Dr M outlines the ministry’s path in his mandate address

Dr Mahathir addressing the ministry’s staff in Putrajaya.

A DOCUMENT on growing the country’s private higher education institutions (IPTS) will be launched soon.

The ‘Way Forward for IPTS: Education as An Industry (2020-2025)’ would be a source of reference for the industry, said Prime Minister and acting Education Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In 2018, he said IPTS contributed RM31.5bil to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) through fees and living costs, and an additional RM11.3bil through international student enrolment.

“This document is to support the efforts of the IPTS as we move towards 2025, ” he said when addressing the ministry staff and education stakeholders at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre on Thursday.

He said the National Council on Higher Education must again play an active role in enhancing the administrative system and the new Higher Education Act that was being drafted.

He said this year, all ministries involved in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) would focus on implementing the country’s TVET roadmap to produce holistic, well-balanced graduates with entrepreneurial skills.

This, he said, was important in producing a highly-skilled labour force that could contribute to the country’s productivity and growth.

All involved, he said, must help realise the country’s vision for an industry-led TVET to address issues of skills mismatch and dependence on foreign labour.

Introduced last year, the Digital Education Plan, which makes resources more accessible to teachers and students, would be enhanced to become a driver of teaching and learning.

“Even the school co-curriculum content has been designed to include elements like the Internet of Things (IoT), coding, robotics and big data.

“This is to attract students and make knowledge more accessible to them.”

To prepare students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, he said the ministry would work towards increasing the uptake of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, enhancing the skills of teachers and conducting more collaborative activities with industry and parents.

He said the ministry’s priority was to create joint prosperity through education.

“The rakyat must be able to compete.

“A reluctance to grab opportunities and work hard will result in failed ambitions.

“They will be poor forever.”