STUDENTS should explore education with the latest technology and distance learning methods, says Higher Education Department director-general Prof Datuk Dr Asma Ismail (pic).
“We hope to make learning more accessible as more people want to study nowadays.
“Through distance learning, which will be the future delivery mode to deliver information, there is no need for physical presence. The students can learn from their home country,” she said recently.
She was speaking during the opening of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)’s three-day Regional Focal Points (Asia) meeting at Sains@USM in Bukit Jambul, Penang.
Dr Asma said the meeting aimed to determine the key priorities and needs for education and training in Asia.
COL president and chief executive officer Prof Dr Asha Kanwar said that about 60% of the commonwealth population were aged below 25.
“These young people will need skills on an ongoing basis.
“With the introduction of online learning, we are not only providing a lifelong learning opportunity for them but also an opportunity to produce skilled human resources,” she said.
Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Distance Education dean Assoc Prof Dr Mustafa Fadzil Farid Wajidi said the country had witnessed the rapid expansion of private higher education sector in the past few years.
“There is a need to recapture the needs of the society in terms of training and increasing skills at the workplace.
“Through this innovative educational approach, working adults are able to undertake undergraduate courses while remaining in full-time employment,” he said.
Dr Mustafa also said that more than 16,000 students had graduated from USM’s School of Distance Education thus far and the current enrolment had reached 7,000 students.
Leaders from various education ministries in the region such as Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the meeting.
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