Higher Education in Malaysia 89
A possible explanation is the expansion of private HEIs which offers a
greater selection of academic programmes to students.
The contribution of private HEIs to increasing number of graduates
in the country is apparent in Table 4.1. While public universities continue
to produce the largest number of graduands, the private sector has
grown apace in closing the gap. If this pattern continues, one may expect
that private HEIs will continue to play an important role in absorbing
undergraduate and college students that cannot be served by public HEIs.
“Then, public HEIs would maintain their optimal size of total enrolment,
reduce the intake of undergraduates and allow room to enhance their
graduate enrolment”(UIS 2014, p. 36).
Postgraduate Education
Apart from producing much-needed qualified academic staff for the
burgeoning HE sector, the government also aims to accelerate the
production of PhD graduates and develop the country’s own indigenous
research capability to serve the emerging knowledge economy, thereby
reducing dependence on industrial research undertaken by foreign
companies (MOE 2006). There are currently about 21,000 PhD holders in
Malaysia. The goal is to produce 100,000 PhD holders by 2020. Of these,
60 per cent would be in science, technology and medicine; 20 per cent in
humanities and applied social sciences, and 20 per cent in professional
courses (MyBrain 15, MOHE 2006). To support that priority, the Malaysian
government directed special funds to assist the five research institutions
to expand their graduate-level research and teaching facilities.
Increase in output of graduates at the Bachelors and Diploma levels
stabilized around 1 and 2 per cent between 2009 and 2012 (Table 4.2).
Bachelors courses produce the largest number of graduates with numbers
ranging between 65,756 and 66,421. Greatest increase in output was for
PhD (194.4 per cent) and Masters (68.8 per cent) graduates. The number
of PhD graduates jumped from 701 in 2009 to 2,054 in 2012 and Masters
from 8,446 in 2009 to 14,261 in 2012.
While HEIs may meet numerical targets, the implications for the quality
of programmes and the employment prospects of graduates are grave. The
Strategic Plan does not elaborate on the basis for the numbers stipulated
(The Sun, 17 July 2014, p. 6). It is also silent on graduates’ employment
prospects. Concerns include the possible need for expensive retraining,