Five ways to improve education in national schools

The quality of education in our national schools is of paramount importance as it is a key determinant of the quality of our nation’s human capital, economic growth, global competitiveness, innovation and technological advancement. We also need to empower and “future-proof” our young Malaysians to thrive in the rapidly changing and disruptive workplace of the future due to the fourth industrial revolution, besides being able to function productively and harmoniously in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society.

Regrettably, the quality of our national school system leaves much to be desired primarily due to the fact that our political leaders have sacrificed meritocracy, competent school leadership and quality teaching for mediocrity, politics and an overdose of social reengineering. Not surprisingly, an increasing number of middle-class Malaysian parents are sending their children to private and international schools if they can afford it.

The fact that our national school system needs immediate and drastic transformation is clearly evident. In the 2018 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Malaysia (Form Two students) scored merely 461 in Mathematics and 460 in Science as compared to Singapore that scored 616 and 608 respectively.

Similarly, according to the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) 2018 report, Malaysian students ranked 57th out of 79 countries in terms of reading proficiency, 48th in Mathematics and 49th position for Science.

A bitter pill to swallow is the fact that Malaysia’s quality of school education even lags behind that of Vietnam, a lower-income nation, by a wide margin. Vietnamese students ranked 4th, 13th and 24th respectively in terms of Science, reading proficiency and Mathematics. For the record, Singaporean students were ranked second best in the world in all three stated fields.

To make matters worse, English proficiency has also deteriorated over time and this is one of the causes of the unemployment (besides lack of soft skills and the required technical competence) of more than 200,000 Malaysian graduates.

Another area of grave concern is teacher quality. According to the World Bank’s Malaysia Economic Monitor report on High-Performing Education published several years ago, 46 percent of principals reported a lack of qualified teaching staff as a constraint in enhancing teaching quality.

Additionally, researchers from the Higher Education Leadership Academy observed 125 lessons in 41 schools across Malaysia. They found that 50 percent of the lessons were delivered unsatisfactorily with a focus on passive and surface learning rather than on active and deep learning which are necessary to cultivate higher-order thinking skills in students.

In short, the products of our school system are generally ill-prepared either for higher education or work. Our students lack critical and creative thinking skills because our education system promotes conformity and uniformity.

Worse still, they have been “conditioned” to be spoon-fed. As aptly stated by veteran journalist Johan Jaaffar, national schools have become Malay schools and have failed spectacularly to become the school of choice for non-Malay students. In the words of former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam, “… the quality of education in these schools is known to be so low that they (non-Malays) have no confidence their children will get the right or proper education there.”

Transforming our schools

The first step in transforming our national school system is to determine the desired outcomes of Malaysian education: “What kind of knowledge, skills, values and personal traits should students have to enable them to thrive in the dynamic workplace and to function productively in society as ethical citizens?”

To my mind, Malaysian students should possess adequate disciplinary knowledge (conceptual understanding); be self-confident and achievement-oriented; persuasive and effective communicators; demonstrate integrity and a strong work ethic; fast, self-directed, self-reflective and lifelong learners; resilient; demonstrate good interpersonal and teamwork skills; good problem solvers with analytical and creative minds; computer and information literate; and productive and responsible citizens with inter-cultural tolerance.

Towards this end, schools should provide a high quality, broad-based and holistic education with emphasis on cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, moral intelligence, spiritual intelligence, physical well-being and aesthetic aspect.

Learning in Malaysian schools should shift from rote learning to conceptual understanding (deep learning) and real-world applications (authentic learning); from classroom learning to lifelong learning; from students as passive learners to active learners; from one-size-fits-all to customised learning; and from lower-order thinking to higher-order thinking.

In the 21st century school, teachers need to function primarily as facilitators of learning and mentors and not merely as dispensers of knowledge.

Second, we need to recruit teachers based strictly on meritocracy and certain core attributes such as willingness to learn, strong communication and interpersonal skills, and being passionate about teaching. It’s no secret that the ethnic makeup of the teaching profession does not currently reflect the broader Malaysian population.

Hiring proper candidates into the teaching profession is extremely important as teacher quality is the most significant school-based factor in determining student outcomes. Research findings show that over 30 percent of the variance of school student achievement resulted from professional characteristics of teachers, teaching skills and classroom climate. Indeed, students placed with high-performing teachers are likely to progress three times faster than those placed with low-performing teachers.

Simply put, the quality of a system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. In this regard, the world’s top-performing school systems recruit teachers from the top third of their academic cohort, pay good starting salaries, and undertake high-quality teacher professional development programmes to ensure effective instruction in the classroom. Take heed that poor selection decisions can result in up to 40 years of poor teaching.

Third, we must ensure effective school leadership as the quality of school leaders is the second biggest school-based factor in determining student outcomes, after teacher quality. Effective school leaders (transformational school leadership with a strong focus on instructional leadership) can raise student outcomes by as much as 20-25 percent.

Transformational school leaders are visionary, inspirational, change-adept, and more importantly, they nurture a high-performance school culture which brings out the best in others and transforms them into peak performers. Accordingly, we must ensure that our school leaders are strictly appointed based on meritocracy and leadership competencies.

Fourth, it is important to adopt an integrated and systemic approach (and not a piecemeal approach) towards transforming schools. School transformation efforts must encompass clear student outcomes; a broad-based and holistic curriculum; competent teacher recruitment and development; effective school governance; varied and student-centric instructional strategies; optimisation of e-learning, appropriate assessment and feedback, and a high-performance school culture committed to excellence and continuous improvement.

Fifth, both the Education Ministry and schools must ensure that there is a constructive alignment between learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities, and the assessment tasks.

I sincerely hope that this frank and sincere commentary of mine will stir up a healthy and frank discussion among fellow Malaysians. Our nation’s future and the wellbeing of its citizens in today’s highly competitive and uncertain world are greatly dependent on high-quality education in our schools.

Take heed that no amount of education reforms will bring about the desired outcomes without first having quality and dedicated teachers, high-performing school leaders, and a nurturing school climate that brings out the best in both students and teachers. - Mkini

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RANJIT SINGH MALHI is a widely-quoted authority on self-leadership, peak performance and soft skills. He has written six books on personal excellence, soft skills and management, three of which have been translated into Arabic.

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