KUALA LUMPUR: The country's education system would fare better had Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim merged the higher education and education portfolios, an education expert said.
Dr Anuar Ahmad, an educationist from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Centre of Community Education and Wellbeing, said the government could have established a higher education commission under the Education Ministry to manage colleges and universities rather than setting up two separate ministries.
"University administrations already have the autonomy to determine their own goals and direction. So, a higher education commission would have been sufficient to oversee our colleges and universities.
"Re-integrating the higher education portfolio into the Education Ministry's fold will allow for more comprehensive and holistic policies that could ensure coherence in our education system.
"It would have greatly reduced our public expenditure too," he told the New Straits Times.
Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced Nibong Tebal member of parliament Fadhlina Sidek as the new education minister and appointed Kota Tinggi MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin as the higher education minister.
Khaled formerly served in this role during Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration between 2008 and 2013.
Meanwhile, Parent Action Group for Education (Page) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim stressed that the higher education and education ministries should not work in silos.
"If students do not develop a strong foundation in schools, our universities will bear the brunt.
"Page would like to see the new ministers work towards making Malaysia's education system among the top ten education systems in the world within the next 10 years.
"We also hope to see a continued emphasis on English language proficiency under the new minister.
"Schools running the Dual Language Programme (DLP) should be given more support and resources and similarly, the government should invest more in vocational education and training (TVET)," she said.