National Education Council Expected To Hold First Conference In Fourth Quarter

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- The National Education Council (MPN) which will be established this year, is expected to hold its first conference in the fourth quarter of this year to continue the education reform agenda.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the establishment of MPN, which is outlined under the new direction of the Malaysian Higher Education Policy 2025-2030, will serve as the highest committee at the national level and will be chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“MPN aims to coordinate the country’s education policy comprehensively across various levels, namely early childhood education, higher education and lifelong education, in other words, it involves two main ministries, namely the Ministry of Education (KPM) and the Ministry of Higher Education (KPT).

“In this regard, we expect the relevant ministries to prepare a memorandum for the Cabinet and we will present it and finally convene for the first time in the fourth quarter of this year,” he said during the winding-up session of the debate on the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) motion for KPT at Dewan Rakyat today.

He said MPN would also be comprised of various ministries, including the Ministry of Human Resources, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, in addition to also involving representatives from non-governmental organisations, communities and experts from within and outside the country, given that issues related to education involve the entire ecosystem.

“I also discussed for consideration the Special Select Committee on Nation-Building, Education and Human Resources Development chaired by (MP) Indera Mahkota in the MPN because this council needs to cross-party for the sake of the interests and future well-being of our country,” he said.

In another development, Zambry assured that excellent students with disabilities (OKU) who were allegedly denied the right to apply for admission to public universities (UA) will still be offered places at public higher education institutions (IPTA).

He said that although the university stated that there were no OKU-friendly facilities as a reason for rejection, the students involved obtained excellent 4A results and are eligible to continue their studies.

“We need to change university policies which must be more inclusive of OKU. Therefore, the application involving this 4A disabled student, God willing, he will get his place later,” he said.

Earlier, a disabled student known as Aniq was reported to have a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.83 at the matriculation level and met the general and specific requirements of the programme applied for.

Aniq was originally able to choose a university programme in the second phase through Unit Pusat Universiti (UPU) system, but the option ‘disappeared’ in the next stage.

Meanwhile, Zambry stressed that the student intake policy at UA must give priority to local students before places are offered to international students.

“For example, the number of UPUs required for a university is so many, then the quota is filled first and if there is a surplus in terms of the capacity of the university concerned, then it will be opened (to the intake of international students) according to the policy that we have been implementing since 1996,” he said.

He said in Last year, 497,000 Malaysian students were pursuing higher education at UA, including 365,000 students at the first degree level, compared to 13,000 international students who were pursuing undergraduate courses.

Zambry said the Ministry of Education would also not do anything that would sacrifice the opportunities for local students to pursue higher education at UA.

-- BERNAMA