SOUTHEAST ASIA SHOULD STANDARDISE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS, SAYS DON

PENANG (Malaysia), Dec 13 (Bernama) -- Southeast Asia should take the first
step to standardise higher education systems in the region to enable its
students to get better access to higher education, said said USM
Vice-Chancellor, Dzulkifli Abdul Razak.

He said this was agreed to at the Association of Southeast Asia's
Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL) Convention 2008, held at the Universiti
Sains Malaysia (USM), here Saturday.

"ASAIHL will initiate the process so that in the next five years, there
will be a standard system in the institutions of higher learning in the region
to ease the higher education process in the Southeast Asia or may be even in
Asia," he said.

Dzulkifli, who is also ASAIHL president, said the standardisation of the
systems would also enable students and lecturers to move easily in between the
Southeast Asian countries in their bid to gain knowledge and experience.

He said the move had been implemented in Europe and had proven successful
in promoting the institutions of higher learning in that region.

Meanwhile, USM lecturer, Dr Alexander Chong Shu Chien, was selected as the
second runner-up for the ASAIHL Young Scientist Award in the Agriculture Science
category this year.

Established in 1956, ASAIHL is the oldest and most prestigious educational
body in the region. It comprises 168 universities from Brunei, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore,
Vietnam, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States.

The three-day convention ends Sunday.
-- BERNAMA