Creative thinking skills for a 21st century Muslim educational system

Abstract

After achieving independence 60 years ago, various changes, progress and modernization has been achieved by Malaysia. But one thing is obvious, Malaysian still relies heavily on ideas, thoughts and technology borrowed from other countries. This dependence if persistent in the long run will certainly bring many disadvantages. Malaysian people and Muslims from other countries as well, should be smarter and more creative to create new sciences and technologies without depending directly on external parties. However, the effort to produce many creative individuals is facing various obstacles. One such obstacle is a barrier contained in the education system itself. This article attempts to peel off the obstacles in Malaysian education system. The exam-oriented education system has been around for a while and indeed it's not an easy thing to change it. In Malaysia, the Ministry of Education steps in abolishing the PMR public examination and replacing it with the Assessment Test School-based Form Three (PT3) has been an excellent effort in promoting Higher Orders Thinking Skills (HOTS) among the young people. Consequently, more aggressive measures should be taken in changing the education system to emphasize intrinsic motivation to reproduce new Islamic creative figures which can revitalize the Islamic civilization to the fullest.