Registration of Overseas Graduates Subject to Relevant Professional Laws
PETALING JAYA: Graduates who pursue professional study programmes overseas need to check and apply for registration with the relevant professional bodies to enable them to be registered as professional practitioners in the country.
Deputy Higher Education Minister, Adam Adli Abd. Halim said the authority to register graduates as professional practitioners, whether from local or overseas institutions, is fully subject to the legal provisions and regulations of the relevant professional bodies.
He explained that the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) is only responsible for implementing quality assurance for study programmes offered by local higher education institutions (IPTs), including professional programmes regulated by professional bodies.
“However, graduates who pursue study programmes overseas need to check and apply for professional registration with the relevant professional bodies.
“This is because there are certain circumstances where a graduate needs to fulfil additional requirements such as clinical training, internship periods, professional examinations or competency assessments before they are eligible to be registered as a professional practitioner in our country,” he said in the Dewan Negara today.
He said this when answering a question from Senator Norhasmimi Abdul Ghani regarding the ministry’s efforts to ensure more effective coordination between the Ministry of Higher Education, accreditation agencies and professional bodies.
Norhasmimi stated that this is to avoid conflicts between academic recognition and professional registration requirements, particularly involving students pursuing professional programmes overseas.
Meanwhile, Adam Adli added that the coordination of jurisdiction between accreditation agencies and professional bodies in Malaysia is clear for the regulatory process of quality assurance for study programmes offered by local IPTs, including those subject to the requirements of professional bodies.
“Accreditation assessments are conducted jointly between the MQA and the relevant professional bodies through the establishment of joint technical committees.
“Through that assessment, if the local professional programme has received accreditation, it is deemed to have achieved the standards recognised by the professional body, thus enabling graduates to register directly under the relevant body,” he said.
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