Malaysians are becoming more hardworking in the struggle to improve their economic status by upgrading their skills or knowledge.  

However, working adults face specific challenges in obtaining further education. These difficulties can be overcome with a combination of solutions. 

The first challenge would be commitment.  

A study conducted by Open University Malaysia based on 2006 statistics reflects that a majority of adult students enrolled were married adults aged between 18 and 40.  

A high percentage of them earned a monthly income of below RM3,000 and have dependents to care for.  

This means that these adult learners have work and home commitments such as children’s education, house and car loans. Given the time and financial constraints, working adults find it a great challenge to take on an academic or vocational programme.  

Secondly, the conventional education system lacks flexibility.  

Public universities have strict pre-requisites for entry and competition is very stiff. Some requirements imposed, including an age limit, make it impossible for a middle-aged person to enter unless he or she signs up for a Masters programme or MBA.  

A degree or diploma at private colleges would cost double that of public institutions, making affordability an issue. Apart from that, working adults can only study part-time and these courses are mostly for full-time students.  

Some private institutions do offer part-time programmes but do not allow long breaks in between. The programmes are usually conducted on weekends or weekday nights. For some, work commitments may involve extended periods out of town.  

Thirdly, continuation of education is sometimes a challenge due to the extended duration of study. For example, it could take up to three or four years of continuous study to obtain a diploma in business administration on a part-time basis, compared to two and a half years for a full-time student. 

Lastly, if a working adult student had only partial credits of the diploma programme and wanted to continue studies a year later in another city and college, he might not be able to do so.  

This is because the credits may not be transferable to another college or are no longer recognised after a year.  

An existing solution is distance learning which allows working adults to study anytime and anywhere as opposed to conventional learning. Distance learning instruction utilises the Internet, video conferencing, e-mail, telephone, take-home reading materials and others. 

Among some of the local institutions offering distance learning courses are Wawasan Open University, Open University Malaysia, Malaysia Distance Learning Centre, Unitar and USM.  

There are also many foreign distance learning courses accessible to Malaysians through the Internet. However, the government has no firm policy as yet to govern them. As a result, some diploma mills have a field day selling worthless qualifications to desperate paper chasers. 

Working adults could utilise Lifelong Learning Centres to boost their pre-requisite qualifications. These centres offer short courses, which are very affordable with low entry requirements, such as English, Basic Computer Knowledge, Mandarin, Credit Management, AutoCAD and Programming.  

To learn or improve soft skills necessary for career advancement, they can enrol in personal development courses.  

To enable transferability of credits and continuity of studies, the government has initiated the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF). It is designed to unify all qualifications offered by educational and training institutions on a national basis. 

Key points about the benefit of MQF for working adults would be that it supports flexible education by recognising prior learning and establishes a common currency for credit accumulation and transfer.  

With MQF and the Lifelong Learning Project standing beside existing distance learning courses provided by local institutions, working adults and non-graduates now have a much brighter future to look forward to, provided they can overcome the challenges facing adult learners. 

Datuk Clement Hii is executive deputy chairman of LLL Lifelong Learning Network Sdn Bhd which promotes and coordinates lifelong learning among Malaysians.