Education Essentials FAQ in Malaysia

What is LAN/MQA? http://www.lan.gov.my
MQA(Malaysians Qualification Agency/Agensi Kelayakan Malaysia) or formerly known as LAN(National Accreditation Board/Lembaga Akreditasi Negara) is a body which functioned as listed below:-

MQA
a) to execute MQF as Malaysia qualification reference point
b) to develop criteria and standard for national reference for qualification recognition with the cooperation with relevant bodies/party
c) to ensure quality of the Higher Education Institution and its courses
d) to approve accreditation to the courses which have fulfilled the criteria and standard given
e) to ease the recognition and qualification standardization
f) to handle the Malaysian Qualifications Register(MQR)

LAN
a) To formulate policies on the standard and quality control of the courses of study and certificates, diplomas and degrees.
b) To set, monitor, review and oversee the standard and quality courses of study and for accreditation of certificates, diplomas and degrees.
c) To determine the level of achievement for the national language and the compulsory subjects specified in the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 (Act 555) as prerequisites for the award of certificates, diplomas and degrees
d) To advise and make recommendations to the Minister of Higher Education for his approval of courses of study to be conducted by the Private Higher Educational Institutions with regards to the suitability of arrangements relating to the educational facilities relevant to the courses of study and the standard and quality assurance of the courses of study.

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I’ve checked in LAN/Higher Institution website for the courses which I’ve interested in. What are approved, provisional accreditation and full accreditation means?

approved - means the course have been approved to have fulfilled the minimum requirement to conduct a course and basically have a license to serve that course to the public. JPA does not recognize degrees from this category.

provisional accreditation - means the assessed group of students have fulfilled the professional requirement as required by LAN and the governing body of that profession, but it is still not enough to represent the entire course. this is awarded prior to full accreditation. JPA will recognize this degree IF u're from that particular batch/group of graduates.

full accreditation - means the course have been certified to fulfill the ENTIRE professional requirement as required by LAN and the governing body of that profession. JPA will recognize this degree.

I'm interested to know how LAN works. Mind to share?

Quote :

In order for a college to get accreditation, they have to start the course first with the first batch of students. Part of the accreditation process is that the students' works are reviewed and scrutinized by experts from the related field. For example, new artificial intelligence courses in college ABC will be assessed by Malaysian experts in artificial intelligence, probably some people from other established universities or industry. If the course is relatively new in Malaysia, LAN will appoint external experts to assess.

Usually, in establishing a new course, the college will need qualified lecturers and most importantly, the structure of the course. Facilities could come second. This structures are easily adapted using established overseas courses.

In order to obtain certification (not accreditation) from LAN, they will have to prove that their course complies to the minimum international standards. Once it has been confirmed, they can start the course.

Usually, the first 3-4 batches are will not get an accredited degree, but their degree is certified to comply with minimum standards, which means, still fit to practice, although not necessarily 100% accepted by everyone.

For example, only 4 out of 16 schools of architecture in Malaysia are accredited to award full architectural degrees. so what about the other 12 (including LUCT, Taylor's, UPM, UIA, UKM, etc)? the graduates are qualified enough to work, but they will need to seek individual accreditation themselves from the respective bodies.

Help! My course are not accredited. Any damages for me in working industry?

Getting to a course with accreditation might benefits you later if you plan to works with government agencies. If you're not bother to work with government agencies, there is not much problem. But take note that some company prefer to hire LAN accredited student because they have set a benchmark for that programmes

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How they actually evaluate the accreditation and recognition, for example, if the LAN and JPA accredited and recognized after the 4th batch of students, what happen to previous batch student's degree? accredited and recognized as the 4th batch students, or considered not recognized?

Once the course is approved and accredited, current and future students will get the recognition throughout Malaysia. However, it does not apply to the previous batch student. During the accreditation assessment, they want to see ALL works done by the current AND previous students. And they weren't kidding about ALL works. Students that were granted accreditation during our times were those who had ALL their works. those who have less than 70% of their works (especially the final year dissertation/project) were not given accreditation.

So if you've graduated by an unaccredited course, keep all your works. I mean EVERYTHING!

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How long they assess it for one time, before proceeding to list it succeed or failure? And is there any time limitation for the accreditation purpose?

