CPSC DG presents insights on Research and Innovation as a Platform for TVET Sustainability during the 4th CiE-TVET 2014, Johor, Malaysia

Dr. Naim presenting his keynote speech

The Colombo Plan Staff College, represented by the Director General Dr. Mohammad Naim Yaakub, was invited as keynote speaker at the 4th Conference in Education (Research and Innovation) in Technical Vocational Education and Training (CiE-TVET) 2014 held from August 25 – 26, 2014 at the Politeknik Mersing , Johor, Malaysia.

This conference was co-organized by the Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Department of Polytechnic Education, Department of Community College Education, Higher Education Leadership Academy and Polytechnic Mersing Johor. It was graced by over 200 high-level participants from various educational and government institutions in Malaysia.

The CiE – TVET is an annual educational event, designed to provide an opportunity and platform to the academic staff of educational institutions in Malaysia to produce research and scholarly writings. Some of the main objectives of the conference are to foster a culture of research and innovation, provide a platform for generating and sharing knowledge, produce confident and competent educators, and empower educators towards improving the quality of graduates.

Dr. Naim’s presentation, titled Research and Innovation as a Platform for TVET Sustainability, focused on the measurement and issues of innovation in TVET in Malaysia, and the sustainability factors and changes. He concluded that Malaysia's position in the world in research and innovation is good and can still be further improved. Action is needed to recognize and provide funds and expertise to support TVET as a critical element in the research and innovation ecosystem in Malaysia. He also stresses the need to build internal capacity, especially in the polytechnics and community colleges, to conduct research and innovation by leveraging on the existence of enough Ph.D and Master's degree holders that forms the critical mass of research and innovation leaders in these institutions.

Dr. Naim with performers for opening ceremony

Apart from Dr. Naim, other notable keynote speakers also graced the event such as Y.Bhg. Dato' Omar bin Abdul Rahman, Senior Advisor, Strategic Transformation of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET ), Prof. Dr. Maizam binti Alias, Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, UTHM, and Prof. Dr. Jailani bin Md. Yunos, Vice President (Research & Development), Regional Association for Vocational Teacher Education in Asia (RAVTE).