PROFESSORS PLAY VITAL ROLE IN SHAPING THE MIND OF QUALITY MALAYSIANS

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (Bernama) -- Najib Tun Razak said professors
and the learned community in Malaysia play a vital role in shaping the right
mindset of young Malaysians to help in realising the country's ultimate
transformation objectives.

As such, the Prime Minister said the professors, who are an asset to the
country, should work together as agents of change and transformation.

"We must make sure that not only do we have the system but also the culture
that support our commitment to bring to the fore our very best in terms of our
learned community and what they can contribute to the country," he said in his
keynote address at the launching of the National Professors' Congress here,
Thursday night.

He said such change could only come about if the institutions of higher
learning were able to shape the right system, the right culture, the right
mindset and the right attitude.

"We not want just to produce academic persons, but we want to produce truly
educated mind for this nation. They must be able to think and research well. And
that is the quality of young Malaysians we need to produce for our future," he
added.

Najib said that in the pursuit of knowledge, however, politicking should not
be part of the culture, and politics in the universities should be kept at the
minimum.

He said when creativity and innovation were outlined as the new bedrock of
the country's development strategy, the academic community especially the
Professors became the key components of the strategy as well as in its
implementation.

He said as the country moved forward, Malaysia needed to work hard at
improving the capacity of its knowledge asset to transform the society and
economy.

"Only through strengthening our knowledge base can a country like Malaysia
optimise and achieve our potential.

"In order to do so, it is critical that we have a permanent structure for
agencies such as the National Professors Congress (Majlis Profesor Negara). I
hope the Majlis Profesor Negara will help us and contribute to make this a total
realisation," he added.


On another note, the Prime Minister said that merit and equity must be a
fundamental guiding principle of our efforts in the sphere of education.

He said while merit and quality should not be compromised, those less able
to access the opportunities and afford the facilities to learn must be helped to
do so.

As such he said there was no need for over-politicisation of the education
issues on all sides.

"The government will provide assistace regardless of ethnic considerations
but the communities that are most in need of help will automatically be the
largest beneficiaries," he said.