DOHA, Nov 20 — Malaysia is on the right track in using big data and artificial intelligence (AI) for the benefit of children especially in ensuring their future career and avoiding mismatching of skills and talents.

Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the ministry is currently undertaking various steps to ensure it meets the objectives.

Firstly, he said a Digital Making Hub is being implemented in schools to facilitate students and teachers in digital-making activities, to provide training for teachers.

“And to bring awareness to our children on the importance of mastering digital tools,” he said at the Ministerial Roundtable Session: Agile Policy Making and Implementation here today.

The meeting was attended by international education ministers and high-level stakeholders involved in education governance in conjunction with the World Innovative Summit for Education (WISE) 2019.          

“From July 1 this year, more than 450,000 school teachers can share notes, post class updates and various other learning-related activities on Google Classroom.

“The online platform underscores the significance of e-learning as an integral part of our learning tools in this day and age,” he said at the meeting, chaired by his Qatari counterpart Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi.

According to Maszlee, the use of AI would allow strengths of each student to be matched with suitable fields or courses.

He added that the ministry is following the German Dual Training System as part of its radical reform to ensure the quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

“For that, we are working closely with German companies in Malaysia and abroad. We are also encouraging our students to be part of an industrial revolution fortified with high-level skills.”

Earlier, Maszlee attended the opening ceremony of WISE, held at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

The summit, themed “Unlearn, Relearn. What it means to be Human”, which began on Nov 19 and ends tomorrow, was graced by Her Highness Sheikh Moza Bint Nasser, the chairperson of Qatar Foundation.

Over 3,000 experts, researchers and innovators from around the world gather at the biennial global platform to foster new collaboration and to find ways to address pressing global education challenges.

Chief executive officer of the San Diego-based High Tech High, Larry Rosenstock, has been named the winner of the 2019 WISE Prize for Education Laureate. The recipient gets a gold medal and US$500,000.

The High Tech High is a network of charter schools and a graduate school of education.

The WISE Prize for Education is the first distinction of its kind to recognise an individual or team for an outstanding, world-class contribution to education. — Bernama