PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today announced that Genovasi Malaysia has received approval from the Higher Education Ministry to establish Genovasi University College (GUC).
Najib said GUC would be a design-thinking dedicated university focusing on the ‘fourth Industrial Revolution’.
“This will enable Genovasi Malaysia to reach out to a wider audience and position Malaysia as a hub to promote design thinking.
“This aligns with other initiatives such as the Design Thinking Association of Malaysia which, among others, looks to expand Genovasi and design thinking into the Asean region,” he said at the ‘Cultivating a Thinking Culture’ showcase today.
Also present were Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, Agensi Inovasi Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Mark Rozario and Genovasi Malaysia Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Lee Yew Meng.
The prime minister also announced that nine out of 10 pilot schools from the International Baccalaureate-registered (IB) Middle Years Programme (IBMYP) had received the IB World School accreditation.
“The remaining school is expected to receive verification later this year. Our nine schools now join a select cadre of 1,424 IBMYP schools worldwide.”
The nine schools are Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Sungai Tapang, Samarahan, Sarawak; Malay College Kuala Kangsar, Perak; SMK Sultanah Bahiyah, Alor Setar, Kedah; SMK Putrajaya Presint 9(2), Putrajaya; SMK Pantai, Federal Territory Labuan; and Kolej Tunku Kurshiah, Bandar ENSTEK, Negri Sembilan.
Others were SMK Seri Tualang, Temerloh, Pahang; SM Sains Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra, Kota Bahru, Kelantan; and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Sheikh Abdul Malek, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.
The IBMYP was established soon after the i-Think programme and Design Thinking programme, both implemented in 2012.
“The i-Think programme was introduced to foster higher order thinking skills in classrooms and thus ensure our next generations develop critical thinking skills.
“Today, four years on, I am proud to share that more than 156,000 teachers have been trained in the i-Think methodologies,” said Najib.