PUTRAJAYA, May 18 — Malaysia is considered one of the Commonwealth countries that is at the forefront in developing digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI), said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir.

He said it was one of the issues raised in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) which he attended at Marlborough House, London, United Kingdom from May 16 to 17.

"The meeting agreed to take Malaysia as one of the model countries that has the best practice to ensure digital and AI aspirations are successful.

"Among the recommendations agreed upon is that the Commonwealth needs to be an important entity in the field of education and among the recommendations is to create a Commonwealth AI Coordinating Programme as a step to help the 56 member countries of the Commonwealth, most of which are still dealing with infra problems and basic Internet facilities,” he said in a message on his Facebook page today.

CCEM is a meeting between the Ministers of the Commonwealth of Nations to discuss the current education and also a joint partnership to improve the quality of education among Commonwealth countries.

At CCEM, Zambry also raised about the best approach to attract interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and more effective pedagogic learning methods in addition to raising the issue of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) which is the focus of many.

"I shared with fellow Commonwealth countries that Malaysia is moving forward in the field of TVET and has established the National TVET Council to coordinate every department and agency involved in TVET.

"I touched on the four points of action that need to be taken regarding TVET, namely the commitment by the government and related parties; involvement of various levels of groups and segments of society; the quality of educational philosophy and human values (ethics),” he said.

He said CCEM this time also showed seriousness of all Commonwealth member countries in ensuring that education in each country is developed together, especially in catching up with the speed of the current technological world. — Bernama