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Ministry asks if industries, varsities can adapt to transformation
THE Higher Education Ministry will present to the cabinet ways to address new challenges faced by institutions of higher learning by next month.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said the move was on the basis that universities should be producing graduates who meet the requirements for new types of jobs.
“Conventional jobs are doctors, engineers, accountants and lawyers. But, there are now things like zumba instructors and cloud specialists.
“We have to be mindful that there are more jobs out there with technology.
“We cannot follow the old style any more,” he said after opening the Higher Education Industrial Seminar 4.0 yesterday.
Idris said the “Higher Education 4.0 Framework” was being compiled to address such issues before tabling it to the cabinet.
“The basis of the framework is how technology will change our lives.”
He added that some jobs might
be obsolete as new ones entered the market, and that universities should be ready for this.
Challenging industry players, he said they should know what they wanted from graduates.
He said the industry should explain the prerequisites they wanted from graduates, how many they wanted and the kind of curriculum needed.
He added that they should determine whether the industries and universities could adapt to
the transformation.
“I am challenging the industry now: what kind of skills (do) you need? I’ll get it done for you tomorrow.”
World Bank lead education specialist Francisco Marmolejo said it was encouraging to see Malaysia being one step ahead, adding that the framework’s narrative was not only needed for the future, but also today.
“We need higher education institutions to be more flexible and ready to anticipate the future.
“By 2050, all current knowledge will represent only one per cent of what students will have in front of them when they are exposed to the teaching and learning process.”
Marmolejo said the challenge would be to ensure that students had the capacity to memorise, process and disseminate information as well as be critical thinkers.