LETTERS: Roughly 12 months into the pandemic, the higher education sector is now in a position to deliberate on lessons learned.
The Malaysian Society for Research and Higher Education Policy Development (PenDaPaT) in collaboration with Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) organised a webinar on March 24, 2021, as part of its Discourse Series intending to provide leaders the opportunity to start a conversation around critical higher education leadership issues.
Representing iGraduate, UK, Guy Perring presented findings from a student satisfaction survey of 9,013 respondents detailing their experience during Covid-19. The survey showed that students were satisfied with their institutions' response to Covid-19.
Matters such as online learning resources, the organisation of lectures, tutorials, tests/examinations, wellbeing support, and physical health advice received satisfaction rates of above 80 percent, while travel restriction and financial support showed lower satisfaction levels. Only 23 per cent preferred online learning because they miss the social aspects of university/campus life.
The global scenario is not dissimilar. Malaysia's overall satisfaction is at 75 per cent which is eight percent above the global average of 68 per cent. Students' satisfaction level in Thailand is 85 per cent, Singapore (78 per cent), New Zealand (72 per cent) and Australia, 69 per cent.
The take aways from the findings are: while students are understanding of the current exigencies, they are concerned about the poor quality of online learning and see the need for investment in infrastructure, online pedagogy, and quality of online delivery.
Institutional leaders must look across the market for quality online provisions and value that higher education to students is not just in the curricula or learning but rather the social and networking opportunities, especially for international students who select the country of study with the world of work in mind.
Prof Roslan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, USM provided some insights to staff organisation and support during the pandemic. One of the initial projects was the "HELP us to HELP them: USM Covid-19 FUND". With a seed money of RM250,000, the project launched an appeal to raise another additional RM100,000 to support students and staff affected by the pandemic and to subsidize the cost of purchasing protective gear for front liners.
In just three months, the fund reached close to RM5.35 million. The fund was utilized in providing food coupons for students, supporting medical expenses and buying medical supplies, and subsidizing students who returned home during the pandemic.
Apart from financial assistance, staff support came in numerous safety and wellbeing guidelines, staff attendance monitoring, and health monitoring systems. Online platforms to support teaching were upgraded and among these are Online Examination Platform, Talent Development Programme, and SharePoint Platforms. Significant however are the morale-boosting activities such as online recreational activities that were organized during the lockdown.
PenDaPaT provided insights into leading international partnerships and international projects during the pandemic at Centre of Academic Partnerships and Engagement (CAPE), University Nottingham Malaysia. The presentation highlighted the strategies that underpinned partnership management and the action plan to sustain partner relations and program delivery.
These were based on the principles of - to honor existing delivery commitments; safeguard income generation; maintain goodwill with existing and potential partners and adopt and accelerate seamless integration with existing platforms.
The output at the end of nine months were far above what would have been completed in regular times. This success is due to the three enablers adopted, 'Strategy, Staff, and Synergy.'
Strategy were well aligned to the action plan and staff wellbeing was closely monitored during the pandemic with motivation, social and professional interactions, and care for families underscored the daily routine of CAPE. Partnership synergy were advanced through effective communication and co-construction of solutions.
Gurpardeep Singh from Asia Pacific University touched on the financial sustainability of private institutions. During the pandemic, there has been a 57 and 37 per cent drop in new enrollments of international and Malaysian students respectively which resulted in a total revenue loss of 6.7 billion in 2020. This loss in revenue weighs heavily against the increased business cost due to IT investments and staff training to support online delivery and operations.
Institutional sustainability, good governance, and transformed delivery are the three fundamentals that sustained the sector during the pandemic. But the impact of the pandemic went beyond what was expected especially in terms of financial sustainability and the sector may never go back to the pre-pandemic days.
Leaders are looking at Recovery from the pandemic with Reflection and Reform. The sector sees hybrid learning as a way forward and that core sustainability issues still exist and are even more serious now than ever.
The current pandemic and its long-lasting impact call for reform in higher education policies. Decisions, including that affecting the recruitment of international students and staff should only be made after serious consideration of the impact on students and institutions.
This is imperative given that post-pandemic, global competition for international students will grow exponentially given the opening of hybrid or online learning opportunities from top-ranked education destinations such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Policymakers should also consider direct and indirect financial support, for example, tax exemptions for investment in technology or educational resources which will be a good start to further push Malaysia's international agenda to the next stage.
Finally, policymakers need also to re-examine current regulatory regime and policies with an understanding of the context in which they are to be implemented to allow for flexibility and innovation. The concern is largely due to policy fatigue that happened due to the numerous guidelines coming out of the ministry during this short period.
These, though helpful, could be provided in such a manner as to allow institutional autonomy to flourish and at the same time reducing constant planning and re-planning.
Associate Professor Dr Rozilini Fernandez-Chung
Member The Malaysian Society for Research and Higher Education Policy Development (PenDaPaT) and senior lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Malaysia.
Professor Datuk Dr Morshidi Sirat
Advisor to PenDaPaT and Honourary Professor, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and a former Director General of Higher Education.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times