22 January 2014| last updated at 06:19PM

Stressing the importance of values based education, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told participants at the Education World Forum 2014 here yesterday that ignoring values, ethics and spirituality is no longer acceptable as about five billion of the world's population was involved in the major religions.

The deputy prime minister and education minister said it was also integral in creating a harmonious and diverse society through education, and to counter-balance the more secularising elements of education.

"I strongly believe that civilisation and the advancement of humankind hinges on values, which then drives certain actions and decisions. In this regard, there is a need to embed ethics and spirituality in the education system to counter the oft-mentioned education without a soul dilemma.

"The education philosophy of Malaysia, being a successful multi-religious and multicultural society, is built upon these objectives for nurturing well-rounded individuals," he told the largest gathering of education ministers in the world here to discuss future practices and assess common issues and problems during his three-day working visit to London from Monday.

In this regard, he said, various efforts had been undertaken in the country including strengthening Islamic and moral education.

He stressed that learning outcomes required new measurements and yardsticks, complementing the more conventional international benchmarks such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

"This is in tandem with Eastern wisdom that recognises that learning is about being, and not about having, as we see today." Muhyiddin's speech during a plenary ministerial session at the forum touched on the decade ahead for education in Malaysia.

EWF, held for the first time in 2004, is an internationally recognised ministerial forum and is attended this year by 97 ministers from 100 countries at two venues here - Westminster Conference Centre and Excel Exhibition, and Conference Centre, London.

The theme for EWF this year is "Planning for 2015; policy-making catalyst for a decade: measurement, reach and enterprise".

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Muhyiddin: Values, ethics, spirituality vital to education system