The primary problem besetting our postgraduate education is the lack of reading and ability to comprehend – particularly materials in English – among students.
In Malaysia, as many undergraduate programmes are vocational and technical in nature, these skills have been taken for granted and in many cases, neglected altogether. I am not asserting that methodology is unimportant, but when it comes to specific research areas, approaches, focuses, and/or topics, methodology may become less important.The checks and balances that inform our tertiary education systems have brought into question the notion of academic integrity, especially with universities committed to minimising failure and student dropout rates.
Given that postgraduate supervision is taxing, challenging and time-consuming, how can we ensure that the postgraduate supervision quality is maintained when a supervisor, as in the case of a friend of mine, has 15 PhD supervisees?More alarming is the recruitment of students solely for income and ranking purposes, thus further exacerbating the prevailing issue of postgraduate supervision.
Postgraduate students must demonstrate their commitment to the search for knowledge and be immersed in a culture of inquiry.