The important role of Education in achieving sustainable and inclusive green growth Day 2

-SE 06 CS2

By Zarlina Mohd Zamari

Satellite Event 06 entilted “The important role of Education in achieving sustainable and
inclusive green growth” was moderated by Mr. Ameri Shariff from UiTM (Perak) and the
much anticipated forum was given a welcoming speech by Yang Berhormat
Dato' Dr. Muhammad Amin bin Zakaria, Perak State Exco Member For Education, Science,
Environment And Green Technology. He highlighted that in the past, for Perak, economic
growth was crucial in the pursuit to eradicate poverty. However, today, the paradigm had
shifted and this resulted in the realization that socioeconomic growth needed to be green.
According to YB Dato’ Dr.Muhammad Amin, developmental management in Perak
addressed the issues of social and economic sustainability while taking into consideration
efficient use of resources, low carbon emission and inclusive social progress. State
government advocated comprehensive development of new policies as it continued to
monitor conservation of resources by actively promoting green lifestyle, creating public
awareness and financing research and marketing of relevant fields. He added that the state
embraced the government’s initiatives to mitigate the impact of climate change as listed in
the National Green Technology Policy announced in 2009 and adhered to the four major
pillars which were attaining energy independence, conserving the environment, enhancing
economic development through technology and improving the quality of life for all. His
concise speech ended with an expression of gratitude towards the academicians who were
invited to deliver their thoughts on the pressing issue of sustainability. Yang berhormat Dato’
Dr. Muhammad Amin strongly believed that more meaningful ideas would surface from the
discussion stating that Perak is, after all, ready to step up its efforts in implementing green
growth.

As the crowd began to increase in number, the moderator delivered the first question to all
three honorable speakers who were Dr Hezri Adnan, Director of Technology, Environment,
and Sustainability at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, Dr Ir.
Muhamad Gruntor Mansor Tobeng, the Managing Director of Gading Kencana Sdn Bhd and
Mr Crisanto S. Gualberto II, Chairman of the Costa De Madera Development. For the first
round of discourse, the speakers were invited to discuss on education and its influence on
efforts to implement and practise green growth development. Dr Hezri Adnan chose to talk
about the possibility of applying green technology in Perak. He presented the 6-Point Green
Growth and Sustainability Plan : one of them is to align Perak’s vision and policy goals to
Green Growth. The state was also required to develop an implementation plan to make the
transition towards green growth and sustainability. In line with this move, leaders must also
define the key sectors that will guide everyone towards the future that they want. In
addition, the state government must address policy implementation challenges and enforce
existing policies , law and regulations relevant to Green Growth. It has to build capabilities
towards sustainable development solutions and implementation as well as transform
governance towards a “whole-of-government” approach and mainstreaming Sustainable
Development. Nevertheless,based on his studies, Dr Hezri concluded that Perak must first
deal with the existing gaps which are constraining green growth development since there is
a high potential of Perak being the forerunner of operationalizing sustainable developmental
goals through green growth such as embedding Green Growth in Perak Amanjaya. Dr Hezri
reminded the attentive audience that the cost of inaction is far higher than implementing
the approach.

The intellectual discourse continued with a speech by Mr Crisanto S. Gualberto II who made
comparisons between development in Batangas province then and now. According to Mr
Crisanto, in the past, developers could identify any suitable areas and built residential areas,
factories and recreational parks on selected lands. However, today, there are many
ordinances, regulations, state policies, provincial policies and developers face a lot of
challenges in opening new areas because they will have to deal with issues of conservation
of water resources and they also have to take into consideration the number of people the
developers plan to locate in an area. Moreover, Mr Crisanto realized that there was an
attitude change among the people of Batangas today, thanks to education, as they began to
demand explanation on reasons behind the pressing need of conservation. He, therefore,
emphasized that education played a major role in changing the perspective of the people. To
further illustrate his points, Mr Crisanto talked about agricultural development in his home
front where the people benefit from creative innovation of produce such as coconut and
sustain their income from this economic effort. Without any doubt, Mr Crisanto announced
that green growth will be the main endeavor and major source of income for countries like
the Philippine and education is the backbone of this demand.

Dr Ir Muhamad Gruntor was the third speaker who carried the momentum of the discussion
excellently by sharing his personal experiences in the establishment of renewable energy,
particularly solar energy in this country. Through his casual sharing of knowledge, the
audience learned that many graduates who came to be interviewed for solar installation,
were not well-versed in this area. For his projects, most candidates came from the wiremen
with certificates such as PW3/PW4. Dr Ir Muhammad Gruntor was faced with more
challenges when his business shifted to solar hybrid because there were no graduates who
were trained in this area. Eventually, he had to send his staff for trainings with exorbitant
fees to finally create experts who were able to work for him. In short, in order to sustain the
expansion of green growth, Dr Ir Muhammad Gruntor suggested higher learning institutions
have to work closely with the industry players to produce graduates who are ready to
perform in the renewable energy sector. The mismatch between the industry and the
universities must be addressed if the government wishes to embark further into
sustainability especially for alternative energy. He also suggested that universities must
invite experienced individuals from the industry to teach because these people were experts
in their field. Comparatively, young lecturers who had just graduated without any working
experience could not deliver in terms of hands-on experience to the students. Hence, the
education sector must emphasize more on internships and industrial linkages to prepare
graduates for the expansion of renewable energy sector local and abroad.

As in any forum which involved education, members of the audience were eager to pick the
speakers’ brains on relevant issues. The floor opens with the first question from Mr Yusuf
Jaafar from MyHarapan and Datin Sapura from USIM who would like to know how to make
the synergy between industry and academia possible. Dr Ir Muhamad Gruntor again stressed
that universities must invite key players in the industry to teach at universities. With this
approach, the graduates learn more from these experts and they were able to relate
theories and practice. Khalidah Asyikin from State Education Department would like to know
the efforts from the industrial players to expose primary and secondary students to
importance of sustainability and green development. Dr Ir Muhamad Gruntor responded
that the group of engineers did organize visits to some schools and Gading Kencana also
welcomed students from all levels to visit its solar farm in Malacca. Lastly, Miss Shafika, an
engineer, questioned the speakers on conservation of areas which are affected by the
development of renewable energy such as a solar farm. Dr Ir Muhamad Gruntor assured her
that there was a buffer of 200 m between the last solar panel to closest residential area and
that companies which were involved in this effort would come out with incentives, short and
long term plans to contribute to the residents who are affected by the renewable energy
established areas.

In all, for sustainability and green growth to materialize, the public from all walks of life must
be well-informed of their significance and implications which await them. The time has come
for institutions of higher learning to re-assess their approaches in teaching and learning
particularly those involved in alternative energy. Mismatch between the industry and
educational institutions must be addressed in order to avoid the gap of human resource
once the nation embraces alternative energy in much larger scale.