The decline of quality

 

According to the study, Malaysia had encountered the greatest drop among the 59 countries in 2011. Averagely, Malaysian students scored 474 points in mathematics in 2007 but 440 points in 2011, falling from the ranking of 26th to 20th. As for science, Malaysian students scored 471 in 2007 and 426 in 2011, falling from 21st to 32nd.

Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily 

Politicians have been busy confronting with each other and all they care now is just votes. I believe that they have neglected the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) results.

According to the study, Malaysia had encountered the greatest drop among the 59 countries in 2011. Averagely, Malaysian students scored 474 points in mathematics in 2007 but 440 points in 2011, falling from the ranking of 26th to 20th. As for science, Malaysian students scored 471 in 2007 and 426 in 2011, falling from 21st to 32nd.

Although the scores and rankings attract more attention, I am more concerned about the decline of quality among students and the younger generation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Ministry Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin pointed out last month that the Ministry targeted 60% of new Science stream students nationwide, but achieved only less than 20%. Therefore, the government would take various measures to increase the number of Science stream students, including considering tax breaks for parents.

The TIMSS results reflected the factors behind the sharp decline in the number of Science stream students. Students are unable to master Mathematics and Science when they lack the ability to think logically. How would they dare to choose Science stream if they are not good in the subjects?

According to the National Education Blueprint preliminary report, out of 74 countries participating in PISA 2009+, Malaysia performed in the bottom third for Reading, Mathematics, and Science. The results of PISA and the TIMSS have consistently proven that the ability of in-depth thinking among Malaysian students are still at a low level.

The lack of in-depth thinking ability will cause people unable to solve problems with knowledge. It could even lead to the lack of analytical skills. These have explained why there are so many problems in the country.

Politics is chaotic as politicians lack the ability to think. As a result, they make incoherent statements. The rare earth refinery issue has exposed the brutal facts.

A recent report pointed out that many people, including artists and dignitaries, believe that spiritualists and shamans can cure them and as a result, many were cheated and some women were even raped. According to the police, a total of 243 people were cheated in the first 10 months of this year and Chinese alone accounted for 93 people. The total amount of losses involved is as high as RM12,499,665.

If fake spiritualists can turn believers into billionaires overnight, why do they still need to work? Who to blame if we are fooled because we cannot think logically?

Meanwhile, the popularity of the Internet has also weakened the people's ability to think as nowadays, everyone just browses the Internet and resulted in the fall of concentration and interpretation ability. Therefore, they just parrot what others say.

The results of the annual government examinations, including the UPSR, PMR, SPM and the STPM have been getting better year by year and more and more people have scored straight As. Is it because the authority has lowered the standards or the examination candidates have precisely spotted the questions, causing the government not aware of the decline of quality?

The quality of the people must be above "average" to successfully transform the economy and turn the country into a high-income state.

Politicians should stop the war of words and pay more attention to education as the top priority now is to enhance the people's quality.