Sslee blog
Malaysia badly needed Education Reform
Dear all,
A comment I posted at Tun Mahathir's blog:
Dear Tun Dr Mahathir,
A video share among my WhatsApp groups:
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela
I just finished watching Deng Xiaoping at History's Crossroads/Inflection Points (历史转折中的邓小平) a 2014 TV biopic series based on the life of Deng Xiaoping. Malaysia was at our history’s crossroads/inflection points when PH won 2018’ GE14 with promised reforms but alas failed to deliver. Who will be the Deng of Malaysia at our current Malaysia’s crossroads?
Following Mao's death in September 1976, Deng make his third political comeback and in December 1978 at the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee. Having inherited a country beset with extreme poverty, deep social conflict, disenchantment with Communism and institutional disorder resulting from the chaotic political movements of the Mao era, Deng started the "Boluan Fanzheng" ("拨乱反正") program, reversing most of the Cultural Revolution policies, which brought the country back to order by the early 1980s. From 1977 to early 1979, he resumed the National College Entrance Examination program that had been interrupted by the Cultural Revolution for ten years, initiated the historic Reform and Opening-up of China ("改革开放"), designated special economic zones including Shenzhen.
At the very beginning of the period of economic reform, Deng Xiaoping viewed education as the foundation for the ‘Four Modernisations’: modern agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology. In 1983 he proposed ‘Three Orientations’ for the Chinese education system — ‘education must be oriented to modernisation, to the world, and to the future’. In the same year, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council promulgated the Outline of Education Reform and Development in China, stressing ‘a strong nation lies in its education and a strong education system lies in its teachers’.
Later, in 1997, the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party decided that the national development strategy would be based on science and education. In 2004, the State Council issued The Action Plan for Invigorating Education 2003 to 2007, which placed education as the top strategic priority for the development of a modern China. According to the National Statistics Bureau of China (2012), the Chinese government has substantially increased the level of investment in education since 2006 (from 5,161 billion Yuan (2.82 per cent of GDP) in 2005 to 20,772 (4 per cent of GDP) billion Yuan in 2012). More recently, in 2010, the Ministry of Education enacted the Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020), which was aimed at transforming China into a leading knowledge- and technology-based country.
Extract from Koon Yew Yin: New Road Map to a Developed Nation:
Education Road Map:
A nation’s greatest asset is its people, and it is shameful and unacceptable if, after all the investment on education – Malaysia’s percentage of education as a proportion to total gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the highest in the world – this goes to waste. The situation of poor quality Malaysian human capital that is further falling behind in standards and skills compared with our counterparts in Asia and the rest of the world can only spell disaster in our efforts to arrive at the final destination of our road map. Unless the Government engages in drastic policy reform and a reversal of disastrous policies described here, it is driving our country– and our young generation especially - towards one of the biggest roadblocks in our ambition to become an advanced country.
In fact the poor human capital issue - not the physical capital one - has drawn concern from the private sector for a long time. According to a 2010 CEO Survey conducted by Monash University, employers cited the poor quality of human resources as one of the greatest challenges being faced by companies at that time. The CEOs also believed that the Malaysian education system is the strongest disadvantage of the country, and that educational standards and outcomes must be improved significantly to make a positive contribution to the business development climate in Malaysia
Proposals for Educational Reform:
●Ensure that education is secular-based and not made a political or religious football
●Practice transparency, fairness and integrity of governance in all aspects of education
●Reject racial, religious or political agendas to ensure an inclusive and progressive schooling system.
●Guarantee that every component of our national school system must be regarded as important in our multiracial society and must be provided fair and equal treatment especially in entry and budgetary policies.
●Make private education more affordable but raises their standards
●Set up fund for English medium schools and science and math education
●Remove political interference in education
●Reform the Scholarship and Matriculation System
●Stop the brain drain
Key Quotes of Deng Xiaoping Applicable to Malaysia
●We must firmly grasp management. Just making things isn't enough. We need to raise the quality
●Reform is China’s second revolution.
●When our thousands of Chinese students abroad return home, you will see how China will transform itself.
●It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice
Thank you
Yours truly,
SS LEE
Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah’s admission in December 2009 that the country was at a crossroads in its economic development and was facing unprecedented challenges.
Speaking to a high level audience – outside the country so that it failed to receive the attention it deserved in the local media - he noted the following concerns.
●The country is trapped in a low value-added, low wage and low productivity structure.
●While Singapore and Korea’s nominal per capita GDP grew within the last three decades by nine and 12 times, respectively, Malaysia’s had grown only by a factor of four.
●Among the country’s peers of China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, Malaysia’s real GDP growth in the last three years was the second lowest at 5.5 percent.
●The manufacturing sector was not investing up the value chain while the services sector remained low in growth and was underdeveloped.
●The Malaysian economy has essentially stagnated in the last decade.
