ensure that the establishment of higher educational institutions and their facilities are conducive and of high quality which are at par with international best practices.
• To plan and coordinate the establishment of centres of excellence in higher educational institutions.
• To develop academicians of higher educational institutions who possess high scholastic qualifications to excel in their respective specialised fields of specialisation.
• To research, draft, update and enforce the Acts that are related to higher education.
• To plan and coordinate policies that inculate a research culture by strengthening research activities, development and commercialisation through better collaboration among higher educational institutions, industries and the government.
• To develop, monitor and supervise academic programmes of higher educational institutions to fulfil the needs of the employment market and to gain international recognition.
• To draft, coordinate and execute the policies for local and international student admissions into higher educational institutions.
• To draft and coordinate policies as well as to plan the personal development and welfare of Malaysian students studying in local and foreign higher educational institutions, so as to produce holistic graduates in line with the national aspiration.
• To plan, encourage and coordinate activities the for the internationalisation of Malaysian higher educational through various strategic approaches.
• To plan, implement and coordinate marketing activities of higher education locally and internationally, towards positioning Malaysia as a Centre of Educational Excellence.

Other strategies include incentives offered to institutions promoting education overseas; recognition of Malaysian degrees by foreign countries and the establishment of the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF) under the management of the Malaysian qualifications Agency (MQA). The ultimate aim of all these strategies is to make Malaysia a ‘favoured’ destination for international and local students to pursue tertiary education. In turn, it will make education an important export commodity that will generate foreign exchange for the country.

Conclusion

The different divisions under the Department of Higher Education will concentrate on their respective areas in improving the quality of education services and ensuring that programmes offered by the public and private higher educational institutions in Malaysia are of high quality and international standards. In their endeavour to achieve these goals, they have established promotional offices in Dubai, Jakarta, Ho-Chi Minh City and Beijing. A Technical Committee has also been formed to make Malaysia a Centre of Excellence. This committee is chaired by the Minister of Higher Education. A Technical Committee on ‘Edu-Tourism’ was also formed.

Other marketing strategies include incentives offered to institutions promoting education overseas; recognition of Malaysian degrees by foreign countries and the establishment of the new national quality agency for both private and public higher educational institutions, i.e. Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). The ultimate aim of all these strategies is to make Malaysia a ‘favoured’ destination for international and local students to pursue their tertiary education besides making education an important export commodity that will generate foreign exchange for the country.

We once again would like to thank yourself, your department and the Honourable Dr. Hoosain Ebrahim for having taken the time and impart some of his knowledge with our students and academia.

Thanking you
Dr. Zulkurnain bin Haji Awang
Secretary General of the Department of Higher Education