KUALA LUMPUR: The government needs to be more open and start using modern technology systems in various fields, especially in the national education system to give a shift to the teaching and learning methods in the country, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In the debate session on the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Sept 30), Dr Mahathir (Pejuang-Langkawi) said that currently there are many modern technologies that can help and facilitate teaching to be more effective, but they are not used.

The former prime minister, who is 96 years-old, pointed out that he himself learned many things just through YouTube which offers a variety of content and learning materials delivered by experts.

“In YouTube you can learn all kinds of things, because teaching is delivered by experts, that’s why I suggest that we use new technology in teaching our children in schools,” he said.

Commenting further, he stated that currently there are facilities to record various types of knowledge that can be played repeatedly, with the work of teachers made easier by simply having to handle the materials.

However, he said although there were several companies that had introduced the new method, unfortunately most of them were rejected and saw that dependence on teachers was still high.

“The old method of having a teacher to teach in the classroom is no longer enough and is not suitable for this age because we need to get more knowledge than before.

“In the past, a little knowledge was enough, but now we need more, especially in the age of information technology, artificial intelligence and so on which requires a lot of knowledge in science and technology,” he said. – Bernama