Published: Saturday June 16, 2012 MYT 8:33:00 PM

Wawasan Open University wants duration of degree programme cut

KUALA LUMPUR: Wawasan Open University (WOU) has appealed to the Higher Education Ministry to reduce from five to four years the period for a degree-level programme, its chancellor, Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik, said Saturday.

He said the requirement was not only too long but would turn away prospective students.

"The ministry demands that they must study for five years before they can get a degree. Those who join open university will have to spend five years before they can get a degree.

"This will scare the people, and I'm appealing to the ministry to try to reduce this to four years," he told reporters after conferring honorary degrees on three people at a special convocation at the WOU, here.

Lim said the matter was brought up whenever they had a meeting with the ministry but no answer was given. Meanwhile, he said, Malaysian working adults should not be complacent but had to work harder and keep on improving themselves in order to help Malaysia become a high-income nation by 2020.

He said the culture among working adults or even graduates to further their studies was at a very low level compared to other countries, especially developed countries.

"Those without a degree should go and get a degree, those with a degree, should get a further degree to improve themselves. That is the only way to become a high-income nation. You don't expect to have a high income when you are not qualified," he said.

Lim said there were more than 10 million workers in the country but less than 20 percent of them have degrees, whereas a big percentage of them were Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) holders.

"Either they could not afford it or they were late developers, which means earlier, they were too playful. (But) They have the opportunity now to use the open universities to try and get a degree," he said. - Bernama

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