‘Verify programmes to ensure degrees are recognised’

PETALING JAYA: Verify the accreditation or quality assurance status of programmes offered by universities, local or foreign, the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) advised students, parents and employers.

MQA chief executive officer Datuk Dr Rahmah Mohamed told The Star that the quality of higher education is a priority for the government.

“For that purpose, (the government) has set up an accreditation system through MQA and other professional and regulatory bodies.

“Every country has an accreditation and quality assurance system, which the public can access.

“Malaysians should refer to this to be assured of (their degrees’) acceptance and recognition once they graduate,” she said.

Dr Rahmah explained different countries have different regulations and arrangements for accreditation or quality assurance.

“It is advisable to engage relevant authorities of the country to get the right information,” she added.

A list of accredited local programmes is provided on the agency’s Malaysian Qualifications Registry and List of Provisionally Accredited Programs website, she said.

Other professional and regulatory bodies, too, Dr Rahmah said, have provided their recognised qualifications on MQA’s website http://www.mqa.gov.my/pv4/index.cfm for easy public reference.

Last year, the Education Ministry launched the University Degree Issuance and Verification System, or known as e-Scroll, to tackle the increasing number of fake degrees.

The ministry said the blockchain technology is secure and has the potential to increase the efficiency in authenticating genuine certificates.

The system was developed by a team led by International Islamic University Malaysia.

Higher Education Department director-general Datin Paduka Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir said a consortium of six universities has agreed in principle to adopt the e-Scroll system in their coming convocation.

“We are enlarging the membership of the consortium to include the rest of the public universities; private universities have shown interest to adopt the system, we will gradually (include) them.

“We have presented the blockchain system to the Malaysian Examination Syndicate and Malaysian Examination Council committees who are in the process of getting approvals from their highest management.

“There are other public universities that use their own blockchain system, and that is ok, as we don’t (want to) limit (universities to using) just (one) specific blockchain,” she added.