The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Words and actions: Politicising education Posted: 18 Dec 2012 03:31 PM PST DEC 19 — In a recent article in the International Herald Tribune, the prime minister expressed concern about the challenges caused to Muslim countries by the rising numbers of young Muslims facing educational and employability issues, while being able to express their frustrations to the wider world using the Internet. "They aspire to world class education. And they demand open and accountable government." He also went on to say that "access to education is improving, but many young people still find that their qualifications do not match the opportunities available." It is indeed admirable that the prime minister has articulated some of the biggest issues of concern to young Malaysians and their parents which includes an open and accountable government that prioritises world class education for all, aligned to the needs of employers in the contemporary environment. Therefore it is all the more surprising that the actions of the government seem to bear no relationship with his views. While there are no Malaysian institutions of higher learning in the top 100 in the world, and Malaysian scores in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science study 2011 (TIMSS) for Year 4 and Form 2 students have been continuously falling, the education minister was quoted in March as having said that the Malaysian education system was better than that in the US, UK and Germany. Concerned parents spearheaded by the Parents Action Group on Education (PAGE) have been agitating for years for their children to continue to have the option to study Mathematics and Science in English, only to be completely rebuffed by the new education blueprint, to the point of no textbooks being made available in English for the coming school year. As the quality of Malaysian education declines continuously on all international benchmarks, the number of As awarded by local examination boards seem to be on a perpetual upswing. As the perception of the Malaysian public school system fall to new lows, the numbers of private and international schools rise exponentially, for those who can afford them. As the number of Malaysian students entering the best universities in the world stagnates, the number of private colleges of middling quality providing degrees at extortionate prices locally explodes. By politicians mixing issues of access to world-class education with linguistic, racial and religious issues, the situation is set to get even worse. The opposition coalition, also wary of a perceived electoral backlash from linguistic nationalists has steered clear of endorsing PAGE's stand on English in education, instead proposing to waive outstanding study loans offered under the PTPTN scheme. The prime minister openly states that for meaningful reforms to occur, he needs another mandate from the electorate, thus abdicating all responsibility for the current mess. Meanwhile too many college-going Malaysians are majoring in subjects that only lead to jobs in religious departments and an already-bloated civil service, the private sector cannot find graduates that can articulate a single cogent thought, and the brain drain of the best and the brightest continues. The class divide widens, with rich parents able to give their offspring a significant advantage over other Malaysian parents through providing access to world class education denied their less fortunate peers. Too often in Malaysia, the actions of those with power and responsibility do not match up with their rhetoric. This probably explains the difference in the PM's personal popularity ratings and that of the coalition to which he belongs. He says the right things more often than not, but the rest of his party and the government respond ineffectually at best, and exactly the opposite of what he preaches at worst. While the nation ponders the difference between 1 Malaysia and Malay first and politicians bicker over hudud, it may already be too late for some young Malaysians to make the best of their potential. Civil society must act now to pressure both BN and PR to announce clearly their views on the way forward for Malaysian education, so that voters can choose a vision that benefits their children the most, and hold them accountable for its implementation. The future of the nation is too important to be held hostage by hypocritical politics. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Politics and education don’t mix Posted: 18 Dec 2012 03:28 PM PST DEC 19 — There was a lot of outrage over Malaysia's scores in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011. But why was anyone surprised? Of course, when things like this happen, the finger pointing happens. Accusations of standards being lowered just to rack up higher scores. Noise. More noise. And next year, things will be back to status quo. Everything will be forgotten when once again, scores of exam-takers get all As. Because the parents will be happy. The students will be happy. Too happy to notice that very few Malaysians make the grade for Ivy League institutions. There'll be self-congratulations all around. Headmasters waving shiny plaques. Smiling students with certificates. No one cares to mention that this year's examination papers were significantly easier than the ones set 10 years ago. Or perhaps even five years ago. This is what happens when a politician heads the Education Ministry. The Education Ministry is all about brownie points. It's one of the "stepping stones" to becoming the Malaysian prime minister, something to mark off a politician's report card. It's never about the kids. It's all about the minister. Some grand, stupid, expensive scheme to make the minister look good. It would make the minister look bad if the scores this year go down, right? If fewer kids score all As, if passing percentages are lower. We can't make the minister look bad, can we? Then there's the insidious cartel of "supplementary" material for teaching. I personally think all the junk our kids take to school in the form of so-called textbooks and endless workbooks are good for only one thing: compost heaps. They're junk. They were junk 20 years ago when I was still in school and they're still junk now. Compare a standard Malaysian textbook to its equivalent in the UK and the US and the difference is like night and day. Infantile questions. Poorly drawn illustrations. Kindergarten standards. We force our kids to carry mountains of junk to school. And we pay for all that junk. How do we say we have world-class education when our kids are forced to rely on books and workbooks better suited for dumpsters? But the junk is based on equally rubbish syllabuses, while at the same time we bog our teachers down with so much paperwork they have less time to prepare for classes. The only real way to improve our education system is just to kick the politicians out of the classroom. They have no business there. When all they want are As, you create a system that is all about producing easy As. Or forcefeeding morality down their throats. When education stops being about political brownie points, that's when it will improve in Malaysia. Until then, expect our kids to be crippled by international standards. All for an "A." * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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