Penang Dialogue gathered together educationist around the country

Over hundred educationists from several states gathered together to Penang on 14th December to DIALOGUE: PENANG & FINLAND EDUCATION COLLABORATION

It was a half day event representing 3 case studies of Finnish education methods implemented in Malaysia, 2 panel discussion sessions, networking and exhibition with 7 Finnish education solutions.

Excellent panelists sparked in-depth inspring discussions:

“TRAINING PEOPLE TO SUCCEED IN KNOWLEDGE TESTS IS A VERY DIFFERENT PROCESS THAN TEACHING THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD AND HAVE THE SKILLS TO LEARN MORE”

– Vesa Perälä, Chairman of Steering Group of Education Finland Program at Finnish National Agency for Education (Online)
– Profesor Dato’ Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed, Academy of Professors Malaysia
– Richard Chung, General Manager Penang STEM
– Tony Yeoh, CEO, Digital Penang
– Mr. Petri, CEO of Finnish Education Solutions

“IT’S NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU TEACH, BUT HOW YOU TEACH”

– Vesa Perälä, Chairman of Steering Group of Education Finland Program at Finnish National Agency for Education (Online)
– Howie Chang, CEO Forward School
– Dr. Lim Han Neng, CEO of PenGenius Creativity Development and Learning Hub
– Melissa Gomes, Co-founder of Edvolution Enterprise
– Mr. Willie Tan, CEO UCSI Schools Group
– Ravi VS, CEO School of Future Foresight

Here is a review of one the panelists, Ravi VS from Invictus Leader

Last Tuesday, I was one of the panelists on a topic entitled “It’s Not About What You Teach, But How You Teach,” along with very distinguished panelist Howie Chang Forward School, Melissa Gomes Edvolution Enterprise, Willie Tan UCSI Group moderated by Associate Professor Dr. Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail of Universiti Sains Malaysia.

The event’s sponsors were Eduten Reactored Kindiedays Code School Finland / Suomen Koodikoulu GraphoGame Claned Positive Learning and Embassy of Finland, Malaysia.

It was a brilliant session, especially the case studies and how some of the Finish tools have significantly impacted children’s education, especially in Mathematics and English Language. 

My takeaways:

1. #Education needs to be a hybrid in the age of #AI and #ir4
2. Politics has no place in education.
3. #THINKING EDUCATION and EDUCATION for THINKING 
4. A hybrid system that integrates stated teaching with federal
5. Teachers are professionals similar to astronauts and doctors. 
6. Teach Thinking Skills at an early age.
7. Critical thinking and creative thinking are not Thinking skills

A brilliant start to a new year. There should be similar dialogues or focused group sessions so that we can create and awareness that education is key ingredient in the AGE of AI and IR4.0

An other review of Melissa Gomes from Edvolution

On 14 December 2021, Edvolution Enterprise had the opportunity to discuss the future of education for Penang through a dialogue entitled ‘Penang & Finland Education Collaboration’.

Organized by the FEDS and co-hosted by Finland Embassy Sami Leino and the Penang Education Council, the dialogue explored the challenges faced by education in meeting the state’s demand for talent.

Moderated by Associate Professor Dr. Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail of Universiti Sains Malaysia, Tony Yeoh of Digital Penang shared how combining real working experiences in the classroom is crucial to making learning relevant for the job market.

In another session, Melissa Gomes of Edvolution Enterprise shared on empowering the leadership of system leaders in the education system as a long-term solution towards creating quality education for Malaysia. Melissa also shared Edvolution’s ‘Applied Leadership Programme sponsored by PwC Malaysia for 65 system leaders in Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia as their long-term commitment towards building quality leadership in the Ministry of Education. The discussion was also joined by Howie Chang, CEO of Forward School, Willie Tan of UCSI Schools Group and Ravi VS.

Lastly, upholding the spirit of ‘not what you teach but how you teach’, the panellists concurred that the experience of learning depends on trust and feelings which cannot be digitized. Following that, Melissa in her closing remark call upon education leaders and policymakers to
1) harness and sharpen the leadership of system leaders in MoE and
2) increase the involvement of corporate sectors in teacher training as a long-term measure to improve the quality of education for our students