A COUPLE of years before the Asian financial crisis hit many parts of East Asia like a tsunami wave, I remember having attended an interview that took one whole day, organised by one of the giant corporations in Malaysia.
The interview was divided into three sessions – the traditional face-to- face interview, a session that involved group work and a written test – all done with the objective of gauging the quality and suitability of the candidates.
The face-to-face interview was indeed straight-forward, mainly used to give the interviewers an opportunity to get to know the potential employees’ characteristics as well as to determine their spoken skills.
The group activity was used to see how the candidates performed and functioned as members in a team. The written test was simply to judge how well the candidates wrote in English. About 50 candidates turned up for the interview. Interestingly enough, the candidates graduated from different universities from around the world.
About a third were graduates from American universities, another third from British universities while the rest were local graduates.
What is even more interesting to note is the fact that the “stereotypical view” of graduates seems to be true in this instance. Graduates from American universities seem to be an outspoken lot.
The British graduates held true to their stereotype of being gentlemanly in giving opinions while at the same time appearing calm, composed and confident. And true to local graduates, most of them appeared timid, quiet and reserved.
It would not be justified to classify all local graduates as timid nor is it warranted to stereotype graduates from other parts of the world with certain unique trademarks or characteristics.
Local graduates have come a long way since then. Quite a number of them are confident in facing the firing squad made up of interviewers. Many of the local candidates were impressive in terms of their personae and skills.
However, much still needs to be done in order for our graduates to compete – not just in the local job market – but also to compete in today’s continuously globalising world.
The fact that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi suggested the need for an “education revolution” shows the urgency in ensuring the competency of our graduates.
The question that the Prime Minister posed in Tuesday’s dialogue with National Economic Action Council members, corporate leaders, academics and professionals was indeed apt: “Is the younger generation passing through our national education system adequately equipped to thrive in an increasingly global and competitive environment?”
Much needs to be done to ensure that the younger generation would benefit from the education system so that they would be able to survive the onslaught of globalisation.
Back in 2000, when officiating at a seminar organised by the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim), Abdullah, who was then Deputy Prime Minister, emphasised the importance of providing a quality opportunity in education to the younger generation.
According to him, opportunity in education alone is not sufficient. Instead, the Government must ensure that the opportunity given to the young generation to obtain education must be of high quality so that they would be able to face the challenges of the modern world.
Abdullah noted in that speech that Malaysia inherited an education system from the British. During the time of British rule, opportunity in education was only available to the elite few or those living in urban areas.
Upon achieving Independence, the country endeavoured to provide education for all – regardless of social status and locality. This effort was all the more apparent when Tun Abdul Razak became the Prime Minister as the education policy was being reviewed.
Tun Razak had decided to improve the quality of education by bringing secondary schools to rural areas. Today, schools at the primary and secondary levels are found in every district reaching almost every populated area.
This is perhaps the first revolution in the country’s education where education is brought to the doorstep of every Malaysian. After nearly 30 years since Tun Razak’s education revolution, the Government has called for another – this time to ensure that the opportunity given to obtain education must be matched by a quality output.
As Abdullah put it last Tuesday: “We will need nothing less than an education revolution to ensure that our aspirations to instill a new performance culture in the public and private sectors are not crippled by our inability to nurture a new kind of human capital that is equal to the tasks and challenges ahead.”
It is without a doubt that the process of globalisation is bringing with it many challenges not thought of before. If Malaysians are not capable of, in terms of human capital, nurturing a new performance culture, then certainly the country will be left behind.
It is acknowledged that while globalisation brings people closer by bringing down geopolitical boundaries, it is also widening the gap between the haves and the haves-not. Unless and until we address the need for a competitive human capital, we will continue to be left behind.
What better way to produce the competitive human capital needed than by overhauling and revolutionising the education system?
It is perhaps timely for a second education revolution to take place in the country.
It is not enough to simply look at the curriculum being taught in schools and courses being taught in universities. We have to look at the bigger picture.
Knowledge, skills, values and virtues must be integrated to produce a holistic output.
The human capital produced from our education system should be competitive, not only in terms of knowledge and skills, but also in terms of character and integrity.
This is very much in line with the hope of the Prime Minister to create an effective and efficient administration free from corruption and abuse of power, both in the public and private sectors.
Revolutionising the education system is a sign that Malaysia is prepared to face the challenges that globalisation and liberalisation bring. This is in line with the first part of verse 60 of Surah al-Anfal which is translated thus: “Against them make ready your strength to the utmost power.”
Malaysia must indeed exploit all the strength and resources that she has so that she will not be caught unaware.
The socio-economic and political fabric of the world in the 21st century has changed significantly.
Unless Malaysia makes the necessary adaptations, she will not be able to continue her success story thus far. In fact, if we fail to do this, then Vision 2020 as outlined by the Government would only remain a dream.
However, we must also be careful to ensure that change is not done for the sake of change.
Meanwhile, for graduates coming out of the current education system, they must make an effort to continuously strive for self-improvement. They cannot afford to rest on their laurels by being complacent with the degree that they have obtained.
These days, having a degree alone is not sufficient. A graduate of the 21st century must be able to show that he or she possesses the best in terms of character, skills and knowledge. This combination will prove to be a winning formula to compete in an already competitive world.