KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said high-calibre individuals will be appointed as members of the Putrajaya Higher Education Task Force Steering Committee.
He said the committee would be the decision-maker in the planning of the strategic direction for the implementation of all intiatives under Malaysian Education Blueprint (Higher Education) 2015-2025.
“The steering committee will be supported by a Technical Committee to monitor the implementation of the Blueprint as a process facilitator to solve problems,” he said.
Muhyiddin was speaking at the launching of the Putrajaya Higher Education Task Force Steering Committee at Universiti Malaya here yesterday.
Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said the establishment of task force proved the commitment of the ministry to ensure the success of the blueprint.
Muhyiddin said all initiatives of the Blueprint would be implemented in three phases, namely phase one from this year, phase two from 2016 to 2020 and phase three from 2021 to 2025.
“In first phase, there are five high priority initiatives and 14 other initiatives. The five high priority initiatives are University Transformation Programme, New Funding Formula, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Vocational Education and Technical Training Transformation as well as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Faculty Programme.
“For the CEO programme, a total of 23 CEOs have agreed to participate in the programme and appointment letters were handed over to nine CEOs at the launch of the Putrajaya Higher Education Task Force Steering Committee today,” he said.
He said the implementation of the initiative involving CEOs was in the process and it was hoped the appointed CEOs would take up their duties at higher education institutions in the September semester.
For the University Transformation Programme initiative several playbooks would be provided, he said, adding that the playbooks were documents to record good practices based on benchmarks and own experiences to assist in critical improvement.
“As each university has its own level of preparedness and strength, the playbooks will provide practical measures to assist the university implement the Blueprint initiatives in their institutions.
Among the playbooks provided include those to boost the governance of universities and the effectiveness of their boards, to raise productivity and improve cost efficiency, strengthen career paths and leadership and the generation of income through endowment, management performance and financial reports, he said.
“As Education Minister, I will give high commitment to realise the implementation. I myself will chair the steering committee to ensure problems are resolved,” he said.
In this regard, Muhyiddin said the first three months were critical to ensure all initiatives proceeded smoothly as planned while the last three months of this year were important to ensure the implementation momentum continued into 2016.
Muhyiddin said all initiatives of the Blueprint would be implemented in three phases, namely phase one from this year, phase two from 2016 to 2020 and phase three from 2021 to 2025.
“In first phase, there are five high priority initiatives and 14 other initiatives. The five high priority initiatives are University Transformation Programme, New Funding Formula, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Vocational Education and Technical Training Transformation as well as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Faculty Programme.
“For the CEO programme, a total of 23 CEOs have agreed to participate in the programme and appointment letters were handed over to nine CEOs at the launch of the Putrajaya Higher Education Task Force Steering Committee today,” he said.
He said the implementation of the initiative involving CEOs was in the process and it was hoped the appointed CEOs would take up their duties at higher education institutions in the September semester. — Bernama