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November 23, 2009 20:08 PM
Universities Have Important Role In New Economic Model - Muhyiddin
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- In the government's effort to build a new knowledge-based economic model, universities have an important role to play as centres of excellence in knowledge, innovation and creativity to drive the economy to a higher level.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the universities' contributions in the form of research findings and new, quality discoveries in various fields were prerequisites to achieving the objective.
"Hence, the academic realm in this country must be stimulated by a culture of excellence in research, which will result in expansion of knowledge and many new discoveries beneficial for the country's development," he said at the presentation of the award in his name for the best theses, here, Monday.
The award is a joint effort between Yayasan Nurul Yaqeen, a welfare institution set up in 1991 and chaired by Muhyiddin, and the Islamic Management Development Centre (ISDEV), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said with better quality research by the universities, Malaysia would become an excellent higher education hub in the region.
He said in line with this aspiration, academicians and university administrators should cooperate in creating a high-performance academic environment to produce high-quality graduands to fulfil the country's development needs.
According to him, most universities in the world today had propelled their academic excellence by capitalising on information communication technology to the optimum in their learning, research and management process.
He said local universities must do the same to improve performance, including widening access to digital library facilities for use by the university communities.
On the award, Muhyiddin said it was a noble effort in line with the aspiration to produce high-quality graduates and raising the quality of research by universities in this country.
"We hope this will also contribute to educational development in Islamic countries which are not only facing strong competition in the tertiary sphere from the West, but are also lagging behind."
He said the Times Higher Education Survey list showed that the universities in Islamic countries were still in the bottom rung of the table, and hoped that such efforts as the YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin Award for the best theses could help correct the imbalance.
The unaugural award has two categories, with Fadzila Azni Ahmad from USM winning in the PhD category with her thesis titled "The Management Methodology of Development Institutions Based on Islam in Malaysia".
She received a gold medal worth RM10,000, cash of RM5,000 and a certificate. There were no winners in the Master's category although there were six candidates for consideration.
Also present at the award-presentation was Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
-- BERNAMA
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