For release on January 19, 1996
Canadian PM Launches Distance Education Expansion in Malaysia
Canadian educational technology used to establish Malaysian Health Network
Canadian Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, launched the expansion of the Malaysian Health Network at a signing ceremony held today in Kuala Lumpur. Canadian educational technology is being used to establish the new distance education network.
Also participating in the ceremony were representatives of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), DETAC Corporation (detac@ccinet.ab.ca) and The Commonwealth of Learning, the Vancouver-based agency which was instrumental in facilitating the development of the network and the use of Canadian technology to provide training to health professionals located throughout the country.
UKM, the National University of Malaysia, first established the Malaysian Health Network in July 1993. With technical assistance from COL and support from the Malaysian Ministry of Health, the first audio-graphics teleconferencing systems were installed at the UKM Faculty of Medicine with remote sites at base hospitals located in Alor Star and Penang in the north, Kuantan in the east, Johor Baru in the south, and Kuching in Sarawak. The network has since been successfully used to provide the delivery of a training programme in family medicine.
So successful, in fact, that in late 1995, UKM moved toward expanding the network by an additional 40 sites. By enlisting COL's technical assistance and buying power, Malaysia was able to obtain the requisite equipment from a Canadian manufacturer, DETAC Corporation (of Innisfail, Alberta), at considerable costs savings. This arrangement also contributed to boosting COL's purchasing position on behalf of all Commonwealth countries.
Other expansion measures for the Malaysian Health Network have already seen the establishment of additional remote sites at four regional Health Centres and, by July 1996, all other post-graduate medical education will employ strategies based on the successful family medicine programme. Distance education delivery by the University in the maths and business administration fields will also be launched this year, using the same network facilities.
In recognition of her pioneering work as project co-ordinator for the Malaysian Health Network, Professor Sharifah H. Shahabudin, Director of UKM's Department of Medical Education, received a COL/International Council for Distance Education Award of Excellence in June 1995 at a ceremony in Birmingham, England. In establishing the Malaysian Health Network, Professor Shahabudin was responsible for launching the first distance teaching programme at her institution and the first medical distance teaching programme in Malaysia.
Canada, along with Brunei Darussalam and India, was a driving force behind the creation of COL by Commonwealth Heads of Governments at their Vancouver summit in 1987. The organisation has a mandate to widen opportunities for learning by promoting the development and sharing of distance education resources and communications technologies. Canada (through the Canadian International Development Agency ) and the Province of British Columbia continue to be sustaining financial supporters.
The signing ceremony will take place at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, January 19, 1996 in the Grand Ballroom of the Shangri-La Hotel in central Kuala Lumpur.
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For further information contact:
Dave Wilson,
Public Affairs Officer
The Commonwealth of Learning
1285 West Broadway, Suite 600
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada, V6H 3X8
Tel: (604) 775 8200
Fax: (604) 775 8210
or
The Secretary
Department of Medical Education
Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaKuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Telephone: 60.3.440.5260
Facsimile: 60.3.298.1973
Electronic-mail: shs@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my