The department is made up of several sectors or divisions that manage the vital processes in higher education that gears Malaysian higher institutions towards excellence through the coordination of policies, funding and activities.

These divisions play their respective roles in improving the quality of education services and ensuring that programmes offered by the public and private higher educational institutions in Malaysia are of high quality and international standards.

> Public Higher Education Management Sector • Public Higher Education Governance Division • Public Higher Education Student Recruitment Management Division • Academic Development Management Division  

> Private Higher Education Management Sector • Registration & Standard Division • Enforcement & Inspectorate Division • Private Higher Education Governance Division

> Industrial Relations Division

> Student Affairs & Development Division

> Education Marketing Division

> Management Services Division

> Data & Information Centre  

The key functions of Department of Higher Education are:  

• To draft, implement, monitor and evaluate policies, programmes and activities of higher educational institutions with an aim towards higher education excellence.  

• To develop an efficient and innovative management system for higher educational institutions.  

• To plan and ensure that the establishment of higher educational institutions and their facilities are conducive and of high quality which are at par with international best practices. • To plan and coordinate the establishment of centers of excellence at higher educational institutions. • To develop academicians of higher educational institutions who possess high scholastic qualifications to excel in their respective specialized fields. • To research, draft, update and enforce the Acts that are related to higher education. • To plan and coordinate policies that inculcate a research culture by strengthening research activities, development and commercialization through better collaboration among higher educational institutions, industries and the government. • To develop, monitor and supervise academic programmes of higher educational institutions to fulfill the needs of the employment market and to gain international recognition. • To draft, coordinate and execute the policies for local and international student admissions into higher educational institutions. • To draft and coordinate policies as well as to plan the personal development and welfare of Malaysian students studying in local and foreign higher educational institutions, so as to produce holistic graduates in line with the national aspiration. • To plan, encourage and coordinate activities for the internationalization of Malaysian higher educational through various strategic approaches. • To plan, implement and coordinate marketing activities of higher education locally and internationally, towards positioning Malaysia as a Centre of Educational Excellence.

Sectors and Divisions under the Department of Higher Education  :

The Department of Higher Education is headed by the Director-General of Education and it consists of the following sectors, divisions and an administrative unit, each with its individual roles in achieving the vision and mission of the Department. They are:  

• Industrial Relations Division • Student Affairs and Development Division • Education Marketing Division • Academic Development Management Division • Public Higher Education Governance Division • Public Higher Education Student Intake Management Division • Registration and Standards Division • Enforcement and Inspectorate Division • Management Services Division • Data and Information Centre  

Functions of Various Divisions  

In relevance to this directory, only two divisions are featured here. > Industrial Relations Division  

Objectives  

• To encourage cooperation between public universities and the industry. • To coordinate entrepreneurship programmes at public university level. • To carry out research on the effectiveness of higher educational institutions (HEI) graduates. • To strengthen activities of Research and Development (R & D) in HEI to achieve commercialization. • To produce graduates who are independent and can fulfill the manpower requirements of the country both in the public and private sectors. • To develop the academic resources of HEI.

Functions

• To provide management to Majlis Kerjasama Industri, Universiti dan Kerajaan (MKIUK) as a platform to establish a firm collaboration among these three parties. • To coordinate the participation of the industries in the form of HEI curriculum that is relevant to current needs through input from the industries and government agencies. • To outline the programmes and the training mechanism in the industry for the academia manpower / IPT graduates.

• To outline the programmes and mechanism of the industry placement to enable the placement of academia manpower in the Industry to enhance the respective expertise.  

• To cooperate with the industries, universities and related Government Agencies to prepare entrepreneur / career programmes for HEI graduates.  

• To plan and monitor the allocation and the activities of fundamental research of HEIs.  

• To manage the participation of the Industry in the dealings of commercialisation of the R&D products of HEIs.  

• To materialise the cooperation for maximising the utilisation of the resources and manpower at HEIs, Research Institution and Industry through Smart Partnership.  

• To gather, coordinate and disseminate information on the collaboration between industries, universities and the Government using one complete system of information management.  

• To study the needs of the industries for human capital with Bachelor's Degrees / Diploma qualifications.  

Education Marketing Division  

This division To ensure that the marketing and promotion of quality Malaysian higher education is disseminated widely and effectively to local and international targets besides obtaining international recognition.  It promote Malaysian higher education in and outside the country.  

Functions  

• To plan, manage and evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing activities for higher education in and outside of Malaysia.

• To manage the resource centre and the information system of the marketing of higher education of Malaysia.  

• To plan and manage foreign countries' recognition activities towards the academic programmes conducted at the institutions of higher education and the fact-finding mission activity for new markets.  

• To manage private higher educational institutions (PHEI)'s applications that have obtained approval from the Inland Revenue of Malaysia for Double Deduction Incentive (DDI) for the purpose of exporting higher education.  

• To manage and coordinate the operations of the Malaysia Education Promotion Offices outside the country.  

• To manage visits to the Department and institutions of higher learning by foreign delegates in the field of higher education.  

• To manage the coordination among various parties of the ministry, public and private agencies, representatives of Malaysia in foreign countries, foreign embassies in Malaysia as well as certain bodies related to the promotion of Malaysia's higher education.  

• To manage and coordinate the collaboration between institutions of higher education in Malaysia and international institutions or bodies in the academic field.  

• To coordinate HEIs' participation in the country's higher education marketing programmes in and outside the country.  

• To organize meetings related to the globalization of higher education with government agencies, private agencies and foreign embassies in Malaysia.

• To cooperate with the MOHE's Scholarship Division in the management and selection of PHEIs and candidates for awarding 'Kuala Lumpur Plan Awards' scholarships and other scholarships offered by international bodies to HEI students.  

• To coordinate and monitor the students' and lecturers' exchange programmes between local and international HEIs.

• To assess and manage the establishment of academic seats in overseas universities, the appointment of officer for the academic seats, financial needs and meetings of the Board of Trustees for the said seats.  

• To coordinate and manage the Department's and HEIs' involvement with the international bodies such as: SEAMEO-RIHED, UNESCO, ISESCO and AUN.  

• To assess and coordinate the establishment of international institutions of learning in Malaysia such as the establishment of Institute of Global Health, United Nations University in UKM and Malaysia- Japan University of Technology.  

• To prepare the input and feedback for the purpose of negotiation in the field of higher education at international level such as Joint Working Group, WTO and GATS.  

• To manage and coordinate public universities' application for international collaboration agreements as well as applications to conduct conferences / forums / international seminars.  

Objectives  

• To ensure that the marketing programmes for higher education is executed according to the planned strategies.  

• To ensure that the latest and accurate information regarding education opportunities at institutions of higher education is disseminated in and outside of the country.  

• To ensure that every institution of higher learning has an effective basic and internationalization planning.

The different divisions under the Department of Higher Education will concentrate on their respective areas in improving the quality of education services and ensuring that programmes offered by the public and private higher educational institutions in Malaysia are of high quality and international standards.

Department of Higher Education has  established promotional offices in Dubai, Jakarta, Ho-Chi Minh City and Beijing. A Technical Committee has also been formed to make Malaysia a Centre of Excellence. A Technical Committee on 'Edu-Tourism' was also formed. Other marketing strategies include incentives offered to institutions promoting education overseas; recognition of Malaysian degrees by foreign countries and the establishment of the new national quality agency for both private and public higher educational institutions, i.e. Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). The ultimate aim of all these strategies is to make Malaysia a 'favored' destination for international and local students to pursue their tertiary education besides making education an important export commodity that will generate foreign exchange for the country.