Internationalizing Higher Education in Malaysia: Understanding, Practices and Challenges

3. Public Universities: Development and Internationalization

41 3 PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES Development and Internationalization Azizah Kassim INTRODUCTION Since Independence, Malaysia has established twenty public institutions of higher learning that are entrusted with the major task of nation building. Initially they had a monopoly in student enrolment and the conferment of degrees but this monopoly was challenged in the latter half of 1996, when the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 was enacted allowing private higher education institutions to confer degrees. This chapter seeks to explain the development of public universities in Malaysia and their role and contributions towards the internationalization of higher education. It will focus on the following themes: the development of public universities; efforts to internationalize by these institutions and their rationales; as well as plans of action, strategies and measures that were adopted to realize the objectives of internationalization. It will only highlight the case of two of the twenty public institutions, namely Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Both universities, which were established under different historical and socio-political environments, are among the five universities in the country collectively categorized as research universities since 2006. UM, the oldest public institution of higher learning in the 42 Azizah Kassim country, is an offshoot of two British colonial tertiary institutions. UKM was established as a national university in the post-independence era and the first university in Malaysia to use the national language, Bahasa Melayu, as the medium of instruction. Both UM and UKM are aggressively pursuing internationalization as leading research institutions of higher learning. These institutions are chosen as case studies for practical reasons. Access to data in the two institutions is relatively easy as the writer was previously employed in UM and she is currently employed in UKM. Data for the paper are based on both secondary and primary sources. The former includes documents such as the Annual Reports of the two institutions, reports from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and previous related studies. The latter relies on data collected through focus group discussions with faculty members, and interviews with the relevant officials engaged in the governance and administration of these institutions. EMERGENCE AND EXPANSION OF PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION Compared to industrialized nations, the development and expansion of higher education in Malaysia is a relatively new phenomenon that began only after Independence. Under the British colonial administration, local tertiary education was limited to colleges such as the Raffles College in Singapore, the Serdang College of Agriculture and the Technical College in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysians were dependent on foreign colleges and universities in Britain and the Commonwealth countries for higher education. With Independence in 1957, Malaysia (or the Federation of Malaya as it was known then) embarked on national development, and this created a need for educated and skilled manpower. Access to formal education was democratized and this led to a demand for local institutions of higher learning — a university. Such an institution was also deemed essential for political reasons. A university was, and still is, seen more than just a place to acquire and pursue knowledge. It is also a venue where the cream from the diverse ethnic groups in the country can meet, interact and forge national unity, the prerequisite for nation building. A university is also a symbol of independence and nationhood (Mohd Ali 2006). Universiti Malaya was the first university to be established in Malaysia. It was established in 1962 in Kuala Lumpur, which was the Federal capital at that time. It traces its origin to two colonial colleges based in Singapore, namely King Edward VII College of Medicine and Raffles College, which were established in 1902 and 1929, respectively. The two institutions were Public Universities 43 merged in October 1949 to form the University of Malaya which was located in Singapore. In 1955, this university established a branch in Kuala Lumpur and this institution was later developed into the present University of Malaya (Khoo 2005). In the subsequent three decades, institutions of higher education was the monopoly of the public sector, and this period saw the emergence of many public universities such as Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM, 1969), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM, 1970), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM, 1971), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM, 1972), Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA, 1983), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM, 1984), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS, 1993) and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS, 1994). Some of these institutions are new entities, while others, like the UM, are based on existing educational institutions which...