Maszlee: Asean students need better credit transfer system

Dr Maszlee reminded universities to always support the students as long as it did not contravene the law or university regulations.

PETALING JAYA: A better credit transfer system is needed to make it easier for students and educators to move between educational institutions in the Asean region.

Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik (pic) said this can be achieved through a shared regional framework.

“Through regional cooperation, we identified gaps in the harmonisation of higher education such as mobility and credit transfers,” he said when opening the 50th Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (Seameo) Council Conference yesterday.

“As the region moves towards greater economic integration, we will witness increasing mobility of people, students, academics, researchers, interns, trainees, etc.

“Great strides have been made, but we must do more to implement better processes, systems, frameworks, laws and policies across South-East Asia,” he added.

Maszlee, who is also the council’s newest president, said all organisation members should use their collective experiences to develop a new strategic plan for when the Seameo Strategic Plan 2015-2020 ends.

Maszlee takes over the president’s post from Indonesia’s Education and Culture Minister Prof Dr Muhadjir Effendy, and will hold the position until 2021.

He is the eighth Malaysian Education Minister to hold the post.

Prof Muhadjir said the reason for the big gap in international education rankings between member countries is the geographical landscape and history of the countries.