Higher education in Asian countries and the role of international ...

Malaysia
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In Malaysia all education sector has gone through many reforms, changes and new development
to implement unified national education system based on single national curriculum and the use
of national language as medium of instruction in order to improve the accessibility with equity.
As a result of effective reform Malaysia achieved universal primary education in 1990s.
Furthermore to improve the quality of education the curriculum reforms in 1980s, 1990s and
2000s have focused content-method-outcome approach and more importance was given to
science and ICT education.
In this regard, IGOs played a significant role in the development of education sector in this
country through capacity building measures in: vocational education, training, human resources
planning and development, management, research, and higher education. Likewise the financial
assistance from the World Bank helped in accelerating the implementation process of policy
reforms and institutional changes to improve the quality of education (IAU 2011). In 1990s,
many reforms were introduced to upgrade the vocational and technical schools, to develop
technical schools, to ensure the use of educational technologies in pedagogy, to launch new
programs in science and technology and to encourage private sector to play its role in the
provision of quality higher education. In response to increased market demand education policy
was reformed in 2003 and bilingual education was permitted and the use of English language in
teaching of science and mathematics started. To further support the higher education sub-sector
in 2004 a separate ministry of higher education was created. In Malaysian nation‟s Vision 2020
program has further increased the importance of higher education.
Myanmar (Burma)
The rising demand for “development based education” is one of the driving forces behind the
reforms in the education system at all levels and all fields in Myanmar. During the twentieth
century, basic education, vocational and technical education remained the priority areas of the
government to achieve socio-economic development in the country. For the last two decades, the
education in Myanmar has gone through a series of reforms, restructuring and reorganization to
align education with changed societal needs. In 1991 Myanmar Naing Ngan Education
Committee was formed to work on educational policies and plans in order to improve
quantitative and qualitative aspects of education. In 1992, reforms were introduced to further
promote vocational education and skilled-based literacy. The 1998 education reforms focused the