Higher Learning And Skills Training Institutions Should Focus On Practical Training

CYBERJAYA (Malaysia), June 5 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has suggested that the teaching and learning system at the higher learning and skills training institutions be reviewed to give focus to practical training. He said Malaysia's education system which was inherited from the British colonial era had stressed on book learning. However, he said, practical training had now proven to ease the learning process in producing skilled, efficient and quality manpower. "Learning from actual work is the best way to learn. What is taught is more easily understood and not easy to forget compared to academic theory...I discovered it myself. "To produce highly-skilled workers who are more efficient in raising national productivity, the government can try a different system (focusing on practical training," he said after officially opening KRU Academy, here, on Monday. Also present were Multimedia University chancellor, Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and KRU Group of Companies executive president, Norman Abdul Halim. Dr Mahathir praised KRU Academy for emphasising on practical training in the creative industry, saying the approach was apt and hoped it would be a model for others to emulate in mastering various fields of knowledge. Meanwhile, Norman said KRU Academy, a vocational higher learning institution specialising in skills and knowledge related to the media and entertainment industry, would be introducing three programmes, namely Visual Effects, and 2D and 3D animation. He said all courses were designed by industry specialists based on the concept of practical professional training in tandem with the standards of the current global media and entertainment industry. "KRU Academy will provide a new dimension to the media and entertainment industry by generating a supply of high-calibre, professional creative industry workers. "Specialists in the area of animation will not only fulfil the needs of KRU Group of Companies but also that of other Malaysian employers in the media and entertainment industry," he said. -- BERNAMA