Author: mohdjamil

1. Accreditation is a good process in ensuring the quality of a university. In every process of accreditation, the aim is to ensure that institutions of higher education meet acceptable levels of quality in order to function effectively.  There are many types of accreditation such as institutional accreditation, professional accreditation, and programme accreditation.
2. According to the Medical Act 1971, Medicine in Malaysia is regulated by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), a national licensing board which regulates the teaching and practice of medicine in the country.
3. In the beginning, MMC defines its core functions related to the registration and practice of medical practitioners. the period of compulsory service and the provisions related to the registration, practice and period of service provision.
4. Later, MMC has extended its role in collaboration with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) of granting recognition to other medical schools in the country and overseas.
5. For the purpose of recognition of medical schools, the MMC/MQA endorsed a guideline on standards and procedures on accreditation developed in 1996, which was later realigned with international and regional guidelines, in 2000 and 2001. (Mahmud Mohd Nor).
6. In the Malaysia context, MQA uses accreditation as a basis for other parties including the Public Service Department (PSD)  to recognize the qualification for a variety of reasons such as employment in the public service.
7. Programme accreditation is also used for other purposes such as to apply for loans from various funding institutions, for credit transfer, and to franchise the accredited programmes from an institution to another.
8. MQA deploys Malaysia Qualifying Framework (MQF) as an instrument that qualifies qualifications based on the set of criteria that are approved nationally and benchmarked against the international best practice.
9. MQA has set up a Code of Practise for Programme Accreditation (COPPA) which comprise guidelines on the preparation of documents for programme accreditation and assists assessment process for programme accreditation.
10. The process of acquiring accreditation starts with an application, date setting, visit an institution, tabling reports to various committees including Joint Committee  MMC/MQA meeting and recommendation to the institution.
11. The time frame for the development of a quality assurance document is usually about 12 months, starting from the receipt of the task until the document is uploaded in the MQA website. The important stages of the development process are illustrated in the diagram.
12. The Impact study of Programme standards to stakeholders was conducted online from 1st to 30th Sept 2013 to obtain feedback on the impact of programme standards in curriculum development and review processes of a programme. Among the findings include five (5) years is agreed by the majority of respondents to be an appropriate duration for review of programme standards. The five years duration provides sufficient time to evaluate the content and importance of particular programme standards.
13. 

1. It is impossible to imagine the world without cities. Similarly, it is impossible too to imagine a city without people. That is how I feel when I stay in Putrajaya at night. Putrajaya offers architectural dynamism without much benefit to its function as a dynamic commercial center. Maybe it is not designed for commercial use but remembers, the city can bring people together with ideas, and experience in a new dynamic of human interaction.
2. I imagine if many people are working until the middle of the night like Tokyo city center in Putrajaya-Cyberjaya, then there will be a tremendous interaction in the state of the art building architecture with human beings, and hence put it to be a great investment worthwhile for the administrative city.
3. A city without people is very much similar to a university campus without students. Check it out during the end of semester holiday. Are we building a campus or a city?
4. I may have made a mistake here nevertheless don’t get me wrong. Sincerity is a strength; insincerity is always a weakness.
5. My suggestion for the future growth of Putrajaya is for the new government to capitalize on the new politic of Malaysia Baharu by making Putrajaya a center for political education, activism, and awakening. I am delighted at how the 61st National day was celebrated in Putrajaya.
6. Secondly, the myth of the lazy city, especially at night, has to be rebuked. Paying thousand to million of electricity bill just to brighten the city without embarking on substantial activities by the rakyat is a waste of money and resources.
7. Thirdly, perhaps the most controversial idea is to allow people to elect members of the city council.  I have seen in Tokyo the election campaign to select the Mayor of Tokyo. Lorries were used to load campaigners in simple uniforms speaking from a loudspeaker.

(Image from the internet: Campaign using a modified van)