To restart the stagnant economy, the Minister enumerated five areas for attention. These were:
●Boosting private initiative as the primary engine of growth;
●Improving the dynamics of competition in the domestic market place;
●Raising the private and social returns on education;
●Moving Malaysia away from its low value-added, low wage and low productivity structure
●Allowing meritocracy to prevail; and
●Stressing transparency and adherence to the highest standards of governance.
Since 2010, we have not only failed in the areas identified by Husni who is one of the more progressive UMNO Ministers, we have gone backwards.
More articles on Sslee blog
Discussions
Be the first to like this. Showing 32 of 32 comments
Bagai Katak dalam tempurung.
Ini lah masaalah Malaysia.
orang yang berwawasan sempit/picik tetapi merasa dirinya paling hebat dan mengetahui segalanya. Boleh dikatakan "suka soik sendiri" padahal sebenarnya rumahnya sedang terbakar.
2021-02-28 14:31
SsLee! Yeah, shiok! Shiok over world class standard education! Don't believe me, ask Mohiden! He loves to tell the rest of the world how world class our education system is!
2021-02-28 14:33
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping_at_History%27s_Crossroads
Watching Deng Xiaoping at History's Crossroads (历史转折中的邓小平) a 2014 TV biopic series based on the life of Deng Xiaoping.
Remind me of our history’s crossroads 2018 GE14 that promised so much but fail to deliver. Who will be the Deng of Malaysia at current Malaysia’s crossroads?
2021-02-28 18:11
Thats why the chinese must maintain the independent chinese school loh!!
Even govt abolish Chinese schools....just send your children to home tuition and technical training center ....no need send to Govt national school which is of low standard & waste of time loh!!
2021-02-28 18:14
Maybe world class in spending most monies in educations, but relatively low or nil return loh!!
Posted by Tobby > Feb 28, 2021 2:33 PM | Report Abuse
SsLee! Yeah, shiok! Shiok over world class standard education! Don't believe me, ask Mohiden! He loves to tell the rest of the world how world class our education system is!
2021-02-28 18:16
Don't waste time dreaming ... just migrate as soon as possible.
I don't even want to list out anything about our education anymore.
We cannot do anything. Going downhill all the way into longkang.
Mo tak kau liaw ... cannot be saved anymore.
Everyone must plan early on sending our kids to start a better life elsewhere.
Cheers.
2021-02-28 18:25
if u want u migrate lah...!!
But Some cannot afford mah....!!
We need to be resilience to take the challenges loh!!
Posted by leno > Feb 28, 2021 6:25 PM | Report Abuse
Don't waste time dreaming ... just migrate as soon as possible.
I don't even want to list out anything about our education anymore.
We cannot do anything. Going downhill all the way into longkang.
Mo tak kau liaw ... cannot be saved anymore.
Everyone must plan early on sending our kids to start a better life elsewhere.
Cheers.
2021-02-28 18:30
I say Malaysia is turning, perhaps already turn into land of blinds! Where few with eyes rule over! Unfortunately for Mohiden, his experiment to turn national schools into Umno vote bank fail! So now he has to turn them into Bersatu vote bank!
In short, our national schools are not design to produce productive citizen but rather a specific task of zombie voters!
2021-02-28 20:20
Govern lower the standard of education is to ensure all the Malays can pass n continue their education. If the standard is higher then most would be kicked out from school b4 they go to U....
2021-02-28 22:02
You know back in 90s, i heard how Umno would turn D students to B ones! Meaning those who are sure to fail were given so advantage so that they will pass through national schools and get their certificate!
True enough, we have tons of schools leaving who can't even write a sentence yet you see their results with alot of Bs!
Likewise, this social engineering gone to public universities as well! Producing tons of graduates but very low quality ones! Hey, why not have hundred of thousands jobless graduates, it sure looks good!
And effect was very damaging! Private sector refused to employ them! And of course Mahathir been the malay supremist architect saw the opportunity to be hero and employ many unqualified graduates into civil services!
The rot is so deep that our national schools are overcrowded with low quality teachers! Our public universities are next to dumping ground!
We know this but what can we do! GE14 saw change of regime only to be sabotaged by the key architect Mahathir once again! Oddly, many still have admiration for Mahahtir! Ask SsLee! He certainly has deep love for this old bugger!
2021-02-28 22:11
Another bad effect from this damaging social engineering is the moral syallabus! Instead of producing malaysians with high morals! We instead seeing the new generation of more corrupted morals! In fact i say, our new generation are as corrupted as our season politicians! This is scary!
I mean, many don't see corruption as a wrong thing! Rather a necessary thing to get things done! Caught buy police for not wearing seatbelt, slip some RM50! Want to get some contract from government officials, hey, shower him or her with luxury goods! The rot, again, has reach new level!
2021-02-28 22:15
My U-mate a cardiologist deputy head department proudly show his upgraded banglow photos in FB and say free sponsor from ultrasound company getting a contract approval from him.
