PUTRAJAYA, July 20 — Genovasi, Malaysia’s only design thinking school, has been elevated to a university college in line with the government’s aim to make Malaysia the hub for the innovative mode of education.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Genovasi would be a design thinking-dedicated university with courses focused on the 4th Industrial Revolution.
He added its elevation to Genovasi University College was apt as it is one of only four Hasso-Platner Institute Certified Design Thinking Schools in the world.
“Genovasi will be able to reach out to a wider audience and position Malaysia as a hub to promote design thinking into the Asean region,” he said.
Najib said Genovasi along with other high-impact innovation centred initiatives such as the Design Thinking Association of Malaysia were designed to converge under the wider aim of inculcating critical and creative thought processes.
He also noted that AIM and the ministry would collaborate in the field of education via Genovasi Foundation to implement the Genosis programme.
“This initiative (Genosis) will ensure implementation of high quality teaching and learning in schools at the highest level of the national and international standards,” he said.
“I am confident that such an exemplarity initiative will help develop a future generation that will play a prominent role in realising the ambitions and targets set forth in the Malaysia Education Blueprint and TN50.”
Najib, who had served as Education Minister in 1995, said education had always been an area of interest for the government and for him personally.
“Since our independence there has been a dramatic improvement to the quality and provision of education.
“Our country’s robust development over the past three decades has been marked by significant strides in adult literacy rates and a near universal access to schools,” he said.
Najib also said the elevation of Genovasi was in response to the challenges posed by the New Economy of the 21st century and was formulated by the Malaysian Innovation Agency (AIM) working hand in hand with the Higher Education Ministry.
“This has empowered education as a catalyst for innovation via the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IBMYP), i-Think and Design Thinking Programmes.”
The IBMYP was initiated in 2013 at 10 public secondary schools to secure the core elements of the National Innovation Strategy meant to build future skills in the present and to lay the groundwork for the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) initiative.
Nine of the ten schools under the IBMYP programme were yesterday awarded International Baccalaureate world school accreditations with more expected to be recognised by the year’s end.
The Prime Minister personally greeted several students and the headmasters of the schools.
Also present at the showcase was Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, Education Minister Datuk Seri Madhzir Khalid and AIM chief executive officer Mark Rozario.
Genovasi’s top brass were also present with Genovasi Foundation chairman and trustee Tan Sri Abd Ghafar Mahmud and Genovasi Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Lee Yew Meng beaming over the announcement.
Lee said the announcement was the realisation of a nearly five-year journey and reflected Najib had said the school would reach its goal of university college status.
“I believe this is the logical step considering our ability to deliver, having engaged with dozens of agencies.
“Design thinking is to develop and improve human capital. It is complex and includes empathising, designing and testing out prototype solutions to formulate an ideal method,” he said.
The university college will be officially launched at the Genovasi Centre in Petaling Jaya on Aug 1.
