“EDUCATION for Industry 4.0” (Speak Up, April 6) touched on the critical need to reform education systems to produce future proof students given the increasing use of artificial intelligence and smart robotics. Even traditional occupations such as medicine, law and teaching are increasingly impacted by rapid technological advances.
This brings up the issue of how our colleges and universities need to prepare our graduates to tackle the Industrial Revolution 4.0 phenomenon.
It should also prompt educators and students to look carefully at the age-old issue of how to match our graduates’ skills with requirements of industry.
In the long term, it is about producing a critical mass of clever graduates who are able to provide change and leadership for Malaysia to advance.
Last October, the Special Parliamentary Select Committee on the Budget looked at why some 200,000 graduates were jobless. It will not be surprising to learn that our young graduates are disproportionately affected by technology and automation; which will affect entry-level jobs more than higher-level positions.
Given that we know where the future of work is heading and the challenges involved, it is critical for universities to focus not just on “academic” studies but strive to provide technology training to ensure our graduates have the necessary skills and know-how that fit in with our nation’s critical jobs vacancies.
Our universities need to ensure that courses incorporate more technology training and work experience to better equip graduates for the outside world.
Working in industry is about making graduates work-ready. Graduates need to look beyond traditional jobs as the pace of automation increases. More partnerships with employers are needed to allow more students to have exposure to the working world.
In addition to literacy and numeracy, universities should also teach creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.
Sze Loong Steve Ngeow
Kajang
