He then drew a reference to Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist who was recently named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”.

“We have Greta Thunberg, who is 16, who can talk about environmental issues. We should have more from the Muslim world. We need to expand our education,” he told the KLSummit 2019 during a session to discuss on the themes of education and national development.

Maszlee said the education system should have elements of humanity, so that it produces individuals who are passionate in community affairs and who can solve societal problems.

He said there is a need for education systems in Muslim countries to undergo reforms and revival.

“This (revival) is done by strengthening something that is weak, repairing something that is old and patching up something that is cracked,” he said.

He said among the reforms in the education system is to allow more space for “thinking” than “learning”.

He said the education system should be producing talents who can think and lead scientific discoveries.