Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has outlined four dimensions (principles) to achieve holistic human capital development to ensure sustainable economic development in the country.
Najib said the first principle is to ensure as many people as possible in the country have a high level of education and skills to enable them to meet the needs of the country’s employment sector and industries.
Secondly, he said the government also wanted to see the income of the people continue to grow by upgrading existing skills as those highly skilled have higher incomes compared to ordinary workers.
"If you want to compare the income of a skilled worker with a semi-skilled worker, the income of a skilled worker will be higher, similarly the income of a medical specialist is definitely higher than that of a doctor.
“So as a government, we want the people’s income to continue rising by asking them to enhance their existing skills,” he said when speaking at the launch of the Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, (TARC) Pahang campus in Indera Mahkota, Kuantan today.
The TARC launch was officiated by the Pahang Regent, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and in attendance was Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob.
TARC Management Board chairman Liow Tiong Lai, who is also transport minister, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wee Ka Siong and Deputy Higher Education Minister Mary Yap also attended the event.
Najib said the government also provided equal opportunities to urban or rural communities, rich or poor, or any ethnic groups to raise their socio-economic status.
“If they have the will to achieve success, we should provide them with the opportunity, for the only thing that would hold you back is whether you have the ambition or drive to succeed,” he said.
The prime minister said the final principle is to ensure the current generation of pupils and students are ready for the skills to fill the positions or jobs that have yet to be created at present such as robotic technology and nanotechnology.
“Sixty percent of future jobs still do not exist today. But we must prepare so they are able to fill the jobs. This is the drastic change that will take place in the world, including Malaysia.
“So that is why we, as a government, always allocated higher for us to achieve a better access to a higher education,” he said.
For that purpose, he said, all institutions of higher learning in the country including research-based universities should ensure they are on the list of the best universities globally.
“According to global university reports, our five research universities are in the top 300 ranking globally, meaning one percent of the world's best.
“The ranking of Universiti Malaya has also improved by 19 steps to 114th and I have given key performance indicators (KPI) to the Higher Education Ministry and its minister to see that UM is among the top 100 best universities globally next year,” he said.
At the same time, Najib also reminded all local universities to enhance their status to become international universities, including facilitating the recruitment of foreign students.
Meanwhile he said TARC, which was built on a six-hectare site at a cost of RM45 million, would provide the opportunity to more students to pursue higher education at a reasonable cost.
The college can accommodate 3,000 students at any one time and is equipped with modern facilities, including an Olympic-sized swimming pool, gymnasium, futsal court and basketball court as well as two three-storey blocks.
The TARC campus offers diploma courses in accountancy, business administration and information system engineering besides providing high-tech courses such as railway technology over the next five years.
- Bernama
