Thesun 2009-08-18 Page06 Meeting Demands Of Innovation Economy

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theSun

| TUESDAY AUGUST 18 2009

news without borders

Meeting demands of innovation economy KUALA LUMPUR: The Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, says the curriculum at all levels of education, assessment system, teachinglearning methods and strategies, and English language are four key areas that should receive special attention to meet the demands of a knowledge and innovation economy. He said yesterday the current curriculum was too bogged down with teachers and university instructors dispensing chunks of information with students being passive recipients. “Perhaps it is time to reduce the amount of content disseminated and spend the extra time on developing skills and competencies needed in the 21st century,” he said at the opening of the International Conference on Education For All. “Often, school teachers and uni-

versity instructors lament that they have insufficient time to complete the syllabus and fear that reducing the content will deprive learners, not realising that less may in fact be more. “The more comes from students learning to inquire and discover the facts and concepts of a discipline by themselves. “With the billions of web pages available at the click of a mouse, the earlier notions of the ‘sage on the stage’ may have to give way to the ‘guide on the side’,” he said. On the assessment system, Raja Nazrin said perhaps Malaysia could do with less national examinations, thus reducing the burden and anxiety of teachers, school administrators and parents. “We have a very examinationoriented education system with

students having to sit for four public examinations before entering university. “Undue pre-occupation with examinations has led to neglect in the teaching of many of the skills and competencies required of individuals in the knowledge and innovation economy.” He said the examination-oriented system had also led to schools focusing on high achievers to the exclusion of underachievers, who unfortunately tended to be from poorer backgrounds. “Studies have shown these academic under-achievers exhibit low self-esteem and a sense of hopelessness. “They have negative beliefs about their abilities which tend to be reinforced by the school and the community.

“Alternative assessment methods that are more reflective of learner ability should be widely implemented, while the number of As scored by learners is important to ensure that all students master the knowledge and skills required of them to function effectively and efficiently in the workplace of the 21st century,” he said. On teaching-learning methods and strategies, he said the focus should be on students engaging in projects, analysing case studies, solving real-world problems, making decisions in different situations, making presentations and arguing their case and constructing their own knowledge. “These are not new teaching approaches. They are being used in schools and universities in some countries.

“Often, teachers lament that they would like to use these learnercentred strategies but because of the amount of content they need to cover, are forced to resort to the lecture method because a lot more content can be disseminated to students,” he said. “Teachers should be better trained. Standardised tests can be introduced to allow teachers to determine at each level of schooling how their students are faring and, if necessary, to undertake immediate remedial measures.” Raja Nazrin also said English was of paramount importance in the 21st century workplace and the lingua franca of the knowledge and innovation economy, and those proficient in the language would enjoy many advantages in the global workplace. – Bernama

Businessmen charged with laundering RM16m KUALA LUMPUR: Two businessmen pleaded not guilty in a sessions court here yesterday to five counts of money laundering involving a total of RM16 million over a year ago. Tengku Shaiffuliazan Tengku Zainal Abidin, 44, and Mohd Fuad Hamzah, 44, were accused of transferring the money into two company accounts. According to the charge sheet, the allegedly ill-gotten money was transferred from a forex account of Plustrans Resources Sdn Bhd into its current accounts and likewise involving Microvest Engineering Sdn Bhd. They were alleged to have committed the offence at Malayan Banking Bhd, Level 2, Unit 49, Kompleks Pernas-Sogo, 190, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, on May 5 and May 6, 2008. The duo are charged under

the Anti-Money Laundering and Prevention of Terrorism Act 2001, which provides for jail up to five years or fine of up to RM1 million or both, if convicted. Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Farez Rahman urged the court to impose bail of RM1 million for each of the accused but defence counsel Datuk Salehuddin Saidin, who is representing both of them, asked for lower bail citing his clients recently had posted bail of RM800,000 each concerning a cheating case involving them (allegedly where the ill-gotten money was obtained) that was heard in a sessions court in Malacca. Judge Asmadi Hussin set bail at RM200,000 for each of the accused and fixed Sept 11 for re-mention. He also allowed them to pay RM100,000 as deposit to the court. – Bernama

briefs Cops probe alleged underworld-exco men link PETALING JAYA: Police are investigating possible underworld links with Selangor executive councillors Ean Yong Hian Wah and Ronnie Liu. A team of officers from the commercial crimes division and cyber crimes unit yesterday raided the offices of the two exco members, interviewed their staff and took several files and documents. The officers arrived at the state secretariat building which houses the exco men’s offices at about 11am to begin their investigations. Ean Yong was in his office while Liu was in Bukit Mertajam for the Permatang Pasir by-election nominations. Police recorded statements from Ean Yong and his staff, as well as Liu’s staff. theSun learnt police opened a file several months ago following a tip-off and started working on several leads that surfaced in recent weeks. Mention of underworld links was also made in Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong’s blog recently. He is believed to have given police the names of those with alleged underworld links. The investigators, led by Supt Mohamad Osman, took two hours to finish their investigations in the state secretariat building.

Ministry questions deputy CEO’s motive PETALING JAYA: The Transport Ministry views with grave concern Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd deputy CEO Datuk Faizal Abdullah’s statement questioning the legality of the appointment of Datuk Lee Hwa Beng as Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman. “We also question Faizal’s motive in attempting to derail the work of the Port Klang Authority Special Task Force (in exposing the Port Klang Free Zone fiasco),” Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat’s political secretary Simon Lim said in a statement yesterday. “We would like to assure that the discharge of Lee’s duties and responsibilities in PKA is regular, and due process is being followed. “The special task force has to date identified potential claims for irregularities and fraud of up to RM1 billion or more. We hope to refocus the attention of the public to the real issue at hand which is to take appropriate legal actions or proceedings against the parties concerned and for the relevant enforcement agencies to carry out due investigation and prosecution deemed fit in law.”