Ensuring an inclusive new horizon for higher education – Muhamad Nadhir Abdul Nasir

RECENTLY, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin put forward eleven focus areas based on the goal of restoring trust in the country’s higher education system.

The Higher Education Ministry must rebuild confidence among the general public, especially among marginalised groups such as the disabled community, in the local higher education system.

We, the disabled community, must be assured that the ministry shall create a higher education system that is inclusive and responsive to the issues, needs and voices of disabled persons.

Disabled persons are also part of the higher learning environment as students and staff in both public and private higher learning institutions.

Though having an efficient and excellent higher education sector is admirable, aspects such as accessibility, equity and inclusivity are also crucial to create a humanised, sustainable and quality higher education environment.

Thus, the ministry through its eleven focus areas must inclusively and meaningfully engage the people, including disabled students and disabled staff.

I eagerly welcome the idea of establishing a National Review Committee.

However, I urge that this committee will also review the current status of disabled persons’ overall inclusion in the local higher education system. In this regard, the committee can organise a series of workshops with the disabled community and consult disabled experts as well as other stakeholders.

Furthermore, the ministry must take the following actions to ensure the three elements that I mentioned previously are meaningfully realised:

1. Develop and adopt an Inclusive Higher Education Policy. The ministry can either develop one single comprehensive higher education policy that also consists of specific chapters and subchapters concerning the affairs, needs and welfare of disabled students and disabled staff, or develop a specific policy concerning the affairs, needs and welfare of disabled students and disabled staff in the higher education system;

2. Develop, implement, coordinate and monitor a strategic framework or action plan to actualise the goals and provisions contained in the Inclusive Higher Education Policy that comes with sufficient funding;

3. Establish a division on the affairs and inclusion of disabled persons in higher education. This division can be established under the office of the secretary-general of the Higher Education Ministry, or as part of the new performance management and coordination body as proposed by Khaled himself recently;

4. Codify all existing laws relating to higher education into one single comprehensive legislation that has a specific chapter concerning the affairs, needs and welfare of disabled students and disabled staff in the higher education system;

5. Study and develop higher education regulations on certain strategic issues that meaningfully affect the inclusion of disabled persons in the higher education system, such as inclusive teaching and learning, inclusive recruitment and reasonable accommodation in the workplace, and so forth;

6. Make a serious investment in creating accessible physical and digital infrastructure in the higher education environment by adopting the universal design philosophy, Web Content Accessibility Guideline and other accessibility standards; and,

7. Replace the current Financial Aid for Orang Kurang Upaya with a full scholarship programme for all disabled students at all levels of studies. The amount and scope of coverage must be according to the needs of disabled students at different levels, taking into account the need for flexibility and other exigent circumstances.

Many other issues facing disabled persons require the utmost attention from the minister and his administration. Those include the inclusion of disabled persons in technical and vocational education and training and the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Plus, more data and research need to be carried out to support the above-mentioned systemic measures.

Therefore, the ministry must engage with disabled experts, activists, students and their representative organisations to efficiently and systematically achieve all goals above. – The Vibes, February 8, 2023

Muhamad Nadhir Abdul Nasir is a disability advocacy consultant and independent researcher