KUALA LUMPUR: The Muslim world should introduce renewal-oriented education opportunities in building progressive societies.
This in turn would contribute towards the development of a Muslim nation, said Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik.
Looking at challenges faced by Muslims in the realm of higher education today, he believes that education should return to the concept basics of tajdid (renewal) and islah (reform).
He listed five pillars that need to be implemented, in enhancing ethics in education; transforming the educational system; renewing methodology on research; renewing infrastructure of institutions and transform treatment of scholars and educators.
“I see that there is an urgent need for this renewal-oriented education. No civilisation can make an impact if they do not show the ability to change with the times.
“Malaysia will lead the way in this. It would not be unreasonable to suggest that the Muslim curricula of the past be used to measure contemporary Muslim educational institutions.
"In Malaysia, in leading the way to set the progressive agenda for the Muslim world, we seek to blend Islamic and worldly knowledge as spearheaded by the International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin,” he said.
Maszlee said this in his speech during special session titled “Why Education is the Key to National Development?” held in conjunction with the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019, which entered its second day today.
The minister also cited Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist who was recently named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” as example.
“We have Greta Thunberg, who is 16, who can talk about environmental issues. We should have more (of this) from the Muslim world. We need to expand our education,” he said.
Transforming the treatment of scholars and educators, Maszlee said, was also an important step to be taken, this as the Muslim world had lost its talents to non-Muslim nations.
“With the exception of Turkey, the Muslim world is the one place where scholars from all over the world do not have permanent positions in universities.
“Therefore, we need to have a robust talent management strategy and salary package to attract the type of talent we need.
“Most universities have developed differentiated career paths to deal with the different aptitudes and career predispositions of academic and professional staff, but efforts at developing research, teaching and professional staff needs further strengthening and integration,” he said.
Maszlee said the Muslim world could learn from the world renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in rewarding educators and staff.
“MIT attracts and retains top talents by offering competitive salaries and rewarding collaboration and teamwork.
“There is a special appointment known as the “institute professor” – which provides a great degree of freedom. This includes special opportunities to work across departmental boundaries without being held down by regular school responsibilities.
“We are also emulating this in Malaysia, granting academics greater autonomy to determine their institution’s priorities in order to focus on things that truly matter.”
Maszlee said ethics must also be the guiding framework of teaching, learning or research as it is the standard that differentiates between right and wrong knowledge and actions.
“With the advance of Industry 4.0 in the education sector, giving rise to what is now known as “Education 4.0”, ethics, has become more essential.
“We need to train future educators to use technologies toward positive ends for human development and not for selfish pursuits. With ethics, our educators will know whether, when, and where to use technology for just ends.”
Meanwhile, Dr Hend Abd Rahman Al-Muftah, member of Qatar Shura Council (advisory council) said education system in Muslim countries varied from nation to nation.
She said there was a need for further educational collaboration, especially when it comes to poor Muslim nations.
“Some countries have excellent programmes, some have very positive indicators including Malaysia, Turkey and Indonesia, but we have also some Muslim countries educational system short comings due to their economic conditions, poverty and other adverse conditions.
“What do we really need is a collaboration and completing each other where the rich countries can support the needs of the poor country,” she said.