Proposals for reforming higher education

Pergerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia (GERAK), or Malaysian Academics Movement, issues this memorandum, containing proposals for higher education reform.

We previously regularly discussed these points in public, as well as with political and administrative officials over the years. Indeed, some reforms we propose here are more urgent.

We and many others – both in government as well as in academia and civil society – are confident that the proposals outlined are realistic and achievable.

Gerak feels that to implement the following proposals, all that is needed is political will, enabled by an efficient bureaucracy.

We hope that the Higher Education Ministry will seriously consider our proposals as they are in line with the ideals of the current Madani government.

The proposals

First, based on the many ongoing concerns and criticisms of the quality of education in Malaysia, Gerak suggests that a special budgetary allocation be made for a thorough, transparent, and independent study of the state of the higher education sector.

This is the initial step towards education reform.

In this regard, a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) would be ideal, because it would involve a critical look at the entire spectrum of education, from preschool up to the tertiary level.

However, if an RCI is not possible, any thorough and independent study would suffice as an alternative.

Second, university administration must be restructured. For too long, Malaysia’s universities have been under the yoke of the Higher Education Ministry.

The top management officials of all our public universities have rarely spoken independently, let alone analytically.

This relationship needs to be reset, from the current overt hierarchy and political subordination to one of mutual respect and critical engagement.

Third, amend and repeal laws that stifle academic freedom. Such laws negatively impact academic excellence because they inhibit analytical and independent thinking which are crucial for producing new knowledge, and objective scholarship.

To this end, the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) must be repealed. It is an authoritarian legislation that contradicts principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We strongly urge the government to replace it with legislation that efficiently regulates the autonomous functioning of universities and protects the freedom of university students and academic staff.

Educational excellence is guaranteed when there are fundamental protections of freedom of thought and expression.

Fourth, review and re-orientate the obsession with global university rankings. It is time for the Madani government to create more awareness about the unethical nature of the rankings game.

Find qualitative alternatives to rank our universities, and at the same time reduce our excessive reliance on quantitative metrics that evaluate academic quality. The key is to find a balance.

Fifth, seriously address academic dishonesty in universities, among both students and academic staff.

For example, the practice of forced co-authorship of research articles causes low morale among some academic staff and many graduate students.

In the social sciences and humanities, for example, the practice is for supervisors of PhD students to put their names on articles for publication that were solely written by their students.

This is extremely unethical but a widespread practice in Malaysian universities. It is tantamount to student exploitation.

Sixth, transform the corporate culture that has invaded the corridors of academe.

Remove the clocking-in system. Universities are not factories, nor should they be run like a civil service bureaucracy, or a huge corporation or company.

The rationale behind a clocking-in system is that it allows the employer to monitor the attendance of employees. The system provides an indisputable record of when the employee started and ended the workday.

This practice is practically unheard of in the hundreds of leading universities in the world. It is also demeaning and implies that academic staff cannot be trusted.

In an organisation such as a university, close relations or camaraderie are supposed to be formed among “employer” and “employee”, and between lecturers and students.

The requirement of clocking in obstructs the process of creating trust and goodwill, particularly between the academic staff and the university administration.

Removing the clocking-in system is the first step in giving lecturers the status that is due to them as potential world-class scholars. The practice should cease immediately.

Education autonomy and freedom

Gerak stands ready to assist the Higher Education Ministry and other parties in achieving these fundamental institutional reforms.

We believe that with the adoption of these measures, Malaysian universities and academia can finally reclaim their autonomy and freedom.

Both are crucial in producing the academic excellence the country needs to become an inclusive, civilised, pluralistic, and productive nation. - Mkini

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The MALAYSIAN ACADEMICS MOVEMENT is an association of Malaysian academics committed to educational reforms.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.