DEPUTY Prime Minister II Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has called for a global overhaul of education to equip future generations with the skills, ethics, and resilience needed to navigate an uncertain world.
Speaking at the Higher Education Ministerial Forum under the theme “The World Beyond 2030: Towards a Resilient Future through Education,” he told delegates that education is “not merely a tool for advancement, but the most transformative force shaping the destiny of nations and the soul of humanity.”
He stressed that as 2030 approaches, the world faces technological disruption, climate uncertainty, and geopolitical volatility, making it “a defining moment to reimagine global cooperation, guided by the lessons of the past and the aspirations of a new generation.”
“Resilience is not merely about recovery; it is the capacity to anticipate, adapt, and transform in the face of uncertainty — the courage to sustain hope when systems falter and values are tested,” he said.
“Education builds that capacity. It cultivates critical thinkers, empathetic citizens, and courageous innovators.”
Highlighting Malaysia’s initiatives, the Deputy Prime Minister said the nation is embedding AI literacy and digital fluency across its education system to ensure learners “become masters of technology, not servants to it,” while lifelong learning and TVET programmes are being strengthened to enable citizens to “upskill, reskill, and reinvent themselves continuously.”
On climate change, he emphasised that education must not only teach about the environment but “educate for the planet,” citing Malaysia’s Green TVET initiatives and the National Energy Transition Roadmap as examples of embedding sustainability into learning.
Looking ahead, he called for a “New Global Compact for Education” to equip humanity not just to survive, but “to shape [the future] with wisdom, empathy, and courage,” and urged governments, institutions, civil society, and youth to work together so that “education itself becomes the solution to crises.”
“Because the future will not be inherited. It must be educated into existence. Let us build that future — together. For our people. For our planet. For our shared humanity,” he added. - November 5, 2025
