Penang educationists share their views on Maszlee's resignation

Educationists in Penang have mixed feelings about the departure of Maszlee Malik from the Ministry of Education yesterday, but most agree that the Ministry of Education has a daunting task ahead to educate the nation in the new millennia.

Former don and political economist Shankaran Nambiar said the ministry has tremendous challenges ahead of it, adding that there are at least three functions that the ministry must serve.

"First, education can be an instrument for bringing about national unity.

"Second, education is essential for technological upgrading. Third and more immediately, employment and productivity depend on education," said the former lecturer, who hails from Penang.

Shankaran, who is also a senior fellow of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, expressed hope that whoever comes in as the new minister of education has a vision for education.

"Education must be seen as a tool for social transformation and nation-building but also economic development and technology acquisition," he stressed.

Since his resignation yesterday, a petition seeking his return as Minister of Education has gained more than 300,000 signatories, since it was launched at Change.org yesterday evening.

It is still uncertain who will replace Maszlee although Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa speculated that it would be someone with "powerful connections".

School principal Sangga Sinniah said Maszlee was very concerned about the wellbeing of students and teachers throughout his brief stint as a minister.

"After a two-and-a-half-hour conversation with Maszlee during his visit to my school on May 17 last year, I can sense how important students and teachers wellbeing were for him," said Sangga, who is well-known for his eco-warrior activities in Penang.

"He is so humble and kind when approaching any level of students in my school.

"He is so happy to introduce himself as 'uncle', not as a minister. He prefers students to call him uncle, that's how he wanted to touch every student's life," Sangga told Malaysiakini.

Sangga said he addressed Maszlee as "Menteri Berjiwa Murid" (Minister with students' welfare in his heart) although certain quarters labelled him as the "black shoe minister".

He added only teachers and parents understood how the introduction of black shoes lightened the burden for school children.

"Did you know how much time and energy have been saved in every household because of white shoe substitution?" he asked.

Sangga said Maszlee was the first minister who wanted schools to embrace environmental issues in daily teaching and learning activities.

He said that Maszlee aspired to introduce the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into Malaysia's education policy in the future.

"He always walks the talk when it comes to education for all, and this made every special needs child receive special attention from everyone," he stressed.

Sangga said Maszlee's mantra of love, happiness and mutual respect can never be forgotten by enthusiastic teachers in Malaysia.

For teacher Boo Soon Yew, it has certainly been a series of "misadventures" for Maszlee, which he thought was "quite sad".

Declining to go into details, Boo said: "It has been a case of not doing the things that should be done, and doing the things that should not be done."

"The courage and leadership were sorely missed in certain crucial situations that has its effects reverberating until now," he added.

Since helming the ministry, Maszlee has been heavily criticised for several policies, including the plan to adopt black school shoes by 2021 and over the introduction of Jawi in the Year 4 Bahasa Malaysia syllabus. - Mkini