De-politicizing education? Rubbish, Najib's new blueprint is ALL ABOUT POLITICS

Najib Razak, the prime minister, was reported to have said that with the ‘new’ education blueprint to be implemented in 2013 education in the country will be depoliticized to give a more challenging environment for teachers and students in schools.

But to most parents and educationists this must again be another flagrant fib on his part.

It’s obvious that by engaging foreign ‘experts’ to ‘rebrand’ the nation’s education system the sitting government has ignored local faculties of educationists – most of them a product of UMNO’s 55 years of ‘gear-shifting’ education policies.

The country has a pool of ‘professors’ and ‘educationists’ who are fully aware of the real problems facing the education system in the country but apparently the government does not seem to have much confidence in the local flairs.

Know less about education

The government is not tapping on the local know-how when it comes to what should be the best education policies for the country.  So sad that the government has to bank on foreign consultants or advisors to tell them what is best for the country’s education – a feel-good move indeed for those who know less about education.

The Malays would aptly say, “A bomoh (shaman) from a faraway village is always more potent than a local one”.

After 55 years of Independence, this syndrome of mistrust for local talents is a disgrace to the nation. This could either be that something is wrong with the quality of professors and educationists in the country or it might just be that the government is suffering from some ‘confidence crisis’ when it comes to roping in local talents to lever a big task.

But then many of these local talents are the product of the education system of the country. Does this in any way reflect on the poor quality of education in the country?

Strong credentials in education

It looks like the weak UMNO-led government has less confidence even in their team of leaders. First and foremost, there are countless queries from the people to how an education minister who knows less about education and more about politics could decide on a progressive education system for the country.

In almost all countries in the world an education minister must always be an individual who has strong credentials in education to hold the post. Singapore for instance does not believe in having an arm-chair education minister. The same goes with South Korea and Japan.

The education portfolio in progressive nations is usually held by those who have wide knowledge on education – not necessarily a politician. This is food for thought before the rebranded education blueprint is pored over and implemented by the government.

Failing to have such a dependable figure at the helm, the government has to rope in, among them, South Korean and Singapore consultants to do the job for the country. Locals who are more adept and who really do understand the reality of the nation’s education problems are passed over.

The government certainly must have paid a fortune for this exercise.  But this is the way UMNO-led team runs the state.

Purportedly, millions of dollars have been wasted on foreign consultants on image building of their leaders and the country. Using taxpayers’ money, they have paid overseas PR companies such as APCO, FBC and CNBC millions of dollars to promote individuals and the administration – bringing no significant outcomes to the people and the country.

Mooted by Mahathir

What has gone wrong with all the local expertise – a product of UMNO’s education policies of 55 years? This unnecessary hiring of foreign consultants to manage the country did not happen during Mahathir Muhamad’s administration (1981-2003) and is not happening in Penang under Lim Guan Eng or Selangor under Khalid Ibrahim.

They did or are doing things their own ways.

Even the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) mooted by Mahathir – his brainchild – was done without engaging any foreign consultants to do the groundwork. The policy was implemented in 2003 but, regrettably, it will be completely phased out by 2012.

The country spent almost RM5 billion on this project alone before it was officially abandoned by the present administration in 2009 – much to the chagrin of Mahathir, many parents and students.

The people are now sceptical about what has been proposed in another ‘rebranded’ education blueprint to be implemented in 2013 that is if Barisan wins the next general election. In all probability, it’s going to meet the same fate as the almost all the previous ‘pomp and grandiose’ education blueprints.

It’s appears like it’s going to be another political gimmick by the present weak government to pull the wool over the people’s eyes.

A sign of weak leadership

Another point of contention here is that if the rebranded education blueprint is worthy of praise why does the government still need feedback from the public? Does this mean that the ministry has no confidence in implementing the blueprint without the feedback from Malaysians?

Why not inputs and feedback before they employed the foreign consultants?

But then this is typical of UMNO and Najib who is perceived as a weak leader.  Neither is the education minister perceived as competent or qualified enough to talk about education.  When local expertise is ignored in favour of foreign consultants it signifies a sign of weak governance and the lack of nationalistic spirit that UMNO is fond of standing up for.

Are the leaders, the elites and the rich going to send their children to national schools beginning 2013 when the rebranded education blueprint is being implemented?  This will not happen, as this group of populace will still have faith in English education.

The rebranded education blueprint – whatever it is going to be – is only for home consumption and for UMNO’s political expediency.

The government not only has lost confidence in the local faculties, many of their leaders have also lost faith in the local education system. This is proven by the fact that their children are sent abroad for English education.

The elites and the rich in the country have followed their convenient footsteps. The cream of the crop among students is given scholarship to study overseas. The local education system is apparently for the non-elites – the poor, children from middle-class parents and also the rural populace.

Cosmetic covering

This is not the first time in the past 30 years the UMNO-led government has come up with an education blueprint. All the past blueprints have ended up a failure after spending billions in taxpayers’ money to implement them.

