'Excellence without soul' - this expression is one of the most frequently echoed in the Ministry of Higher Education's (KPT) Strategy Discourse in the capital, recently. The words started by the Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, were quoted by him from the book Excellence Without a Soul by Harry Lewis in his welcome speech which was then also quoted by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim before officiating the discourse. If observed, the expression becomes a rebuke to the entire higher education ecosystem of the country with great implications, especially to higher education institutions (HEIs) regardless of whether they are public or private. IPTs need to ensure that their biggest stakeholders, that is, the students who come out of their respective institutions are not just academically brilliant, but have souls with the ability to display soft values. The intended value in forming this holistic student is the characteristics that individuals must have with a noble personality and integrity. In today's challenging world, we tend to focus on academic success and other criteria that show a student is successful, but is that group really outstanding from a humane or humanitarian side. In this context, the excellence of students should not be seen as based solely on easily measurable achievements, but also on the formation of their character and personality. Students who achieve excellence are those who are aware of the need to continue to improve themselves, but that awareness demands maturity of mind and needs to be led by a respected figure, therefore the teaching staff and lecturers are the most qualified. There is no doubt that this responsibility is heavy, but the task of giving birth to a generation that will determine the success of the country in the future certainly requires sacrifice. Saidina Ali RA once said, "If you want to see the future of a country, then look at its youth today". The order proves how important it is to educate and shape the young generation, which is the next generation of progress for a country. Students are agents of national development and are able to help universities, communities and governments with various interesting ideas.

Don't be too passionate about the position

This syndrome of 'excellence without a soul' needs to be given serious attention by HEIs so that they are not too passionate about chasing positions or rankings in the world university rankings to the point where they are forced to turn their backs on the foundation of their respective institutions. The focus clearly needs to be given to leaders at IPT, especially after the Prime Minister gave the 'green light' by giving space and flexibility to university management to create better ideas and educational programs. When the program produced is something of the best, it is not surprising if the local IPT is able to compete better at the regional and world level, thus producing excellent 2A students, that is, academically and morally. In fact, not only local students are interested in continuing their studies at our IPT, international students also make Malaysia a preferred destination for learning. However, lecturers tend to allocate their time to conduct studies, research and publications, the results of which are more focused on their own excellence as instructors. Don't forget that the main goal of being in IPT is not to pursue individual excellence, but rather to ensure the success of the next generation of students for the future of the country. IPT needs the commitment of teaching staff to ensure that graduates are born not only capable of translating their excellence in academic aspects only, but far more important is that they need to be sown, educated, embedded with high values. All this is to ensure that when students leave IPT and enter the job market and in the community, they become people who have respectable characteristics, not individuals involved in academics, but involved in cases of corruption, breach of trust, misuse of power and various negative issues others as happened before. The implementation of this value of injecting the soul in excellence requires immediate action because if not, the country will be in disrepair in the future and when it is too late, it will be difficult to return to the glorious track. The element of compassion or courtesy, which is also one of the pillars of MADANI Malaysia, must always be embedded in the conscience of every teaching force, as the Prime Minister and the Minister of Higher Education expressed to all HEI leaders at the KPT Strategy Discourse. When that element is embedded in every mentor to these students, surely the students who come out of IPT will be able to reach to the clouds, but rooted to the earth and excel with their soul. If this wish can be realized, we no longer need to chase the world ranking because believe me the world will come to us to learn the best model produced by Malaysian higher education.   Author: Prof. Datuk Dr. Mohammad Shatar Sabran Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) Source from:

Date of Input: 25/01/2024 | Updated: 25/01/2024 | aidawati