CHECK IT OUT! APASWE No. 10 (2013-2015)

Country Report from Malaysia
By Paramjit Singh Jamir Singh
School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Social work education is well established in Malaysia. The Malaysian Association of Social Workers (MASW) was founded in 1973, which marked the beginning of professional social work education advancement in Malaysia. The early stage of formal social work education started at the Malaya University (UM), Singapore, in the Malaya Union in 1952. After Singapore was separated from the Malaya Union and Malaysia formed, formal social work education begun in 1975 at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. Apart from Universiti Sains Malaysia, the first degree programs in social work education were also available from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). The social work education was meant to produce more trained and professional graduates in the field.

In 2002, a committee named the National Joint Consultative Committee for Social Work Education (NJCCSWE) was formed. The members of this committee were drawn from all public higher education institutes that offered social work education programs in Malaysia. The main objective of the formation of the committee was to improve the standard, competency and direction of social work education in Malaysia. In addition, this committee also plays a role in enhancing the current social work education curricula available in public higher learning institutes to ensure that the social work course contents are standardized across all universities, which will enable the production of efficient social workers.

Due to the ongoing situation in Malaysia being that many social workers do not have qualifications in the social work field, a discussion was initiated about social work courses, certificates and diplomas that will be awarded by higher education institutes or other specified training institutes to those who do not have social work qualifications. This will provide opportunities for those without the social work qualifications, as it will enable them to register and obtain a license with the condition that they abide by the rules set by the Malaysian Association of Social Workers (MASW).

At present, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development is active in upholding the social work profession by creating a social workers act and social workers efficiency standard. The existence of the social workers act and social workers efficiency standard are urgently needed as they will enhance the profession. The social workers act alteration was proposed and approved by the cabinet in 2010, and it is still in the process to be gazetted. However, there has been an obstacle lately. One of the state leaders opposed the Act and stated that he wished to draft his own alternative version. In addition, there have been public concerns voiced about the act’s implementation by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. Although several workshops have been conducted by MASW to explain the act’s purpose to legal advisors and policy officers, it is clear that ensuring the Act is still not a sure thing. The Act is still waiting for the Minister to forward it to the Attorney General Chambers for it go through the political process. If Rome took many years to build, Malaysian social workers too will have to endure more patience for the long awaited Act to be a reality.

The Announcement from President Office
APASWE President would like to inform you that we call for the bidding for the 2017 APASWE Regional Conference.
We are sending an application form (Microsoft Words file) with this newsletter, so please find it.
Please kindly read carefully the following rules:

• The Regional Conference in 2017 will be co-sponsored by APASWE and IFSW Asia Pacific.
• To qualify for consideration, a country must submit bids from both its local IFSW chapter and from the local APASWE member school/entity.
• The bidder should have already made contact with the IFSW(AP) organisation in their country.
• The host country will be announced on the final day of the Joint
• Regional Conference APASWE & IFSW - Asia Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand.

The application form should be sent to APASWE President, Dr. Fentiny Nugroho, APASWE President, at apaswe.office@gmail.com by 31 August 2015.
The Information from President Office

CONFERENCE SECOND CALL
ETHICS OF INCLUSION:


1. The role of social work in social transformation and innovation
2. Dubrovnik 21st – 25th September 2015
School of Social Work Theory and Practice, Inter-university centre, Dubrovnik
3. APASWE President Office has received a call for participation to the 3-day conference which will be held in September 2015.
4. Each of the three days will be marked by one of the key central themes of the conference; “Crisis”, “Ethics” and “Movements and Innovation”. A panel will address each topic at the beginning of the day. The themes will be picked up through the usual courses in the morning and special issues pertaining to the themes will be considered in the afternoon.
5. If you have any interested in this gathering, please visit their website http://www.iuc.hr/conference-details.php?id=242 or direct to: vito.flaker@fsd.uni-lj.si
6. Details are as followings:

o   Theme : Ethics of Inclusion: The role of social work in social transformation and innovation

o   Date : 21st 25th September 2015

o   Venue : School of Social Work Theory and Practice, Inter- university Centre Dubrovnik

o   Organizers : Vito Flaker, University of Ljubljana; Steve Case, University of Swansea; Vera Grebenc, University of Ljubljana; Juha Erkki Antero Hämäläinen, University of Eastern Finland; David Kergel, University of Oldernburg: Jana Mali, University of Ljubljana; Ksenija Napan, Massey University, New Zealand; Eileen Oaks, Massey University, New Zealand; Christine Rehklau, University of Erfurt; Paul Stubbs, Institute of Economics, Zagreb; Torill Tjelflaat, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU); Joe Yates, Liverpool John Moores University; Nino Žganec,University of Zagreb.

o   Application form on the website:http://www.iuc.hr/conference-details.php?id-242