ID :
16670
Fri, 08/22/2008 - 17:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/16670
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UNIVERSITIES CAN BE THE VOICE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION
BANGI (Malaysia), Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Universities must play a greater role to help ensure that the voices from civil society and from different regions and cultures are heard, and that people can participate in a meaningful way, as the global transformations continue, the Crown Prince of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, said Friday.
He said that as centres of erudition and hubs for intellectual clustering, universities can take up roles of leadership and advocacy, using their credibility and social respect to build wider support for ideas and concepts that will take the country to the next level of social and technologicaldevelopment.
"Universities must lead the way in upholding the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level, and be leaders in espousing and engendering values such as freedom, solidarity, tolerance, respect fornature and shared responsibility," he said.
In this respect, universities could provide support by promoting participation, discussion, research, innovation and collaborative action across boundaries on a scale that no other institution could, he said in his keynote address at the 20th International Conference on Higher Education at UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), a local university, here.
"It is through such efforts that we can bridge civilisations and cultures and foster international cooperation and solidarity within and between nations, to build truly functional networks that can provide solutions to common problems and enhance the positive role of our universities in our world." Raja Nazrin also called for substantial effort to re-engineer theuniversities into entities relevant to the changing times.
"The fundamental change we are actually witnessing in education is from provider-led to demand-led, moulding our future universities as organs ofsocial function, in the broadest sense of the phrase," he said.
"To achieve any of these tasks, our universitie must accept radical changes to their curricula and to their teaching methods, embracing cross-culturalstudies and liberal concepts.
"They must encourage respect for the process of intellectual debate," headded.
He said that unless knowledge was shared, disseminated and applied in a strategic way that allowed it to be used and applied by critical stakeholders,it was of little value to society as a whole.
"Just as we have embraced free trade and globalisation as the engine of economic growth, so too must we embrace globalised education as the engine ofsocial rejuvenation and development.
"And like knowledge, it must never assume predominance beyond that grantedby a temporary shift in social circumstances," he said.
Raja Nazrin also noted that for universities to keep in line with the knowledge-driven 21st century soceity, the institutions must also be encouraged to engage with the corporate and the public sector in realising the true value of human investment and in building responsibility in both institutions for thesocieties they are built for.
This should include the promotion of accountability and transparency in the public sector and the encouragement of the practical application of universal principles on human rights, labour and the environment in the multi-national andlocal business enterprises.
The three-day conference which Malaysia is hosting for the first time isattended by 113 academicians worldwide.
He said that as centres of erudition and hubs for intellectual clustering, universities can take up roles of leadership and advocacy, using their credibility and social respect to build wider support for ideas and concepts that will take the country to the next level of social and technologicaldevelopment.
"Universities must lead the way in upholding the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level, and be leaders in espousing and engendering values such as freedom, solidarity, tolerance, respect fornature and shared responsibility," he said.
In this respect, universities could provide support by promoting participation, discussion, research, innovation and collaborative action across boundaries on a scale that no other institution could, he said in his keynote address at the 20th International Conference on Higher Education at UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), a local university, here.
"It is through such efforts that we can bridge civilisations and cultures and foster international cooperation and solidarity within and between nations, to build truly functional networks that can provide solutions to common problems and enhance the positive role of our universities in our world." Raja Nazrin also called for substantial effort to re-engineer theuniversities into entities relevant to the changing times.
"The fundamental change we are actually witnessing in education is from provider-led to demand-led, moulding our future universities as organs ofsocial function, in the broadest sense of the phrase," he said.
"To achieve any of these tasks, our universitie must accept radical changes to their curricula and to their teaching methods, embracing cross-culturalstudies and liberal concepts.
"They must encourage respect for the process of intellectual debate," headded.
He said that unless knowledge was shared, disseminated and applied in a strategic way that allowed it to be used and applied by critical stakeholders,it was of little value to society as a whole.
"Just as we have embraced free trade and globalisation as the engine of economic growth, so too must we embrace globalised education as the engine ofsocial rejuvenation and development.
"And like knowledge, it must never assume predominance beyond that grantedby a temporary shift in social circumstances," he said.
Raja Nazrin also noted that for universities to keep in line with the knowledge-driven 21st century soceity, the institutions must also be encouraged to engage with the corporate and the public sector in realising the true value of human investment and in building responsibility in both institutions for thesocieties they are built for.
This should include the promotion of accountability and transparency in the public sector and the encouragement of the practical application of universal principles on human rights, labour and the environment in the multi-national andlocal business enterprises.
The three-day conference which Malaysia is hosting for the first time isattended by 113 academicians worldwide.