The ambitious rebranded education blueprint supposedly planned to run from 2013-2025 to ‘reform’ the education system and bring it on par with those in developed countries would be another let-down.  The people see no gist of reform in it but a mere cosmetic covering to the present dismal education system.

A feel-good factor is usually the talk of politicians and not the academicians.

A rebranding exercise is not going to address the real problems facing the education process in the country.  It will continue to affect the poor more than the rich. On the whole the blueprint lacks any new progressive elements but is solely brought into the picture to lull the people into thinking that by 2025 the country will become a totally ‘reformed’ nation.

The importance of English is ignored

The emphasis on technical and vocational education is nothing new in the rebranding exercise only that in the past 55 years the government has ignored this aspect of education. What is more crucial is the stress on English in making it more convenient and poised for students to do technical subjects.

The new rebranded education blueprint has failed to address the importance of English. When Singapore is smooth sailing with English as the medium of teaching in schools and South Korea having inherently and genetically talented population where education can be done in the mother tongue, Malaysians are caught in a paradoxical catch 22 situation – politics or education?

But even South Korea has not neglected the emphasis on English in their education system.

Not the first choice

Can the country get away with vernacular education which is politically relevant in this country? Obviously this cannot be done. There are Religious, Chinese and Tamil schools to cater for various ethnic groups in the country.

The reality is that vernacular education will remain as long as the national schools are not the first choice for Malaysians.  But for political reasons national schools are becoming more religious centric and this is shooing Malaysians away from the schools.

Beyond this, there are still exclusive schools for certain ethnic groups and this does not augur well with the education system, as many students feel that they are discriminated against.

The people see a divisive education process in the country. And the national school has failed to attract all Malaysians.

Room for English medium schools

If Najib is sincere in depoliticising education there must be room for English medium schools for children from the poor and middle-class families. Many educated Malaysians consider English as their first language as they speak English at home.

There are also less educated parents who want their children to be educated in English.

These groups want English medium schools to be brought back into the system. They want students to be given a choice to learn the sciences in English. And they are significant voters that will decide on the outcome of the next general election.

The rebranded education blueprint has ignored this appeal from most parents.

It is irony that when the government allows International schools to flourish in the country to cater for the rich it cannot provide English medium schools for the ordinary people. This policy again is tinged with politics.

Going by mother tongue education – which itself is to fulfil the political needs – the UMNO-led government has neglected the fact that English is widely spoken as mother tongue in the country. This is one area that the politically puffed-up and rebranded education blueprint has not factored in.

When the blueprint has not starved off the need for vernacular education it has not factored in English as a vernacular language. This is just discriminating against those who want English to be used as the medium of instruction in schools or teach and learn the sciences in this important language.

Not at the expense of the national language

Singapore education system never ignored vernacular education in the early years of the nation in the mid-60s. There were Chinese, Tamil and English schools. The Chinese and Tamil schools faced a natural ‘death’ just after  a few years of existence when parents started to send their children to the English medium school and this really helped the nation to unite the people and in nation building.

Education in Singapore is not tinkered with politics or religion. Children in English medium schools are not deprived of mother-tongue education as they are given the choice to learn the language as a subject.

Rebranding the education system is again a waste of taxpayers’ money. Education is best approached in a multi-racial society when choice is given to the people. This, of course, will not be at the expense of the national language – the lingua franca that every Malaysian will learn in all schools.

Najib’s government is known for its pedantic acronyms to describe the fantasies of transformation and reviews. But on the ground all these jargons are not going to see any progress in education.

The advisory panel has mentioned about bilingual education but this is nothing new. With the quality of education the country has bilingual education on paper is not going to guarantee that children will grasp the English language – a language of international importance.

Endorsing bilingualism education – Malay and English – is nothing new.  They are now practising this in schools where all subjects are taught in Malay or the vernacular language and leaving English alone to be taught as a subject. This approach has actually made students neglect English.

Backlash from voters

English is not neglected in countries like Japan, China and South Korea. English is the medium of teaching in Singapore. English is emphasised in the Philippines and India.

At least students should be given a choice to study in a language of their choice. If politics and nationalism are the issues here why then allow the sprouting of private schools for the rich in the country?  Why are the politicians and the rich sending their children overseas for English education? This smacks of hypocrisy.

In the Malaysian context it should be that English is still the lingua franca for the sciences.  Technical and vocational subjects need English. The sciences taught in normal schools need English. The best option would still be that these subjects be taught in English if there is a request for it.

The better option would of course be the return of English medium schools. Students and parents can choose the language or medium of teaching and learning based on their own discretion and the government should provide them the avenues.

Merely vocalising that ‘the mastery of the English language is a valuable asset’ is too political a statement. Political rhetoric cannot be transformed into reality if there is no freedom for the people to choose the type of education they need.

Najib is wrong again. It’s all over again about politics that has fiddled the rebranded education blueprint for fear of a backlash from voters in the next general election.

Malaysia Chronicle