Abstract
Distance education, although a newcomer in the higher educational scene, can no longer be viewed as a Trojan horse but should be seen alongside mainstream education. This is the cry of many educationists and academic ‘converts’ today, who see distance and open learning as the winning horse, and are willing to put their bets here – convinced that this is the way, in a period idiosyncratically characterised by the ever intensified onslaught of information technologies. However, about thirty years ago, when distance education made its way literally into virgin territory in Malaysia; it seemed avant garde, misplaced and frowned upon; not only by hard-nosed and conventional academics and educationists alike, but by hopeful students and parents as well.
Malaysia, a small country with a population of about 19 million and an area of 330,434 sq. kilometers, is presently seeing unprecedented development not only in the field of higher education but in distance education as well. It was Universiti Sains Malaysia that formally implemented distance education in 1971, but when viewed on a country-wide basis, it appears that distance learning receded into a state of limbo for many years. It was only in the mid-1990s however that some form of take-off was seen, and a degree of resurgence injected into the lifeline of distance learning in the country.
What has the Malaysian distance learning scene achieved since then and what is the current state-of-the-art, as practised by Malaysian institutions involved in distance education? This seminar hopes to focus on contentious issues close to the heart of any practitioner of distance learning. It will therefore impinge upon pertinent issues and problems related to adult and distant learning in the Malaysian context. In taking stock of this, undoubtedly, some prominence would be given to my own experience in the context of the strengths and problems faced in Universiti Teknologi Mara’s (UiTM) Distance and Flexible Learning Programme.

Biodata
Jayati Roy is presently Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of the English Department at Universiti Teknologi Mara’s (UiTM) Penang Campus, located in Bukit Mertajam. Before joining UiTM’s Sabah campus in the island of Borneo in 1984, she worked as a Research and Project Evaluation Officer with an Industrial Development Bank (MIDF) before joining SGV-KASSIM CHAN Management Consultants, a leading Asian Consulting firm, as Associate Consultant. Her 28 years of work experience has pendulemed between corporate and teaching experience; flavoured undoubtedly with research, writing and administrative exposure.
She holds a BA Hons. (Geography) from the University of Malaya (1971); a Certificate in French from the Universite de Caen, France (1972); an ICSA (Part 2) U.K. (1977); an LLB Hons. from the University of London (1989); and an Ed.M (TESOL) from the State University of New York at Buffalo (1991). She is presently completing her Ph.D. with OUUK, in distance education, as a part-time student, on a scholarship from the Open University U.K.