PETALING JAYA: Long waits for the accreditation of new programmes will be a thing of the past for institutions of higher education when the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) is in place.
“The ministry is looking at shortening the accreditation process to two months to facilitate the recognition of qualifications,” said Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed.
“It’s part of the Clients Charter, and to achieve this we are reviewing all the processes to reduce bureaucracy in line with the Government’s aims of improving the delivery system of its agencies,” he said after his official visit to the National Accreditation Board (LAN) office yesterday.
The MQA will be a merger of LAN and the Quality Assurance Division of the ministry, and a Bill to legislate the merger will be tabled in Parliament by August.
Malaysian Association of Private Colleges and Universities (Mapcu) president Tengku Shamsul Bahrin welcomed the minister's statement on the MQA's direction, saying it would benefit private institutions.
“Mapcu members will be happy when it is implemented as it will definitely facilitate the accreditation process,” Tengku Shamsul said.
At the moment, private institutions have to wait around four months to a year to have new programmes accredited.
Mustapa said the ministry was also looking at students’ learning outcomes, a rating system for higher education institutions, and international benchmarking for Malaysian qualifications.
