Industry Revolution 4.0 and Education System in Malaysia: Are We Ready for the Challenges?

Introduction

Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR 4) is highly rated and greatly establishing itself. The future of our world looks so promising. The revolution is happening and the impact is already being seen in many sectors. What is IR 4? It would be a common question for all of us. IR 4 is defined as a stage in the development of knowledge in which the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres are being blurred (Schwab, 2016). Ministry of Higher Education draws the four main backbone of IR 4, which are artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, big data analytics and internet of things. If we could see the history of industry revolution started from with the introduction of first mechanical loom. 18^th century has seen the first industrial revolution which had seen the shift from human or animal power to machines run by water or steam. Introduction of electricity, and the rise of the steel and oil industries occurred between 1870 to 1914 had triggered the era of mass production of goods and vehicles. In the 1960s, first programmable logistic controllers and early versions of computers been introduced hereby boosting the automation and control of production lines. This marked the extensive use of computer networks, and the eventual birth of the Internet changed the world in ways that no one could have imagined. Industry 4.0 is a German strategic initiative mooted in 2011 under its High-Tech Strategy 2020 and adopted two years later. It is aimed at revolutionising the manufacturing industry, by switching from centralised to decentralised networks under which connected equipment and devices communicate with each other to analyse and respond to information received.

Schwab stated the impact of IR 4 can be seen in four major sectors. Government is one of them whereby the IR 4 would be a helpful impact for the government to manage the people. New technologies enable the government to increase control over population based on good surveillance system. They can also control digital based infrastructure and manage them accordingly. Economy and business would be another one having impact from IR 4. Most be the current jobs are expected to be obsolete and new jobs are in line for an introduction in this era. More technology related jobs been created to accommodate the current young generation to be believed as digital natives. It is believed the IR 4 can also improve the current economic system. Society would be next. The new technologies can connect more people through the emergence of many new applications such as social medias. People can be connected no matter how far they are and how busy they are. The virtual communication system is a betterment of current system which is a sign of better future. Last impact can be seen in education system. The technology plays an important part in education. Education is one of the sector which needs to be in line with the growth of the technology to produce world class work force. To face the IR 4, the education system need be in greater situation to produce the talent needed to drive the industry in a greater way. In Malaysia, government had earlier made many changes in education through its National Higher Education Action Plan 2007-2010 in transforming teaching and learning process focusing on technology. Entrepreneurship education would be a perfect fit for IR 4.

In the Malaysian Education Blueprint for Higher Education 2013-2025, the government is giving priority to entrepreneurship by emphasizing its priorities in Malaysia's higher education system. The first spike of the 10 surges outlined is to produce holistic graduates with entrepreneurial and balanced characteristics. According to Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, the former Higher Education Minister, a more conducive and holistic entrepreneurial ecosystem has begun to be provided by the government for the development of values ​​and the personality of the students so that they are more confident and willing to act as a job generator or “job creator”. IR 4 requires imminent changes in the curriculum and the whole education system. Across disciplines, many new contents are ready to make the entry, so emphasis need to be given on certain skills to accommodate the contents. New educational programmes will have to be developed to meet changing demands. In this era jobs that require creativity are likely to stay whereas many other jobs been predicted disappeared or will be abolished. New education system must be able to produce highly creative graduates with the ability to think critically.