KUCHING: Sarawak should introduce digital learning in schools as early as possible.
Emeritus Professor of World Competitiveness at Institute of Management Development (IMD) Lausanne, Professor Stéphane Garelli made the recommendation at the International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (IDECS) 2020 held at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here on Wednesday (Oct 7).
“In Switzerland, we are sometimes very slow in making sure our children are mastering technology completely.
“The problem there lies not with the children, but the teachers who have not been trained in the new technology.
“And sometimes the children are more aware and tech-savvy than the teachers in the classrooms,” Garelli said in his keynote presentation on ‘The Changing Global Economic Landscape & Sarawak Transformation in the Post Covid-19 Environment’ virtually at the conference.
He added that there was a need to improve the qualifications of the teachers and adjust the curriculum to ensure that the teachers could teach things the right way.
He also suggested a lot of vocational training and helping the different product-society so they would not be left behind in the digital era.
“Those who are already in the job market should be provided with the opportunity or possibility to complete their training or qualification with the latest technological issues.
“The main idea is not to be complex but to equip them with simple and basic knowledge such as how to use Zoom. It can change the lives of many people,” he added.
Asked what was holding businesses back in terms of benefitting from the digitalisation, he said, “The biggest problem for any business is its level of complexity.”
“I think we are in a world where we try sometimes to be very sophisticated but sometimes sophistication means complexification.
“It means the people are spending too much time managing the environment and not what they want to do. My advice is to try to simplify things as much as possible.
“I think a lot of countries are working on that. Some have committees or commissions on the simplification of procedures — not by having more laws or routes but having less,” he added.
