Quest International University Perak (QIU)’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Zita Mohd Fahmi was part of a distinguished line up of panellists at the National Education and Learning Summit 2020 organised by KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific held in Kuala Lumpur.
Officiated by the Malaysian Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Dato Mansor Othman, the one day event saw many renowned speakers share their views on the future of higher education in Malaysia.
Professor Zita was part of the panelist for the Vice-Chancellors session entitled “Ensuring the Relevance of Tertiary Education in an Industry 4.0 World”. Other members of the panel included Academician Senior Professor Dato’ Dr. Khalid Yusoff, Vice-Chancellor and President, UCSI University, Professor Dr. Lily Chan, Chief Executive of Wawasan Open University, Mr Tay Kay Luan, Vice-Chancellor of International University of Malaya-Wales and Professor Graham Kendall, Provost and CEO, University of Nottingham Malaysia.
Moderated by Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmad, Founder President and CEO, Asia e University, the panel discussed whether the present and current conventional forms of education meets the needs of tomorrow as well as what lessons can we learn from the impact of Covid-19 on our education and learning process.
Professor Zita pointed out the movement towards smart industry and how countries are experiencing industrial transformation on an unprecedented scale with the interrelated pillars of IR4.0 and the connection with Covid-19. She also pointed out how universities and institutions of higher learning can translate them into programs adding that Covid-19 gave us no choice where it prepared us for IR4.0 overnight. She emphasised that the Quality Assurance (QA) system must play a pivotal role in the future transformation of our education system.
She pointed out that be it online or conventional degree, quality should be same, stressing that QA is an important instrument and that the quality of graduates must be competent, technologically advanced and globally acknowledged, besides being lifelong learners.
The 2020 National Education and Learning Summit provided an opportunity to those with a passion for education to share their insights on current progress and obstacles faced by Malaysia’s education sector. It was a unique opportunity for stakeholders from the private sector, public sector, and the third sector to deliberate matters concerning education to devise a new path forward.
