USM PENANG, 23 January  2026 – The Malaysian Higher Education Plan (RPTM) 2026–2035 has positioned lifelong learning as the core in a higher education system that is inclusive, flexible and future-oriented.

The plan is meant to allow individuals to benefit from open learning and a more flexible education pathway, with the ability to adapt according to career needs and aspirations, while accessing merits from a variety of different institutions or providers.

In order to support this aspiration, the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) would be introducing Academic Bank Credits (ABC) as a national platform for the purpose of collecting, keeping and transferring academik credits, that would facilitate the mobility advancements in learning, acknowledgement of prior learning and a more flexible educational pathway.

USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Seri Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed said that, in line with the objective of RPTM 2026–2035, USM has initiated a structured move with the setting up of  Credentia, which is the Flexible Education and Credentailing Unit, to complement the presently existing micro-credential ecosystem and the micro-credentialing mechanism for the flexible education pathway.

According to him, Credentia serves to coordinate the awarding of Malaysia Micro-credential Statement (MMS) for credit transfer purposes, at the same time supporting the implementation of lifelong learning in a systematic manner at the university level. The setting up of this unit reflects the commitment by USM to institutionalise flexible education to become part of the national ecosystem, and not just another separate initiative.

“Through Credentia, USM is establishing a Micro-Credential Credit Bank System (MCCBS) as the system to administer and manage credits that would support the collection, merging and transfer of micro-credential credits that would lead towards achieving a higher qualification, including stackable degrees.

“MCCBS is developed to be in parallel with the Academic Bank Credits concept, to allow the integration into the national platform in the future. This approach would ensure a standardisation of the structure, administration and policies of USM with the RPTM 2026–2035 agenda,” he said further.

Overall, the Credentia and MCCBS initiatives would position USM as the strategic partner for the national agenda, in broadening the access to higher education that would be flexible and inclusive. This effort would surely complement the initiative at the Ministry level and would open up opportunities for future synergies utilising various strategies and other means under  RPTM 2026–2035.