Conclusion

To propel Malaysia into the 21^st century and to equip the nation for the attainment of its various aspirations and resolution such as Vision 2020, MSC project, increasing access to higher education through ODE is a requirement. Even though the technology can be created and developed, which can be integrated into the open distance education system, based on many ODE institutions experiences, factors such as accessibility, human acceptance cost effectiveness, pedagogical suitability should be considered.

Since the Ministry of Higher Education has allowed other local higher institutions to have their own distance education programs since 1995, there is a tendency to duplicate many of the programs offered. This approach can lead to inefficient use of resources, both materials and human resources. Perhaps it is high time to review this approach and look forward to a formation of an agency under the Ministry of Education to optimize the whole operation from basic education to postgraduate and continuing education. All these ideas are based on years of experience, and are well in line with Malaysianc vision in creating the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) for the development of IT in the next century. Lastly, quality assurance of the graduates produced by the local institutions via distance education should not be compromised.