Education is more than just degrees, students told

Star: BANGALORE: Broaden your minds while studying abroad. This is Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s message to Malaysian students here, who are mostly aspiring doctors.
Stressing that the true value of education covered more than the process of getting degrees, he said students, especially those studying overseas, should not remain within their own small and familiar circle but should absorb all the experiences of their new environment including making friends.
“Many of our students abroad tend to see what is around them but don’t really observe what they can learn and store in their memory banks. Sadly, they don’t analyse and rationalise or make comparisons,” he said at a dinner with Malaysian students here on Saturday night.
He said India was an excellent place for Malaysian students to get a view of the changing world and see how a developing country that used to be bogged down by complicated issues and problems was now emerging as an economic power.
Najib said Malaysia needed leaders at all levels and the onus was on today’s students to always think in terms of leadership, irrespective of whatever courses they were pursuing.
“Going by India’s experience, it is leadership of its young people that has transformed the country into what it is today. We have seen how small Indian firms have evolved into global giants through their leadership and innovation initiatives,” he said.
“We need more leaders in many fields, so that the sum total of each can generate the extra boost to catapult us into developed nation status,” he added.
He said Malaysia already had a proven track record of social mobility, with each generation of the population doing better than the previous one.
“We have shown that with hard work and education, Malaysians can rise above their economic status. Even if you are at the bottom of the heap, you can still strive for the sky and make it,” he said.