Relevance and Realism in General Education: An Implementer’s Viewpoint

Abstract

The success or failure in implementing any policy or programme depends on at least three sets of factors: the goals and objectives; available resources and the relevant operative conditions. This paper examines the issues and problems pe1iaining to the implementation of the general education programme for undergraduates from the perspective of an implementer. The intention is not to report on any particular situation, but rather to draw attention to some of the issues commonly faced by coordinators of comparable general education programmes worldwide. The first part after this introduction begins with a description of an ideal general education model, followed by an outline of a typical programme which elucidates the general principles commonly adopted as the main objectives for such programmes. The second part presents a list of implementation problems encountered by the author, either those distilled from reports written by others or from his own recent experiences in developing the general education component of the undergraduate programme at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The concluding section provides a brief summary of the discussion followed by suggestions for future thoughts on the subject.