Venture overseas, varsities urged

Friday April 30, 2010
Venture overseas, varsities urged
By TAN SHIOW CHIN
educate@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Besides attracting international students, universities should also offer their programmes for twinning with foreign tertiary institutions as part of their contribution to the New Economic Model (NEM).
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that private institutions of higher learning could also do their bit by setting up branches in neighbouring countries.
This would help establish Malaysia as a regional hub of education, he told reporters after opening the National Seminar on Higher Education and the NEM here yesterday.
“We accept the fact that there are some things expected of the higher education sector in order to ensure the success of the NEM,” said Khaled.
Among the other areas he highlighted was the role universities played in producing new and innovative products through research activities.
“In an economy based on innovation, we need a lot of research and development output. This economy can no longer rely on just capital; it will rely on our ability to produce new and innovative creations.
“And where best to cultivate this than in universities, which conduct most of our research?” he asked.
Khaled said the research produced must not only be for publication in journals but also benefit society.
In his speech earlier, Khaled said that universities and industries had no choice but to create a strong relationship with each other.
“I believe that such close links will enable the rate of technological transfer to be increased, as well as elevate the process of innovation at the industrial level itself,” he said.
The minister said he believed the time would come when industries would be prepared to invest in universities and provide a major source of funding for their research activities once such a link was developed.
With commercialisation and patenting being viewed as crucial elements in the economic role of the higher education sector, the minister encouraged universities to commercialise their own products via institutional start-up companies.