KUCHING: Swinburne’s Head of Business School Associate Professor Dr Lim Weng Marc has won the National Outstanding Educator Award at the Private Education Excellence Awards this year held in conjunction with the National Teacher’s Day Celebration at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Dr Lim, who is from the Faculty of Business, Design and Arts, was represented by his brother Lim Weng Eu, who received the award from the Education Ministry’s Private Education Department director Datin Seri Nor Zamani.
The Private Education Excellence Awards is held annually by the Private Education Co-operative of Malaysia with the support of the Education Ministry and Emerald Publishing since 2015.
The award recognises deserving educators from the Malaysian private education sector who have made outstanding contributions to education.
Dr Lim was selected as the winner in the category for educators aged 40 and below in recognition of his excellence in teaching and learning through the LABS (Learning contracts, Authentic learning, Blended learning, Scaffolding) pedagogy at Swinburne’s Sarawak campus.
The LABS pedagogy is an integration of key pedagogies formulated by Dr Lim in response to the need to reach learners of today and transform them into career and future-ready graduates.
Meanwhile, commenting on the award received, Dr Lim said that private education is more important today than before.
“Education is a necessity for the development and progress of any nation. Without a solid education sector, other industries will struggle with the lack of quality knowledge capital and human resources,” said Dr Lim.
He added that while private education may appear to be a lucrative business, its cost today is especially high as the funding depends largely on student enrolment and monies generated by highly qualified and skilled academics through competitive research grants and consultancy projects.
“The private education sector has been supplementing and complementing the government in providing education to local and international students since 1936, with an estimated contribution of RM50 billion to the country’s economy.
“In addition, private higher education institutions today provide more than half of tertiary and post-tertiary education in the country, saving the government billions in educational expenditure. These noteworthy contributions highlight the importance of private education in delivering the educational needs not only for the young and locals, but also the matured and internationals,” remarked Dr Lim.
Advising private education institutions not to rest on their laurels, he emphasised on the need for continuous improvement to remain at the forefront of development.
“Private education institutions must continue investing in their academics and professional staff, strengthening their reputation in world rankings, and more importantly, making sure that they are always delivering graduates and research findings that will empower companies with the knowledge capital and skillsets necessary to succeed in future marketplaces,” said Dr Lim.
