By Asmahanim Amir
Pix Abd Raai Osman

BANGI, Jan 5, 2016 – Individual assessment based on humanistic characteristics  should be given priority in all universities, said former Vice Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Prof Tan Sri Dato ‘Dzulkifli Abdul Razak.

He said that for the moment the National Education Philosophy is not fully appreciated because too much emphasis is being given to fulfilling targets  measured by indicators.

Prof Zulkifli pointed out that the objectives of the philosophy is to form a university  community with integrity.

He said staff of Universities should fully understand the National Education Philosophy in order to help develop  integrity in their community.

According to him the is Philosophy is the guideline for the education system.

“That guideline is  how we interpret the knowledge. Not many people among us know about the NEP and that’s where the integrity problem starts.” He said at the 26^th Bicara Persada forum titled Integrity in University Management: Between Hope And Reality,  here on Dec 18, 2015.

He said the function of universities is to impart knowledge, but the university community itself isn’t clear about the philosophy, causing confusion.

“While we talk about the philosophy, it’s clear that we want individuals to be well-balanced. It is the absolute goal,” he said.

“In the philosophy, when we talk about balance and harmony, what does it mean? Of course the four dimensions – physical, emotion, spiritual and intellectual. They all become a benchmark, whether it’s happening or not,” he stressed.

He explained that that philosophy is clearly based on determination and adherence to God, which means that there is no room to argue whether it’s correct or not.

“When we blend in balance, we can balance our self, family, community and country,” he said.

According to him, the Philosophy is a direction and expectation, but can it deliver in reality?

“I honestly say ‘no’ because the understanding used in education, particularly in the management of a university, refers not to a well-balanced individual, but human capital.

“So my effort here is to remove the term of human capital, so we return to the objective of producing well-balanced individuals who are employable,” he clarified.

Prof Dzulkifli said the problems arise in the management of the University when certain targets have to be met in accordance with the key performance indicators (KPI) which sometimes do not touch directly on matters of emotion and spirituality as the benchmark.

“So, the question of management refers only to certain matters that can be measured as targets that ultimately ignore many more dimensions of education that are linked eventually to integrity of knowledge.

“To me, the context of integrity now doesn’t exist because there is no balance. To manage the university, we need employability,” he said.

Meanwhile, Principeal Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Prof Emeritus Dato’ Dr Abdul Rahman Embong said he agreed with Prof  Dzulkifli’s views about the philosophy being a mould but universities should have freedom.

“Universities are the centre of knowledge that should have their own autonomy or freedom – the place where there should have a proliferation of ideas and respect the freedom of the difference because the traditional knowledge is from various sources. So from that we can form the mind that’s based on knowledge,” he said.

He said, universities need to be a university and not a degree mill.

“Students are not clients who buy knowledge but people in search of knowledge,” said Prof Abdul Rahman.

He hoped that universities in Malaysia in the 21^st century would become institutions who have the knowledge and competence with integrity.

“All  universities are exposed to the risks . So all of them (knowledge, competence and integrity) should be imbued with integrity,” he said.

Another panellist, Dato’ Sri Zakaria Jaafar who is a former Deputy Commissioner (Management and Professionalism) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission considered integrity as not only about honesty, but also about spirituality.

“Universities always need to remind students that all that they have is by the grace of Allah. If they understand this, there will be better human integrity. We need to produce graduates who have integrity and inner quality,” he said.

Zakaria explained that the three curses afflicting students today are serious debt, exposure to online threats and spreading lies through the internet.

“These a really big threats happening in our society. So we need to make them aware about it, so that they always remember and not violate their religious beliefs.

Lecturer from the School of Media and Communication, University of Nottingham, Malaysia, Prof Zaharom Nain said the problem of integrity at university is not because of the individual, attitude or psychology, but stemmed from a rigid power structure.

 “The reality is that public universities are dominated and by oppressive regulations from a highly-centralised system. It is quite clear when you see the appointment of key management personnel in public universities are political appointees.

“It is a phenomenon which if not curbed, will be rooted in university management. If the check and balance can’t be reasonably made, then there will be issues of integrity. This is my opinion and my stance,” Prof Zaharom added.

The forum was moderated by broadcaster Sayed Munawar Sayed Mustar.