GRADUATES OF TODAY URGED TO BE INNOVATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL

Madius (5^th from left) with some of the Organisers and Participants

By Janecarr Yado

KOTA KINABALU: Graduates of today are urged to be innovative and entrepreneurial and have the cognitive flexibility to deal with complexity because they will be co-working not only with man but also robots.

In the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0, jobs that require creativity are likely to stay. Irrespective of discipline, education 4.0 must be able to produce highly creative graduates with the ability to think critically.

Deputy Chief Minister Yang Berhormat Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau said these in his opening speech during the 7th international conference on e-learning (ICEL) and the symposium on teaching excellence, learner driven learning, and academic research (STELLAR) this morning here.

“In fact, the fourth industrial revolution has been a centrepiece of conversation at numerous forums,” he said.

Madius says it is a phenomenon that has caused a disruptive systemic change in several areas, including economics, social, geopolitical, and education.

Thus, he envisage all parties involved in education matters to impart deeper learning due to a rising level of complexity.

“It is achievable through blended learning, project- and scenario-based, and practice-oriented learning.

“Innovation being key to success, experts suggest that maker space, which is characterised by open source innovation and learning-by-doing, should be utilised as a tool to train graduates,” he added.

To respond to the needs of IR 4.0, universities must continue to play their role as testbeds for educating the future generation and innovation.

Madius said in near future that routine activities in any job including monitoring, is predicted that will be entirely or partly taken over by machines.

“We take an example; IBM Watson has developed an AI-based expert system that can replace junior lawyers. AI system has also been improved, having the potential to replace basic-level medical practitioners,” he explained.

Madius argued due to that, it may cause fewer jobs for entry-level professionals but may remain specialist jobs.

“IR 4.0 demands changes in the contents of not only technical education but also education in general. It is imperative to emphasise specific skills and original content across disciplines.

“So, new educational programmes will have to be developed to meet changing demands,” stand Madius.

“Many people agree that innovations will shape education 4.0, and it is essential to train students who are innovators,” he stressed.

However, the picture of IR 4.0 is still quite fuzzy, and it is difficult to predict what lies ahead accurately. Like the industrial revolutions in the past, IR 4.0 will create new jobs, and will also eliminate some of the existing jobs.

Madius who is also Sabah’s Minister of Trade and Industry believes that Education 4.0 will be shaped by innovations which in turn will broaden the horizon of students to innovate manufacturing industry.

“We can start with initiative to strengthen the digital connectivity in and between industrial, education and training hubs to remove connectivity bottlenecks in adopting industry 4.0 technologies,” he said.

Besides, he also opined that IR 4.0 would be an important component to propel manufacturing contribution to Sabah State GDP where the percentage is currently at 7.3% and the state need to achieve a huge leap to 35% by 2030.

Madius suggested to have a string of strategic initiative to transform the secondary industry into modernised cybernetic based manufacturing and production system that are efficient and more cost effective.

“This is the current gap that we are facing, and IR 4.0 can be the answer to closing it.

Therefore, it is imperative that there is an established connection between industries and academic leaders.

“A connection that stem from teaching method up to research outputs on role of IR4.0 in manufacturing industry,” he said.

Therefore, it is crucial to make sure students at the early stage of education understand about importance of to master technologies in education, he added.

He also said instead of focusing on students becoming proficient at learning with technology, there is also a need for educators to master their skill.

Madius later officially launch the conference which was organized by Institute Of Continuing Education And Professional Studies, and the Academic Affairs Division of UiTM together with the co-organizer UiTM Sabah campus and Malaysian e-learning center (MyCel).

Also present at the event were Deputy Vice Chancellor, Industry, Community, Alumni and Entrepreneurship Network, University of Teknologi Mara, Professor Dr. Azizul Halim bin Yahya, Datuk Dr Hj Abdul Kadir bin Haji Rosline,Rector, University of Teknologi Mara, Sabah Campus, Dr. Sharifah Nurafizah Syed Annuar, Deputy Rector, Researc, Industrial Linkages, Community and Alumni Network, Associate Professor Dr Syed Najmuddin bin Syed Hassan, Director of Malaysian E-Learning Center (Mycel), Chief Executive Officer, Institute of continuing Education and Professional Studie ,Prof Dr Azizul Halim Yahya co-organizer person with Professor Dr. Nor Aziah Alias.