Idris Jusoh: Blueprint will transform education sector

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Idris (centre) fielding questions at the press conferece. With him are Zaini (left) and Hatta.

KOTA SAMARAHAN: The Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (Higher Education), expected to be launched next month, will focus on 10 important shifts to transform the education sector.

Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said among the most important shifts was creating holistic entrepreneurial and balanced graduates.

“This is important because we want better quality students and lecturers in the coming years. Besides that, the blueprint will also give more autonomy to universities, besides providing them with more sustainable financial management,” he told a press conference after moderating a townhall meeting (Sarawak Zone) on the blueprint with stakeholders at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) here yesterday.

The other shifts are higher learning talent excellence; nation of lifelong learners; quality of technical and vocational education and also training graduates; financial sustainability; empowered governance; innovation ecosystem; global prominence; globalised online learning; and transformed higher education delivery.

Idris said besides uploading information about the blueprint on the Education Ministry’s website to gather public response, the ministry was also consulting the people on the blueprint through townhall meetings.

“We will be holding a final public townhall meeting on March 1 before the launching the blueprint at end of March. All information gathered will be taken into account in the blueprint.”

With the new higher education blueprint, the Education Ministry hoped universities in the country could develop further to fulfil the government’s aim to provide the best education for the people.

Meanwhile, Idris said the country’s higher education was “soaring up” based on improvements in world rankings by the country’s universities and increase in the quality of polytechnics and community colleges.

“We have faculties in universities that are in the top 100 in the world. Our country is in the ninth position of destination for foreign students to pursue their higher education studies. There is also a new Colombo Plan that brings students from Australia and New Zealand to further their studies in Malaysia.”

Among the activities held during the townhall meeting yesterday were briefings by Idris and the ministry’s secretary-general II Datuk Seri Dr Zaini Ujang on the blueprint’s policies and a dialogue session with those present.

Besides obtaining feedbacks on the blueprint, the event was also held to convince the public on the measures and plans taken by the Education Ministry to uphold the country’s higher education agenda.

Present at the meeting were Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Unimas Board of Director chairman Datu Dr Hatta Solhi and deputy vice chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni) Prof Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rahman.