By FMT Staff
KUALA LUMPUR: No real innovation will take place without first democratising the education sector and giving autonomy to the higher education institutions, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said.
She said that without offering democracy and autonomy to the education field, the ambition of developing a strong human capital will remain a pipe dream.
“Democratising the education sector should be followed up by a sense of responsibility and integrity in the nation’s economy,” she said when debating the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
“This will show the government has the political will to encourage innovation,” said Nurul Izzah, the Pakatan Rakyat’s member of the Science, Innovation and the Environment Committee.
On June 10, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak unveiled the 10MP which focuses, among others, on nurturing a strong human capital based on skills development and innovation capabilities.
Nurul Izzah added that currently the nation’s education is not centred on creative and analytical human capital.
“In terms of Global Competitiveness Index, our nation was at 19 in 2007 and tumbled to 21 in the following two years.”
“In the latest list, we now stand at 24, behind nations like the UAE, Qatar, Luxembourg and New Zealand,” she said.
She said this is a sign that the nation is in dire need of complete reformation of its education and its economic culture.
“Without this complete overhaul, the 10MP will fail,” she said.