The accreditation process usually takes between 2 to 4 years for a first time accreditation. That's AFTER the 1st graduates. It's not about bureaucracy, but more on waiting for the next batch to graduate and be assessed, and the batch after that and so on until they're satisfied.

Once a full accreditation process is awarded, it will be valid for 5 years (commonly). Reaccreditation process is shorter. Usually takes between 6 months to a year.

Scholarships and Loans FAQ

What is PTPTN? http://www.ptptn.gov.my

National Higher Educational Fund or Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional Malaysia (PTPTN) is established to provide student facing financial constraint with study loan for those who opted to study locally either in IPTA or in IPTS. Availability of study loan entitlement differs with few criteria taking into consideration such as financial background of the applicant’s family, courses and whether it is IPTA or IPTS. Some of the criteria for the application:-

1. Must be Malaysian Citizen
2. Full time student in his/her course whether in IPTA/IPTS
3. Fulfill credits requirement in SPM
4. No other sponsors

Please visit the PTPTN site first if you have any queries, as most of the answer can be found there.

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Is there any other option for me other than PTPTN?

You can find banks which offer study loans or applying to scholarship such as Yayasan Telekom Malaysia, JPA or many more.

How do I apply for PTPTN?

Currently, it is reverted back to the manual OMR form. The online application have been taken down until further notice. You will need to purchase setem hasil as well in order to complete it.

What is the minimum and maximum study loan for IPTA and IPTS?

Foundation:-
IPTS:-RM5000-RM8000 (*RM8000 need confirmation)

Diploma:-
IPTA:- RM1000-RM5000 per annum
IPTS:- RM3500-RM5000 per annum

Degree:-
IPTA:- RM1100-RM7000 per annum. 3 type of loan: Full loan RM 6500, partial loan RM3000 and lastly varies from RM1100 to RM1800 depending on course.
IPTS:- RM16,000 per annum exception for some some course such as medicine/pharmacy/optometry/nursing/allied health RM20,000 per annum. RM30000 is available for some medicine course such as Doctor of Medicine in UCSI. There are 3 types of available loan:- full loan RM16,000 , partial loan RM13000 and lastly RM10,000 all depending on few factors.

*All science stream student eligible RM500 per annum not inclusive of administration cost

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What are the things that I need to prepared for PTPTN application?

Get the manual OMR form ready, and certified by the approved personnel. (refer below)
Get ready a copy of your photostated bank account page (the one which you can see your name, and account number)
Setem Hasil
And make sure that the manual OMR form that are in your hand neat, not torn,not dirty or not too much error or it will be rejected by PTPTN.

Who can certified the form?

English:-

1.All witnesses much be a citizen of Malaysia and residing in Malaysia.
2.All Government Grade 3, Group A and above under the Ministry, Federal and State Department, District Office, IPTA, School and others.
3.Commissioner of Oath and Justice of the Peace
4.Parliamentarian or State Assemblyman and Senator
5.Penggawa,Penghulu,Head of Community,Sidang, Mukim Development Officer, JKKK Chairman
6.For Sabah and Sarawak - Ketua Kaum, Ketua Anak Negeri, Kapitan, Pemanca, Sabah Park Officer
7.IPTS officer which have been given written permission from PTPTN
8.Police officers of the rank of ASP and above, Military officers of the rank of captain or equivalent and above

Bahasa Malaysia:-

1.Semua saksi hendaklah warganegara Malaysia yang bermastautin di Malaysia
2.Semua pegawai kerajaan Gred 3, Kumpulan A dan ke atas di Kementerian, Jabatan Persekutuan dan Negeri, Pejabat Daerah, IPTA, Sekolah dan lain lain.
3.Pesuruhjaya Sumpah dan Jaksa Pendamain
4.Wakil Rakyat dan Senator
5.Penggawa, Penghulu, Ketua Masyarakat, Sidang, Pegawai Pembangunan Mukim,Pengerusi JKKK
6.Untuk Sabah dan Sarawak - Ketua Kaum, Ketua Anak Negeri, Kapitan, Pemanca, pegawai Taman Sabah
7.Pegawai-pegawai IPTS yang mendapat kebenaran bertulis daripada PTPTN
8.Pegawai Polis yang berpangkat ASP dan ke atas atau Pegawai Tentera yang berpangkat Kapten atau setaraf dengannya dan ke atas.