Malaysia is one of the most valued members of the Asia-Pacific Accreditation and Certification Network and has already subjected 18 of its TVET institutions to APACC activities since 2015. Cognizant of the revisions done to the APACC manual, the Department of Polytechnic and Community College Education (DPCCE) and the Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) felt the need to undertake capacity building for Malaysian polytechnics that will renew APACC certification and other institutions that will apply for accreditation to provide exposure to its constituents, as well as provide guidance on the use of the new manual.

This is the main motivation behind the organization of the In-Country Program in Malaysia for this year which focused on charting the quality future of PCC TVET institutions. The program was held from March 14-17, 2022 and was participated by 40 teachers, staff members, and APACC focal persons across polytechnics and community colleges in Malaysia. It was conducted online through Zoom.

Supervising the program is Prof. G.L.D.. Wickramasinghe, CPSC Director General and Ms. Zainab Ahmad, the Director General of DPCCE. In-charge of the resource materials and program coordination is Dr. Romulita Alto, CPSC Project-Based Faculty Consultant and APACC Accreditor. She was with the resource person, Dr. Chithral Ambawatte, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka and an APACC-certified accreditor as well. Local logistical arrangements were facilitated by Ms. Nurhafizah Yahaya, the Senior Assistant Director at the Competency and Career Enhancement Division of DPCCE.

The key officials and speakers during the program (clockwise from top left): Prof. G.L.D.. Wickramasinghe, CPSC Director General; Ms. Zainab Ahmad, Director General of DPCCE-Malaysia; Dr. Chithral Ambawatte, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka Dr. Romulita Alto, CPSC Project-Based Faculty Consultant and APACC Accreditor.

The opening program was attended by Prof. Wickramasinghe and Ms. Ahmad as the chief guest. In Ms. Ahmad’s opening remarks delivered both in English and Bahasa Melayu, she underscored the importance of APACC in ensuring that Malaysia achieves its economic targets through excellence in education.

The four-day program focused on the overview and rationale of updates on the APACC instrument and process, as well as a brief orientation of the new APACC criteria. They also tackled the roles and responsibilities of the team before, during, and after institutional accreditation. In addition, other important topics delivered include the skill to write the evaluation report, preparations for reaccreditation, and the development of an institutional system development plan.

Group picture of the participants

Participants’ Feedback

Pn. Noor Afidah binti Omar (Lecturer, Politeknik Ungku Omar)
“We are grateful for the opportunity to attend the course, especially to the resource persons for providing us a thorough knowledge of the new APACC manual. Both speakers provided detailed explanations but were easy to understand. All the activities provided me with an insight into what APACC accreditation entails. It provides excellent direction and exposure for all of us, particularly me as a first-time participant in the accreditation process. We will work together with our enthusiastic committee members to explore our strengths, overcome our flaws, seize our chances and confront opportunities to achieve the platinum award.”
Pn. Nurul Huda Yahya (Lecturer, Politeknik Abdul Sultan Halim)
“I would like to thank you for your excellent inputs throughout the 4-day course. I was quite impressed with the energy and devotion of all the presenters. You could tell that they are truly passionate and knowledgeable about what they do in APACC and that itself is captivating. The specific inputs have been insightful and have helped my team in POLIMAS to be ready for the future APACC re-accreditation in 2024.”
Ts Hj Hamdan bin Samdin (Deputy Director (Academic), Politeknik Ibrahim Sultan)
“Overall, such a course is very important and it has further increased our appreciation for APACC. We are pleased with the improvements that have been made to the APACC instrument, it is clear and easier to understand. The content and the video was clear and easy to understand. In addition, we enjoyed every input in the workshop and the presentations. The speakers gave a very clear and understandable discussion about the criterion. It will enable us to directly understand how to improve our institutional performance in the face of this audit.”
Marwanul Hakim bin Mohd Noh (Lecturer, Politeknik Port Dickson)
"My appreciation to CPSC, especially to the speakers, for this much-needed refresher training; We, the auditees, feel the need for this guidance to help us to the best possible level for the upcoming audit. This training did not act not only as a refresher course but also an opportunity to have new opportunities to prepare for the new APACC cycle."