The Role and Transformation of Residential College as an Internationalisation Hub

This research focuses on the internalisation of residential college in Malaysia, which is closely linked to globalisation. According to Zaid Ahmad (2006), globalisation creates a hub of dependency and sharing between countries. In this regard, internationalisation is linked to activities involving participation in the international environment and involvement with various parties in the quality educational settings. For instance, Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015 - 2025 (Higher Education) through its Shift 8 has emphasised on the roles that students can play in the enhancement of knowledge, capability of innovation, as well as the cultivation of first-class mind. The willingness to accept and openness are the two fundamental elements in the concept of internationalisation. With the opening of new markets, through innovative programmes and collaborations, the number of international students in Malaysia is expected to rise to 250,000 by 2025 (The Guardian, 2014). Therefore, students’ development requires a comprehensive and balanced approach that consolidates scientific, academic and strategic managements. This is when the residential colleges play their roles in providing additional assistance in sustaining the expansion of internationalisation. Through the integration of local and international students’ involvement and residential colleges’ staff supporting roles, all parties involved will gain the privilege to learn and share knowledge from each other while establishing international cooperation. As mentioned by Nye, Joseph S. Jr. (1991), Malaysia needs to be more involved in its international relations as this is crucial for the establishment of a new dimension in the national education system. As we are aware, the internationalisation of education sector and the development of the education hub have become a new global trend. Thus, the competition becomes increasingly high. Therefore, in this paper, the authors discuss several aspects that can be considered in the establishment of residential colleges as a hub of internationalisation, which are: 1. The willingness to accept foreign students amongst residential college’s students and staff. 2. The stability of financial provision. 3. The transformation of education and planning of activities. 4. The training and empowerment of students and management staff 5. The international network and collaboration

Online Learning Supports in Times of Pandemic: From Parents’ Perspective

This research aimed to identify the difficulties faced by parents in providing educational support for online learning during COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. Quantitative approach was used, and 100 respondents participated in this study. The selection of respondents was done randomly based on several criteria. Data were collected online based on close-ended and open-ended questions related to home learning and parents’ struggles. The study identified three major themes which are personal, technical and financial challenges and all the variables based on these challenges are interrelated and have significant correlations and mutually influencing each other. The results show the mean for variable personal challenges are at moderate level (m=3.22), mean for technical challenges are at high level (m=3.77) and mean for financial challenges are at moderate level (m=3.55). This proves that there is a significant relationship between personal, technical and financial challenges. However, some limitations should be noted. First, the research only included parents of primary school level students. Second, only parents who reside in Malacca would be our respondents. Third, our findings are limited to parents' personal, technical and financial aspects. This study shed a light on parents’ struggle in providing educational support for online learning during the COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia. To overcome it, some revisions and modifications are required to be done, including finding ways to provide assistance from schools, teachers, as well as the government. The implementation of new laws, regulations and suggestions may assist the parents to enhance the perceptions that parents have in handling situations in challenging times. Other than that, there is a need to further study the role of the community and the NGOs in helping parents to overcome struggle in the future

Importance of Proactive Malaria Case Surveillance and Management in Malaysia

Although Plasmodium vivax infections in Malaysia are usually imported, a significant autochthonous outbreak of vivax malaria was detected in a remote indigenous (Orang Asli) settlement located in northern peninsular Malaysia. Between November 2016 and April 2017, 164 cases of P. vivax infection were detected. Although 83.5% of the vivax cases were identified through passive case detection and contact screening during the first 7 weeks, subsequent mass blood screening (combination of rapid diagnostic tests, blood films, and polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) of the entire settlement (N = 3,757) revealed another 27 P. vivax infections, 19 of which were asymptomatic. The mapped data from this active case detection program was used to direct control efforts resulting in the successful control of the outbreak in this region. This report highlights the importance of proactive case surveillance and timely management of malaria control in Malaysia as it nears malaria elimination