Consolidation of human capital values through finishing school approach.
Much has been said about the quality of our local graduates which do not meet the criteria sought by employers. For a country that has set the year of 2020 to be in the league of advanced countries, Malaysia does not have plenty of time to be lackadaisical. The country needs to be in the fore...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2007
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/20073/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/20073/1/ID%2020073.pdf |
| Summary: | Much has been said about
the quality of our local graduates which do
not meet the criteria sought by
employers. For a country that has set the
year of 2020 to be in the league of
advanced countries, Malaysia does not
have plenty of time to be lackadaisical.
The country needs to be in the forefront in
various science and technology
disciplines and in humanitarian causes.
We want to produce a well-rounded
citizens who are intelligent, positive,
creative and sensitive. Universities being
the grooming centres to achieve these
expectations have now, an additional task
to produce high quality graduates. The
graduates must be excellent academically
and must also possess excellent human
values. As such the term human capital
was emphasized by the Ministry of Higher
Education to public universities in the
country. This broad term encompasses
skills such as communication, team work,
life-long learning, leadership, professional
ethics and values, critical thinking and
entrepreneursip. Collectively, these skills
are known as soft skills. Universiti Putra
Malaysia has taken the first step to
respond to the call by introducing the
concept of Finishing School. This is a
two-day program that incorporates the
seven skills mentioned and was offered to
students who are in the last month of their
final semester.
Numerous creative activities were carried
out to stimulate students interest to open
up and break their rigid personality. This
is especially noticeable as the course was
run in English. This paper will highlight
the perspective of the facilitators who
have observed the transformation of the
participants from the beginning to the end
of the ccwrse and the consolidation of the
human capital values. |
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