Islamic values, market needs and higher education curriculum: the quest for comprehensive development

Abstract

Development has been, and is, a central concern for Muslim countries for the most part of the 20th Century. Over the decades, development has taken a much wider connotation than was first discussed. From the simple growth models of the 1950s and 1960s, there has been a growing acceptance that development has to be holistic. In 1999, the World Bank introduced the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF) which very clearly stated that development should be viewed as a multi-dimensional process if it was to be seen as a meaningful and sustainable process. In the case of Malaysia, since the 1980s, there has been sustained policy measures to complement economic development with 'value-based policies' such as the Look East Policy and the Inculcation of Islamic Values Policy. The Sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-1995), as part of the National Development Policy (NDP, 1991-2000), stated very clearly that "the objective of the NDP is to attain balanced development in order to create a more united and just society" (p. 4) requiring a Malaysian society with high moral values and ethics (p. 53). The emphasis on balanced development was reiterated in the Seventh Malaysia Plan 1996-2000, that emphasized 'religions, customs and traditions' (p. 28) as the basis for moral and ethical values. The National Vision Policy (NVP), 2001-2010 continues this emphasis by highlighting the need to 'develop a generation of resilient youths' (Third Outline Perspective Plan, 2001-2010: 26), who are equipped with appropriate skills and knowledge as well as the right values. This distinction between providing knowledge and skills and having 'good values' is very relevant to the topic of this study. It is our contention that good and correct values are part of the 'social capital' which have implications on the effectiveness of any developmental effort. More recently, the Malaysian government introduced Islam Hadhari, a new approach to 'returning' Muslims to the true teachings of Islam, one that promoted, among other things, peace, progress and prosperity for all.