QUALITY OF HUMAN CAPITAL DETERMINES NATION'S WORTH

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- In this era of innovation and discovery, a nation's worth is no longer judged by the size of its physical resources, but by the quality if its human capital, said Najib Razak.

The Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister said that the quality of a nation's
human capital was determined by the quality of its higher education.

"And the quality of its higher education is determined in turn by the
quality of its leadership," he said in his speech at the Higher Education
Leadership Academy's (HELA) inaugural conference entitled "Leadership in Higher
Education: Framing the Future" here Monday.

His speech was read by Higher Education Minister Mohd Khaled
Nordin.

Najib said those charged with leadership training and development had to
ensure that higher education leaders were exposed and vigilant to global and
national scenarios of change, and were capable of addressing such changes
effectively.

He said the leadership of these institutions should take stock of their
current status and standing in the national and internatioanl higher education
scenario, and "see where they need to improve, update or upgrade whatever works
and curtail or even cut back on the deadwood."

"The pursuit of excellence must not be a catchphrase. It must become a
culture and that culture must be reflected at the very apex of the institutions,
with the top-level leadership who have to be seen practising the culture of
transformation, not just preaching it," he said.

Najib said the cutting edge of higher education was no longer determined by
its generation of knowlege per se, the hallmark of higher education now hinged
on its people, the academicians who teach and research, the graduates who flood
the job market, as well as, those who led and managed these
organisations.

He said this was especially so with today's education-driven markets
where a degree made all the difference, and coupled with the newly emergent
market for innovative products and services which created a need for highly
focused academic specialisim geared specifically for particular areas of work,
for instance the proliferation of universities offering the masters degree in
business administration (MBA).

To add to this, the focus of global economy had shifted away from
industrial-based production to innovation fuelled by creative risk-takers, he
said.

"In this situation, the modes of teaching and assessment will have to
be revamped to cater for those who want specailised knowledge at particular
intervals or durations of study," he said.

Najib said thus, teaching and learning environments would have to change to
encompass the breadth and width of particular professional needs, as well as,
students' needs.

"Unlike in the past, higher education institutions, particularly
universities, cannot afford to work in isolation, as circumstances of the world
have changed, and we have to keep pace or languish in a limbo of academic
anonymity," he said.

He said public higher education institutions therefore had to take full
advantage of this situation to maintain their existing status among the other
higher education institutions.

However, this would greatly depend on the speed and extent to which the
institution responded to public expectations of service, quality of teaching and
learning, and general academic standards, he said.