SUMMARY & TAKEAWAYS Conferences may not provide the answers but - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SUMMARY & TAKEAWAYS “Conferences may not provide the answers but it must help you ask the right questions”

Conference Statistics Participants Malaysians 275 ASEAN countries 23 Islamic countries 25 Total: 323

• Economies are changing. Demand for talent is unrelenting. HE has never been more important , more criticized and faced with more competition than before. (Idris Jusoh & Jawaher). • Flexible education is a strategy and an imperative to expand, extend and transform HE education to meet demand for lifelong access, enhancement and mobility . • Flexible education or learning is all about the learners and their learning (Adam, Andy)

NQF are instruments which organise and describe • qualifications were examined for its role in flexible education. Despite the challenges, NQFs accommodate and perhaps, even welcome flexible education and promote mobility . (Tariq, Zita, Wafa & Dzafir) • Flexible learning via APEL and MOOCs, which was given national prominence in Malaysia with the launch of the national guidelines for CT, together with other flexible learning technologies provide the platform for widening access and enhancing learning through exciting new pedagogies to the millennials (Idris Jusoh, Adam, Andy, Gordon)

Flexible learning through new technologies must always • keep the learners in mind and the learning ecosystem within which they operate. Possibilities must always be tampered with realism (Jawaher, Gordon, Andy). • Credit transfer to enable and empower cross border mobility is an element of the larger issue of flexible education (Hazman). There is a need for greater appreciation of such learning gains in the context of talent mobility and intercultural understanding (Taiji). CTS systems and NQFs provide for smoother student mobility and credit transfers (Nantana & Taiji).

• Everything done in the name of flexibility must inspire confidence amongst the stakeholders. And critics and detractors, there are many. QA bodies through the NQF, standards, guidelines, networking and vigilance must help maintain an atmosphere of trust and confidence among all stakeholders . With proper QA, flexible education will • enhance , not erode learning. It will allay many concerns. We have to be flexible in our thinking about the education and uncompromising on the need for quality and quality assurance.

• On behalf of MQA and IQA and all involved, I hope you had a fruitful exchange of ideas and made new connections. We planned for the best and if we had fallen short of your expectations, we seek your indulgence. We wish all participants and speakers a safe trip • back to your loved ones. Salam Mesra.