Revamp? Why Bother?

Unceasingly, we are being regaled with criticisms about the appalling Malaysian educational standards. Education is THE catalyst and all-encompassing tool for the development of a nation failing which we can return to the caves. With each new Education Minister, we hear about reforms. However, there is still no improvement. The fact that any children attend private schools or make a pilgrimage across the Causeway or overseas speaks volumes. Does our Education Minister's latest statement excite us?

According to this article?

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today said his ministry was readying a study on a complete revamp of the existing education system, which should be complete by year’s end.

The deputy prime minister and education minister said the study will go beyond the scope of the 1956 Razak Report and encompass Malaysian education in its entirety.

“We will table it to the Cabinet and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. If he agrees that it is high time for us to make a total review, then we’ll do it,” Muhyiddin was quoted as saying by Bernama Online.

Why did the Education Minister refer to the 1956 Razak Report*? Post half a century of this Report, many other policies have been executed.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Is he admitting that the education system is in troubled waters? Please call a spade a spade.

One must walk before they can run. So, please IDENTIFY PROBLEMS in the current education system, instead of trying to encompass mumbo-jumbo crap? Such statements are meaningless - all din and no substance.

"Muhyiddin said there were now growing calls to evaluate the system for efficacy and to modernise its objectives to meet the government’s aim of achieving developed nation status." "He added that while great investments have been made towards improving education in Malaysia, this was often done without taking a holistic approach."

After spending billions to churn out thousands of unemployable graduates, what in the world is he talking about? Is he admitting all that money spent that have not added any economic value and progress to our nation? Where is the cream in all the statements? There is no REAL urgency to change. Is this mere rhetoric and hot air?

What did he mean 'done without taking a holistic approach'? Holistic? Please define!!!

This two-year Education Minister should provide facts and figures on HOW he bettered the education system better:

• number of graduates being churned out
• number of employed graduates versus those who are still hunting for jobs
• ranking of our public and private universities
• improvements to research and development in our universities
• progress/achievements of post-doctoral works, especially by faculty members of public universities
• a comparison of career prospects of graduates from public and private universities
• comments from companies with regards to our local graduates etc. etc.

What Malaysia REALLY needs would be educational reforms made without pomp or fanfare and free of any hidden agenda independent of political interference. Meritocracy has to rule. There isABSOLUTELY no other way. All students must compete on an even playing field. They must excel in the WORLD, not just the backyard of our kampung. Why settle for any half-past six policies that are tainted or mired in political cronyism? Why stunt and calcify young brains when they should be conquering the world? We cannot let them die in the backwaters of under-development.

While the leaders are still dithering, our kids remain unprepared for the REAL world. The moment they step an inch out of canland, they will surely wither - thanks to this kind of sub-par education.

All that money spent in return for??? Whither our future?

If our Education Minister really intends to implement reforms, he should examine how and why the current KBSR/KBSM has produced sub-standard students compared to the 60s and even earlier. If he fails to do so, we will soon see how the system will churn out students who do not know English or very little of it. With our mangled Manglish, where do we stand internationally?

Stop pussyfooting about educational reforms. Go for the jugular. HELP OUR NATION. Get the best that is already IN the country. We have talent and brains to bring the country up to the level when we were one of the three emerging tigers in SEA. Today, we are mere pussy-cats!

Will we ever have an Education Minister willing to take the bull by its horns to clean up this mess and propel our nation forward?

Dear Minister, a FULL revamp is imperative. Otherwise, why bother?

________________________________________________________
*1956 Razak Report
Some background information:

According to Wikipedia:

The Razak Report is a Malayan educational proposal written in the 1956.[1] Named after the then Education Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, its goal was to reform the education system in Malaya.[1] The report was incorporated into the Section 3 of the Education Ordinance of 1957 and served the basis of the educational framework for independent Malaya and eventually Malaysia.

The Report provides for Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil schools at the primary school level, and Malay and English schools at the secondary school level. Malay-medium schools are referred to as "national" schools while other schools are referred to as "national-type" schools. All schools are government-funded and use a common national curriculum regardless of school type.

Other provisions include:

• Formation of a single system of national education
• Commencement of a Malayan-orientated curriculum
• Conception of a single system of evaluation for all
• Recognition of the eventual objective of making Bahasa Melayu the main medium of instruction

You can access a digital copy of the 1956 Razak Report HERE. This site provides the background of the Razak Report in Item 3.2. This report HERE on the History of Education by by Hj Ahmad Zawawi bin Abdullah. You can also read Hyacinth Gaudart's paper HERE to better understand the background of the situation.

Further reading:

Muhyiddin: Total Review on National Education System Will Be Proposed

P Aruna, The Problem with Fresh Graduates

Globalisation, Affirmative Action and Higher Education Reforms in Malaysia: A Tightrope Walk between Equality and Excellence by S. Srinivasa Rao

Higher Education Reform:Challenges towards a Knowledge Society in Malaysia by AKIKO KAMOGAWA - masterwordsmith