Emeritus Professor Dato’ Dr Morshidi Bin Sirat

Emeritus Professor Dato’ Dr Morshidi Bin Sirat

Emeritus Professor Dato’ Dr Morshidi Bin Sirat

  • Adjunct Professor
Department of Educational Development and Innovation
  • School of Education
Google Scholar ResearchGate
SDGs Focus
Quality Education
Partnership for the Goals

Biography

Morshidi is Emeritus Professor at USM. He has spent more than  four decades in academia, consultancy, and advisory  work at the international and national levels.  He has also served the MoE/MoHE as  Deputy Director-General of Higher Education (Public Sector) (2011), Director-General of Higher Education/Registrar General for Private Institutes of Higher Education, Malaysia (2013), as Higher Education Adviser to the Minister of Higher Education (2023) and  as  Consultant/Adviser to Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) (2024).

At  USM, Morshidi is the Founding Director, Commonwealth Tertiary Education Facility (CTEF) (2014), as Director of the National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN) (2002-2011), and as Dean, School of Humanities (1998-2000).  
 

Academic & Professional Qualifications

  • PhD, University of Southampton, England (1989)
  • MSc (Econ) Regional Development Planning, University of Wales, Wales (1982)
  • BA (Hons) Planning, CNAA UK (1980)

Research Interests

  • Flexible learning pathways in higher education
  • Higher education policy analysis
  • Global North-South, and South-South partnerships in higher education

Teaching Areas

  • Higher Education – System Evolution and Development
  • Research Philosophy and Methodology
  • Regulatory Regime and Policy Impact Analysis.
  • University Leadership

Courses Taught

  • Higher education system and its evolution
  • Higher education and university leadership
  • Higher education governance and management
  • International education and internationalization – theory and practice

Notable Publications

  1. Morshidi Sirat (2009). Strategic Planning Directions of Malaysia’s Higher Education: University Autonomy in the Midst of Political Uncertainties.  Higher Education, Vol. 59, 4, page 461-473. DOI 10.1007/s10734-009-9259-0
  2. Morshidi Sirat, Abdul Razak Ahmad and Norzaini Azman (2012). University leadership in crisis: The need for effective leadership positioning in Malaysia, Higher Education Policy, 25 (2012), pp. 511- 529.
  3. Morshidi Sirat (2017). ASEAN’s flagship universities and regional integration initiatives, Higher Education Evaluation and Development, Vol. 11 Issue: 2, pp.68-80, https://doi.org/10.1108/ HEED-07-2017-0004 Permanent link to this document: https://doi.org/10.1108/HEED-07-2017-0004
  4. Chang Da Wan, Morshidi Sirat (2018). International academics in Malaysian public universities: recruitment, integration, and retention. Asia Pacific Education Review, https://doi.org./10.1007/s12564-018-9534-9. Published 02 May 2018.
  5. Morshidi Sirat, Norzaini Azman, Mahiswaran Selvanathan (eds.) (2021). Higher Education from Region to Community.  USM Press, Penang.
  6. Chang Da, Wan, Molly N. N. Lee, Morshidi Sirat and  Wen Zhuo Heng (2020). Identities of Chinese Community-Based Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia: an Exploration Study Using the Concept of ‘Roots’, International Journal of Chinese Education 9 (2020) 68–88. 
  7. Doria Abdullah, Wan Chang Da and Morshidi Sirat (2022). International students in Malaysian higher education. In  Hans de Wit, Ekaterina Minaeva,  and Lizhou Wang (eds.) International  Student  Recruitment and Mobility in Non-Anglophone Countries. pp. 237-254. Routledge; New York.
  8. Sirat, M. and Wan, C. (2022).  Higher education in Malaysia.  In: Symaco, L. and Hayden, M. (eds). International Handbook on Education in Southeast Asia. Springer International Handbook of Education. Springer, pp1.23.
  9. Morshidi Sirat (2024). Higher Education Development and Study Abroad Experiences of Faculty in Malaysia. In Nobuko Kayashima, Miki Sugimura, Kazuo Kuroda, Yuto Kitamura (editor). Impacts of Study Abroad on Higher Education Development. Examining the Experiences of Faculty at Leading Universities in Southeast Asia. Springer Open Access, pp. 59-78.
  10. Morshidi Sirat (2025), Flexible learning pathways and the changing  focus of higher education planning in Malaysia.  In: Benavides, Martín, Poisson, Muriel [editor], The future of educational planning.  IIEP, UNESCO, Paris, pp. 255-259. 
     

Achievements & Accolades

  1. Founding Director, Commonwealth Tertiary Education Facility (CTEF) .CTEF is a collaborative entity established by MOE/MOHE Malaysia and the Commonwealth Secretariat, London (2014). CTEF’s primary objective is to strengthen  the link  among Commonwealth countries  in the development of tertiary education. Specifically, its main task is to share Malaysia’s best practices in tertiary education development with  emerging higher education systems in the Commonwealth. https://www.ctef.com.my.
  2. Founding Chair, Pertubuhan Pembangunan Penyelidikan dan  Dasar Pendidikan Tinggi Malaysia (PenDaPat) (Malaysian Society for Higher Education Policy & Research Development) (2015). http://www.pendapat-malaysia.org. A professional and NGO  providing informed feedback and suggestions  on  national higher education policies and practices.
  3. Mapping Skills Development and Lifelong Learning    Pathways in the Pacific Island States. MFIT-UNESCO Bangkok. (Lead researcher).
  4. Review of National Higher Education Strategic Plan Beyond. 2020. MOHE. (Lead researcher).
  5. IIEP Paris. Diversification of Post-Secondary Education to Expand Access and Improve Relevance: Malaysia. (Principal researcher)  
  6. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Programme  on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE), Paris. Reviews of Higher Education Institutions in Regional  Development 2008-2010. (Regional Coordinator and researcher)
  7. UNESCO Jakarta. Employability of Graduates in Malaysia. (Principal researcher for Malaysia)
  8. Harmonisation of Higher Education in Southeast Asia.  SEAMEO-RIHED, 
    Bangkok and Japan Foundation. (Country researcher).
  9. Resource person/speaker for Management of Internationalisation Training Series (Asia) for the  "Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies” (DIES), jointly coordinated by the DAAD and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK). DIES offers a bundle of measures – training courses, dialogue events and partnerships - that foster professionalisation of institutional  management processes, alignment of education to international quality standards and strengthening of research capacities.
  10. Other engagement/consultancy with The World Bank-MOYES  on  Planning for Higher Education in Cambodia; with ADB-Lao PDR on Strengthening Higher Education in Lao PDR; with IIEP Paris on  Flexible Learning Pathways in Higher Education; with  JICA Ogata on Impacts of Study Abroad on Higher Education Development (https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/282ffbff-e332-4614-81dc-98d9ac8c895d/978-981-97-0775-1.pdf).

Professional Associations

  1. Founding Chair, life membership, adviser Malaysian Society for Higher Education Policy & Research Development (PenDaPat)
  2. Honorary Fellow, Akademi Profesor Malaysia
  3. Adviser, Persatuan Geografi Malaysia - GeogMalaysia