Higher education can only stay relevant if there is a symbiotic partnership between higher education providers and the industry whereby the employers play an active role in the curriculum development and learning process of students who eventually get recruited by the companies.
Recognising the importance of coordination and dialogue amongst prime stakeholders of education and training, TAR College has been organising the Employers Forum since 2005 on an annual basis to foster closer links with the employers and the professional bodies as partners in education and training. The views and proceedings of the Employer Forums provide useful feedback to the College in reviewing and updating the curriculum of College programmes in tandem with industry needs.
Dr Tan Chik Heok, the College Principal, set the tone for the 2008 Employers Forum which was held on 7 November 2008, when he stressed on the need for sustainable competitive advantage for both the academia and the industry in his welcoming speech. This symbiotic relationship is captured in the theme “Transforming Academia-Industry Strategic Alliances”.
Dr Dominic Lau speaking on “The Blue Ocean Strategy for the Malaysian Industry”
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Mr Richard Aitken-Davies, President of ACCA, speaking on “Global Trends Affecting Academia and Industry”.
The first keynote speaker, Dr Dominic Lau, from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, spoke on “The Blue Ocean Strategy for the Malaysian Industry” whilst Mr Richard Aitken-Davies, the President of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, United Kingdom spoke on “Global Trends Affecting Academia and Industry”.
In the panel session, the audience of corporate representatives, human resource professionals as well as College staff and student leaders were given insights on successful industry-academia initiatives. Dr Ong Sze Wei, from Intel Microelectronics shared on Intel global training scheme and framework while Professor Brian Lee |
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From right: Ms Leong Eng Yee, Professor Brian Lee, Mr Chan Kum Wing, Mr Richard Aitken-Davies, Dr Dominic Lau and other College Senior Officials.
from University of Portsmouth gave a British perspective on project and research-based learning with the UK industry.
Needless to say, awareness and insights obtained from the sharing and exchange of ideas from the panel session and the subsequent Q & A session were invaluable. They contributed towards efforts to build strategic alliances to bring about cross-pollination of ideas, knowledge and experiences amongst the stakeholders in their common pursuit to build a globally competitive human capital capable of facing the challenges of businesses in the 21st century.
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