The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), Malaysia, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), has taken a major step forward in advancing equitable access to education through the development of a national Action Plan to implement the inclusive open educational resources (IOER) policy. Building on its 2021 policy commitment and aligned with the UNESCO OER Recommendation 2019, the Action Plan outlines a structured and sustainable approach to embedding IOER across the country’s higher education system.
The MoHE adopted the IOER policy in December 2021 to improve access to educational resources at all levels and advance equitable access to higher education. This was in line with the UNESCO OER Recommendation 2019, which urges the member states to focus on (i) building capacity of stakeholders to create, access, re-use, adapt and redistribute OER, (ii) developing supportive policy, (iii) encouraging inclusive and equitable quality OER, (iv) nurturing the creation of sustainability models for OER, and (v) facilitating international cooperation. COL has supported the Universiti Sabah Malaysia in developing an Open Textbook platform and providing training to teachers and staff from ten public universities in developing IOER.
With the support of COL, an expert group from various universities in Malaysia has now developed the IOER Action Plan (2025-2028) for implementing the national policy and mainstreaming IOER in various public and private universities in the country. The final meeting of the expert group was recently held at the MoHE, which was also attended by Professor Peter Scott, President and CEO of COL. Professor Scott said he appreciated the leadership of the MoHE in developing the IOER policy and assured COL support in implementing it as per the expert group’s recommendation.
The expert group has developed a roadmap for mainstreaming IOER in Malaysia higher education institutions through (i) developing institutional policies aligned with the national IOER policy, (ii) regular capacity building for all stakeholders, (iii) development of open textbooks, (iv) using OER for revenue generating micro-credentials, (v) creating a national platform for open textbooks, and (v) developing sustainable business models through a consortia approach to collaborate and promote IOER.
The IOER Action Plan was facilitated by COL Education Specialist: Technology-Enabled Learning, Dr Sanjaya Mishra, who said that “the focus on capacity building, open textbook development, and consortia approach for sustainability of OER recommended by the expert group will not only streamline IOER policy implementation in Malaysia, it will also create a model for other countries to follow in the footsteps of Malaysia.”
SM FEEDS:
Malaysia charts national roadmap for inclusive open educational resources
The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) @MOHEOfficial, Malaysia, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D, has taken a major step forward in advancing equitable access to education through the development of a national Action Plan to implement the inclusive open educational resources (IOER) policy. Building on its 2021 policy commitment and aligned with the UNESCO OER Recommendation 2019, the Action Plan outlines a structured and sustainable approach to embedding IOER across the country’s higher education system.
The MoHE adopted the IOER policy in December 2021 to improve access to educational resources at all levels and advance equitable access to higher education. This was in line with the UNESCO OER Recommendation 2019, which urges the member states to focus on (i) building capacity of stakeholders to create, access, re-use, adapt and redistribute OER, (ii) developing supportive policy, (iii) encouraging inclusive and equitable quality OER, (iv) nurturing the creation of sustainability models for OER, and (v) facilitating international cooperation. COL has supported the Universiti Sabah Malaysia @UMS_EcoCampus in developing an Open Textbook platform and providing training to teachers and staff from ten public universities in developing IOER.
With the support of COL, an expert group from various universities in Malaysia has now developed the IOER Action Plan (2025-2028) for implementing the national policy and mainstreaming IOER in various public and private universities in the country. The final meeting of the expert group was recently held at the MoHE, which was also attended by Professor Peter Scott, President and CEO of COL. Professor Scott said he appreciated the leadership of the MoHE in developing the IOER policy and assured COL support in implementing it as per the expert group’s recommendation.
The expert group has developed a roadmap for mainstreaming IOER in Malaysia higher education institutions through (i) developing institutional policies aligned with the national IOER policy, (ii) regular capacity building for all stakeholders, (iii) development of open textbooks, (iv) using OER for revenue generating micro-credentials, (v) creating a national platform for open textbooks, and (v) developing sustainable business models through a consortia approach to collaborate and promote IOER.
The IOER Action Plan was facilitated by COL Education Specialist: Technology-Enabled Learning, Dr Sanjaya Mishra, who said that “the focus on capacity building, open textbook development, and consortia approach for sustainability of OER recommended by the expert group will not only streamline IOER policy implementation in Malaysia, it will also create a model for other countries to follow in the footsteps of Malaysia.”
