Ingenieur Vol.72 ingenieur October 2017-FA3 | Page 12

INGENIEUR
Chart 1 - QS World University Rankings, Source: MOHE
place. On a global basis, Universiti Malaya has
risen in the QS World University Ranking (2015-
16) from 146 in 2015 to 133 in 2016 (see Chart
1). Ir. Dr Siti Hamisah emphasized that ranking is
not everything but it is important for Malaysian
universities to chart its future direction.
Looking ahead, Ir. Dr Siti Hamisah says
MOHE is serious in redesigning Malaysian higher
education. “In the past 20 years, there have
been exponential developments in technology
and we need to embrace these changes. Without
adopting innovation and transformation, our
higher education will not be relevant in this era
of technology convergence,” she explains. This is
in reference to the Fourth Industrial Revolution
where technologies such as artificial intelligence,
robotics and big data analysis are expected to
render 65% of jobs in the near future.
“Graduates must no longer be job seekers
but job creators,” the Director-General stresses.
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The key is to develop holistic, entrepreneurial
and balanced graduates who not only excel
academically but also ethically and spiritually.
Towards this end, MOHE has initiated a different
method of student assessment called the
Integrated Cumulative Grade Point Average
(iCGPA). As seen in Chart 2, iCGPA assesses
students across eight domains which cover not
only knowledge but also soft skills such as ethics
and values, communication, entrepreneurship and
problem-solving. This new evaluation system was
piloted in five public universities and was rolled out
to all 20 public universities in September 2016.
The teaching and learning pursuit are taking
new forms. Ir. Dr Siti Hamisah cites the 2u2i
programme which was introduced in 2016
(two years studying in university and two years
interning in industry) for Bachelor’s Degrees in
Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Universiti Putra
Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti