No to elite kindies - quality early childhood development for all

 

MP SPEAKS | The proposed elite kindergarten (tabika) is a bad idea. The government’s proposal to create an elite tabika by whatever name it may be called is ill-advised. It was announced previously that the government will establish one with a better curriculum for children whose parents have a higher financial capacity to pay.

Rural Development Deputy Minister Mohamad Abdul Rahman now explains that the proposal is to meet the demand from M40 families. However, he did not clarify whether the parents need to pay higher fees. 

Although the deputy minister now says there will be no difference in the curriculum, the question remains as to why there is a need for M40 parents to pay higher fees for the same or better curriculum. 

Why can’t the government allocate more funding so that all children irrespective of their parents’ financial capabilities be given quality education? Are children of poor families condemned to receiving poor quality education beginning in the starting gates of life at the pre-schooling stage?

Sustainable Development Goals' Target 4.2 

The Rural Development Ministry appears to have failed to consider the government’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). SDG 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities. Education is a fundamental human right which is indispensable for the achievement of sustainable development. 

SDG 4 provides that early childhood development will be a priority focus for the 21st century. It is explicitly mentioned in Target 4.2 that by 2030, countries should ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education. 

The greatest attention should be paid to the word “quality” in Target 4.2. The Rural Development Ministry also appears to have failed to consider SDG 10 - to reduce inequality.

Inequality matters

This elite tabika idea shows the present government is either insensitive to issues of inequality or there is a lack of political will to address the real issues of inequality. The root cause of inequality and poverty is not racial superiority or inferiority as some will have us believe but poor socioeconomic policies. 

It also reveals the present government’s lack of understanding of the linkages between early childhood development and the lifelong course of inequalities.

It is the gap between the rich and the poor that is pulling us apart. For decades our political leaders were merely paying lip service on the need to address inequality. Few concrete steps were actually taken to reduce inequality. 

The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few led to undue political influence to implement policies and programmes in favour of the elite at the expense of the common citizens. It led to elite capture of the government. 

This ultimately robbed citizens of natural resource revenues, produced unfair tax policies and encouraged corrupt practices. The consequences were worsened accountability and poor social inclusion. It resulted in the biggest kleptocracy in the history of the world. Inequality is the by-product of elite capture of government policies and programmes.

Elite capture and recapture

The present uncertain and unstable political environment are due to the political/economic elite seeking to recapture or rather seeking to maintain the recapture of the government following the shocking setback in the 14th general election. The current political situation is a push back by the political/economic elite to regain control of the country’s resources and access to the nation’s coffers. 

In these circumstances, regaining and maintaining political power has taken top priority while issues like addressing inequality have become secondary or relegated to the lower echelons who possess narrower perspectives of the issues. Thus, we have a poorly thought out idea.

Hampered growth 

Those who came out with this elite tabika idea appears to have lost sight of the fact that it is inequality which stops us from beating poverty and achieving equality between women and men, amongst the different ethnic groups and have divided us accordingly. 

High inequality implies a large concentration of people at the top or at the bottom of the income distribution chain, thereby hollowing out the middle-income group. This creates social tension in society that may result in political instability and social conflicts. 

Inequality comes at the expense of a less stable and less efficient economic system. Rising inequality slows down poverty reduction. High inequality weakens economic growth. Yet, certain political leaders, instead of reducing this dangerous divide, are pushing and driving a bigger wedge between the citizens. 

We so often hear statements such as this: “The government did not give you the lucrative contract you needed to survive but you should be proud the government has given it to a member of your ethnicity even though he is already rich.” Inequality is not inevitable. It is a political choice.

The tragedy of this elite tabika idea is that the government has no idea it is making the inequality trap more difficult for the poor to get out of. Education is said to be the great equaliser. It is not. Education is the tool for use by a responsible government to fight inequality. It is the government who is the equaliser.

But in our case, the equaliser has abdicated his responsibility. When good education can only be accessed by families with money, it undermines social mobility, it ensures that if you are born poor, you and your children will die poor, no matter how hard you work. It also undermines our society, as the children of the wealthy are segregated from the children of ordinary families from an early age.

Segregation causes social exclusion

When schooling is segregated by class, wealth, ethnicity or other signifiers of privilege and exclusion, this cements inequality. Segregated patterns of schooling build segregated communities, driving a wedge between the haves and have-nots, right at the start of life.

Conversely, good-quality public education for all can be a powerful engine for greater equality. Good education reduces poverty, boosts opportunity for all, brings society together and supports democratic societies.

Universal education

In order to reduce inequality, education needs to be universal. Government investment in free education is crucial for building equality because it gives every child a fair chance, not just for those who can afford to pay. 

Public education face challenges in terms of learning outcomes, but the answer is adequate government funding, not turning to profit-making organisations or extracting higher fees from parents. For-profit schools are a dangerous diversion from what is needed to deliver education for all. 

Unequal education has serious implications for society, as well as individuals. A segregated system in which a low-quality education is available to the majority while the more privileged can pay for a better education, does little to facilitate social cohesion or build a sense of unity. 

Access to quality early childhood development is fundamental to addressing poverty, inequality, promoting social inclusion and sustainable futures for all.

---

WILLIAM LEONG JEE KEEN is the MP for Selayang. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.