Some observations on adolescents,industrialization and education

Abstract

Malaysia has set out on a path of industrialization with the Wawasan 2020 campaign. As an integral part of that plan, the need to restructure the education policies and processes utilized to prepare the future workers of the country has been recognized. It is all too clear that the leaders of the Malaysian movement toward industrialization have recognized the role that the education system will play in the National Education Philosophy: Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectual, spiritually emotionally and physically balanced arid harmonious based on a firm belief and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards, and who are responsible and capable of achieving high level of personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the family, the society and the nation at large. The philosophy is one that would create some envy around the world as it is based on outcomes. It is a challenge to the major actors in the arena of education to develop and deliver a system of education that will produce the type of intellectual capital necessary to bring Malaysia to the vision of 2020. Any society that has embarked on a campaign of rapid industrialization must be deeply .concrned as to how the demands of an industrialized society might impact on the education policies and practices, and vice versa. The process of industrialization, by its very nature, requires a shift in the fabric of the intellectual capital of the economy. This change can only be impacted by the education system itself. The methods or processes for delivery, the .content and design of curriculum, the processes of evaluation and anticipation of future needs all shift with the onslaught of industrialization. The critical question for the society that seeks the process of industrialization is whether the changes in the education subsystem of the economy will be driven reactively or implemented proactively. With the drive toward industrialization comes the necessity for the transfer of technology, and eventually, the creation technology. The transfer of technology is dependent upon and driven by the .concept of "leapfrog.". Essentially this means that developing economies have a direct advantage over more developed economies in that they need not invest high levels of capital in the process of developing technology. Rather, they can transfer in the already developed technologies. This allows the developing economies to accelerate their industrialization relative to the more technologically advanced economies that had to wait out the developmental processes. Malaysia has been a truly impressive case of the ability to take advantage of existing technology. However, as an economy increasingly incorporates existing technology, the gap between the technology leaders and the leapfrog developing economy narrows. When this gap reaches a critical state, the developing economy finds itself in direct competition with its previous technology mentors. If the economy reaches this point of saturation without sufficient intellectual capital to support the technology base it will, at best, stall, and more likely, regress. This has been the case for many of the leading economies around the globe. The primary example of this phenomenon is the United States. The typical content and methods of delivery utilized by the elementary and secondary educational institutions has been rendered obsolete by the rapid advance of technology. As industry demands new skills and abilities, the schools have failed to respond adequately. Most schools are in a "catch-up" mode, and are looking to business as a source of help. For economies around the world