LETTERS: The higher education sector is lucky as Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin is a second-term higher education minister, which means he can hit the ground running. While there have been changes since he last helmed the ministry, the fundamentals remain the same.
Our universities stand out as quality institutions globally. With the exception of Singapore, we have some of the best facilities among Asean institutions.
However, there is a need to review human resources in higher education institutions. We still have the wrong people, albeit in the minority, entering the sector for the wrong reasons.
More significantly, academic integrity and professionalism are at the lowest point in higher education. Academics are more interested in publication rather than quality delivery.
They are part of the ranking race. Academics and institutions don't focus on what matters to students. There is a growing fear that good teachers are sidelined in promotion and selection.
Leadership is also at its lowest. Arrogance and wanting to remain in power through divisive policies or practices seem to be the game plan of many in academic leadership.
Pleasing bosses, rather than doing what is right, is not seen as wrong and unethical but perceived as somewhat necessary for self-survival.
Fish rots from the head, goes an old Chinese saying. Thus, if we want to improve, we need to change leaders.
Change is a difficult concept. Our beliefs, perceptions, aptitude and experience shape our practice and influence change.
Leaders acting for self-survival and pleasing bosses should appreciate how wrong these approaches are. These may be a symptom of the leaders' inferiority complex and lack of confidence.
However, they often cascade into the selection and promotion processes, where our leaders fail to appoint and promote the best talent, thus causing the higher education sector to suffer.
Human beings are different, but in our difference lies strength.
Our abilities and capacity collectively should be sufficient to build a prosperous, vibrant and fair Malaysia.
But when we allow our limitations to rule our decisions, we affect our credibility and the wellbeing of others around us.
Our past demonstrates our ability to live harmoniously in this blessed land.
We have time and time again shown how being fair, objective, transparent, honest and acting with integrity produce great results. It is time to get back to basics.
Universities should be a place where our best talent are not pushed out because of what they are not, but instead welcomed and encouraged because of who they are.
Now is the time to find the trajectory that will lead us onto a different road to achieve a much higher goal for an equitable Malaysia.
Educating institutional leaders will be a good start.
DR ROZILINI M. FERNANDEZ-CHUNG
Life member of PenDaPaT and associate professor, University of Nottingham Malaysia
DR ROZILINI M. FERNANDEZ-CHUNG
Life member of PenDaPaT and associate professor, University of Nottingham Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times