Our higher education system need ‘overhaul’ – Syed Saddiq

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5: Former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said that Malaysia’s institutions of higher education system needs “overhaul”.

He said that currently, undergraduates are required to study mandatory topics such as Malaysian studies, ethnic relations, data management, and analytics that have nothing to do with their courses.

“Please don’t misunderstand me. While they are excellent subjects, they do not need to be mandated. They should be electives,” he said in a Facebook post.

This is a feeling shared by undergraduates at local institutions, according to Syed Saddiq.

He went on to add that requiring students to take these topics would take them six to seven years to complete while in Singapore, UK and Australia takes only three to four years.

He requested that, students at universities should be able to choose the topics they want to pursue that are relevant to their studies.