Produce thinkers, not robots
Following the nationwide expression of concern over the difficulty faced by thousands of local graduates in getting employment, a lot of public soul-searching has, and is, taking place to determine the reasons for the state of affairs and how to overcome them. One common thread running through the various reasons and suggestions is the slavish way in which students pursue their studies and the amount of rote learning they do. Little research and original thinking were deemed necessary as the students have discovered that all they need to do to pass their exams is to reproduce what has been taught them by their lecturers.
The lecturers, too, fearful of being accused of straying into forbidden territories and thereby violating the Akujanji oath they were forced to take, take the easy way out by telling their students to stick to the recommended texts.
While many of those involved in the debate about how to improve the standards of teaching and learning at local universities blamed the Universities and University College Act 1971, they are also aware that steps are being taken to remove certain constraining aspects of the law. They said the law inhibits academic freedom and deprive students of the freedom to express their thoughts on events in the country and elsewhere in the world.
Thus, instead of encouraging and grooming their students to be people with an inquiring mind, the universities turned them into robots, said Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah, who is also the chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Pahang. What he was suggesting in his speech at the university on Saturday was that the professors have been given bright young minds to teach and it is, therefore, their duty to develop them into geniuses. Teaching is not just an act of informing but also a means through which students are excited and agitated into thinking.
While reminding them of the transformative powers of teaching, the Tengku Mahkota also told lecturers that they must constantly improve themselves, especially in their specialised fields, so they do not remain static. He appealed to professors and managers of universities to rethink the role of their institutions and how to raise their rankings.
They must produce curriculum that can help produce versatile graduates with a positive attitude. At the same time, whatever research undertaken by their institutions must benefit society.
