A Short Summary on Tertiary Education Opportunities for in-service Teachers in Malaysia By : Ahmad Rawi The writer can be contacted

at : scholars.assist@gmail.com To improve the quality of teaching, in-service-teachers in Malaysia has always been given the opportunity to develop themselves professionally through participation in training sessions and courses provided by the district or state education department. Various programs are organized every year by the various government education departments and agencies so that teachers have the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills that will help them to become effective teachers and to enable them to grow professionally (Lim, Abas & Mansor). However, this short paper propose to provide a summary on another aspect of professional development of in-service teachers i.e. by enrolling themselves into universities. This paper will therefore focus on the opportunities available to them in this regards. When we speak of the opportunity for these in-service teachers to further their study in the university, we mean that such teachers have the opportunity to enrol in universities without them having to leave school or resign from their teaching position. In this regard, online learning is increasingly being hailed as a suitable means of providing professional development and facilitating teacher change (Boling & Martin, 2005; Dede, 2006 cited in Lim, Abas and Mansor, 2010). Distance education programs provide them the flexibility they need, especially in terms of flexible scheduling through self-directed learning. If they decide to follow the fulltime study in campus they have to take leave from work, which in most cases they are not able to do. Even if they manage to get leave then they have to forego their seniority in service and also lose certain portion of their pay. Teachers who study full-time are only paid half of their salaries. Thus, for working teachers, distance education is one the best options they have if they want to pursue further education (Ibrahim and Silong, 1997). The Malaysian Ministry of Education is actively involved in upgrading in-service teachers qualification through the Program Pensiswazahan Guru (PPG) Mod Pendidikan Jarak Jauh (PJJ) .The program is conducted via distance learning mode at tertiary education institutions all over Malaysia and in-service teachers who have successfully completed their duration of study will be awarded Bachelor's Degree by the respective university.

The eligibility requirements to enrol in this program are as follows : 1. 2. Malaysian citizen Non graduate in service teachers (i.e. currently serving at departments in the ministry, the state education department, district education department, primary school, secondary school and Government assisted schools. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Must be not more than 45 years old at the date of application. Confirmed in office. In not currently a student with any other university. Must be a holder of Diploma in Education/Teaching or Certificate in Teaching. Must have been teaching for a minimum of three years. Actively involved in Co-Curricula activities. Is not currently facing disciplinary proceeding. Among the university offering such distance learning courses are Open University Malaysia (OUM) and Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris (UPSI),Universiti Teknologi MARA and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). OUM, under the Faculty of Education and Languages, offers four programme that is supported under the Ministry of Education PPG programme namely Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Early Childhood Education with Honours, Bachelor of English studies and Bachelor of Education (TESL). But undoubtedly, most of the eligible courses under the Ministry of Education programme are offered by UPSI.UPSI has 10 faculties which offered more than 100 programmes as stated in their websites (http://www.upsi.edu.my/ms/mengenai-upsi/fakulti). Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) under the Faculty of Education (http://education.uitm.edu.my/v1/) offers seven undergraduate programmes as follows : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Bachelor of Education (Hons) Teaching Englsih as a Second Language Bachelor of Education (Hons) Art & Design Education Bachelor of Education (Hons) Phsyical Education & HealthProgramme Bachelor of Education in Science (Hons) Biology Bachelor of Education in Science (Hons) Physics
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6. 7.

Bachelor of Education in Science (Hons) Mathematics Bachelor of Education in Science (Hons) Chemistry Education & Social Development (SPPS)

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) under their offered four courses namely : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

HT06 Bachelor of Education with Honours (Education in TESL) HT16 Bachelor of Education with Honours (Education with Science) HT17 Bachelor of Education with Honours (Education with Social Science) HT18 Bachelor of Education with Honours (Education with Economics) HS20 Bachelor of Sports Science with Honours As a conclusion, there are a lot of opportunities for in-service teachers to further their

studies in Malaysia. There are public universities in almost every state. Distance is no longer a problem as online and distance learning mode has become the norm in tertiary education nowadays. In this regards, Ministry of Education must be congratulated for giving the opportunities to in-service teachers to upgrade their academic qualifications. This will some day (after the teachers graduated) will benefit the schools and students as the quality of teaching will be improved. REFERENCES Ibrahim, D.Z. dan Silong, A.D. (1997) Assuring quality learning support for teachers distance education program. Paper presented at the 11th Annual Conference in Distance and Open Learning , Nov. 11-14, 1997. Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur. Online. Available from elib.unirazak.edu.my/staffpublications/daing/For.pdf

Lim, T., Abas, Z.W. & Mansor, N.(2010) Online In-service Teacher Professional Development in Malaysia: A New Possibility? In: Global Learn Asia Pacific (Global Learn) 2010, 17 May 2010, Penang, Malaysia.

Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (2011) Permohonan Program Pensiswazahan Guru.Online. Available from http://apps.moe.gov.my/kdp/ppg/iklan2.cfm.

Open University Malaysia (OUM) (2011) Programmes.Online. Available from (http://www.oum.edu.my/oum/index.php?c=oum&v=art_view&domid=1&parent_id= 26&cat_id=22&art_id=58&lang=eng).

Perraton, H.(2010) Teacher education : The role of open and distance learning. British Columbia, Canada : Commonwealth of Learning.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)(2011) Education & Social Development (SPPS). Online.Available from (http://www.ums.edu.my/webv3/go.php?sect=fstud&p=fac)

Universiti Teknologi MARA (2011) Akademik .Online. Available from http://education.uitm.edu.my/v1/

UPSI (2011) Mengenai UPSI.Online.Available from http://www.upsi.edu.my/ms/mengenaiupsi/fakulti).