Is Quality Education Our Biggest Issue?

Quality education is malaysia’s biggest issue, according to Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Kassim, a co-founder of G-25, the group of 25 ex-senior civil servants.  There was no issue with “quantity education” as Malaysia already had a favourable teacher to pupil ratio.

Quality needs improvement according to Tan Sri Sheriff. The weakness is also in school discipline. In remote areas, teacher absenteeism is rampant. Some teachers bring their agenda on race and religion into the classroom.

Tan Sri Sheriff also said parents wanted more teaching hours in primary schools for English, Mathematics and Science, just like in Chinese schools, so their children are better qualified for the job market. There are also complaints that the primary school curriculum spends too much time on religion for Malay students. During religious classes, the Malays and non-Malays have to be physically separated.

Source: themalaymailonline.com

Some parents sacrifice everything by sending them to private schools. Alternatively, if they can’t afford it, they send their children to Chinese vernacular schools instead according to Tan Sri Sheriff. He urged the government to reform national schools to make them the first choice for parents, like in the 60s and 70s.

He said Malaysia has all the physical facilities and teachers but what is lacking is the political courage to empower the local district education office and headmasters to carry out the Education Ministry’s policy of making schools truly multicultural to attract all races to study under one roof.

A recent report in theSun quoted some stakeholders as saying that despite numerous revamps and policy changes, the education system may be heading for failure. Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) president Datin Azmah Abdul Rahim said it was frustrating to see the top administration responsible for the nation’s education system not realising their shortcomings.

A former secondary school teacher said changes in the education system were mainly in the syllabus but teachers were not given the right tools to educate students.

Tool is one thing. Then you have the constant bickering about English and Bahasa Malaysia. Indonesia has progressed significantly in English – just listen to their key ministers speak in English confidently in foreign forums. We have regressed and are happy to be the proverbial “katak bawah tempurung”.

The MoE will speak about the straight A students for SPM- over 10,000! Ask them to sit for “O” levels or its equivalent, then you know how they are doing. Many who go overseas realise the wide gap they face. It’s not just content but language.

When we invest in religious studies are we planning for more religious teachers? Perhaps, the Saudi government which is reforming could advise on the failures of their previous policy. Call MBS and see what he thinks of the new Saudi Arabia.

I have said this and will say it again, we need 2-3 languages, we need maths and science and we need a worldview of history – unless we believe in living under the “tempurung” forever!

Reference:

Quality education our biggest issue, says Sheriff, Azman Ujang, https://newswav.com, 

13 July 2022