My another U-mate a pengarah hospital ask my opinion should she agree to approve the ambulance with incomplete equipments from the supplier, and the supplier offer to renovate her house.
We are talking medical doctors in goverment hospital.
I have not go into council officer, immigration, custom, jpj.
Malaysia is going downhill. No hope. Mo Tak Kau.
Living in DENIAL or clinging to FALSE hope is useless.
Plan your migration, failure to plan, is your own fault.
Don't blame can afford or not. I have see many poor and middle class already successfully migrate elsewhere.
2021-02-28 22:40
The biggest cause of public concern and complaint is the government’s system of scholarships and other educational assistance to students over the years.
As part of its efforts in molding a talented and skilled workforce, the Malaysian government spends hundreds of millions of ringgit annually on scholarships and other forms of assistance for scholars. Many questions, however, abound in relation to the selection process and whether the eventual recipients of these awards are deserving; both from the criterion of merit as well as social need. Again, because of the skewed ethnic-based policy, for decades there was a tendency to award the scholarships solely or almost entirely to Bumiputera as it was considered an important way of elevating their socioeconomic status. This ethnic preference– if fairly and transparently implemented according to the original tenets of the NEP – would have received the understanding and support of the public as it would clearly benefit the needy and deserving in society. However, evidence from various rigorous studies shows that the Government assistance has been hijacked by politically and well-connected groups whose children have received these scholarships, despite not being eligible for them on merit or income levels.
Malaysian public universities offer a one-year matriculation programme, which acts as a pre-university course. These courses have largely catered to the Bumiputera population and are deemed as having a much lower standard, qualifying criteria and final examination requirement for entry into the university. This situation is in contrast to that which non-Bumiputera students face as they are required to sit for the much tougher two-year Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) in Form 6
Critics of the scholarship award system and dual university entrance system maintain that this unwritten rule, which is that the Bumiputera should be given opportunities at the expense of the non-Bumiputera, is destructive to social cohesion as well as to the quality of human resource development and that it is an inferior poor and morally ethically unacceptable form of investment for the country’s future. The Government has really no answer to these critics.
2021-02-28 23:03
The government policy of scholarships has been non-transparent and non-accountable and indiscriminately applied to favour one community. Without proper checks and balances and full transparency and accountability of the selection process and outcomes, it has had a crippling and demoralising effect on the Malaysian workforce and citizenry in general. It should come as no surprise that these NEP and related race-based policies in education and human resource development have become the nursery ground for a poorly skilled workforce. The policy of awarding scholarships to sub-standard individuals and a system of making it easy for those with poor entrance requirements to enter universities had led to the inevitable outcome of poor-quality graduates who are unemployable in the market.
Secondly, those sponsored by the government to do postgraduate studies eventually return to become mediocre educators within the universities and colleges. With low quality academics entrenched in the public sector higher education system teaching new intakes of poorly qualified students and the private sector system starved of state support, a vicious cycle of low level human resource development and poor quality educational skills formation takes hold, resulting in the country falling back in the global education and economic standing.
If allowed to continue it can only lead to a greater disincentive for the Bumiputera population to improve when they perceive that they are guaranteed privileges for life, and even for the generation to come. For human resources to be truly developed, it is essential for the government to wean the Bumiputera away from a non-competitive racially-skewed subsidy-oriented system and have them stand on their own two feet. It is both in the Bumiputera and national interest that Bumiputera are made to compete based on their own ability and merit since this would empower them psychologically as well as finally break down the corrosive effects of dependence on the NEP and its successor race-based policies.
2021-02-28 23:04
sslee
I dun see anything wrong with Malaysian students spending 8 years in UK to get a General Degree and staying with wife and children also in UK
You must be more generous.
Be more expansive even though it is expensive.
Save more money to pay taxes by eating kangkong and dun complain
Nobody likes a whiner
Heart must be wide, dun constrict and restrict your heart.
You must learn to pay and pay willingly
You must learn to give and give willingly.
Be a cheerful giver
Dun be a miser and a stingy payer
Every avenue must be given to people to better themselves.
Blessed are those who pay for you will get your reward in heaven.
You cannot restrict other people from getting a basic education.
2021-02-28 23:18
Unlike the Non, Those people do not study moral, ethics and civic class mah...!!
They say their agama clsses cover all these aspects & areas loh
Posted by Tobby > Feb 28, 2021 10:15 PM | Report Abuse
Another bad effect from this damaging social engineering is the moral syallabus! Instead of producing malaysians with high morals! We instead seeing the new generation of more corrupted morals! In fact i say, our new generation are as corrupted as our season politicians! This is scary!
I mean, many don't see corruption as a wrong thing! Rather a necessary thing to get things done! Caught buy police for not wearing seatbelt, slip some RM50! Want to get some contract from government officials, hey, shower him or her with luxury goods! The rot, again, has reach new level!
2021-02-28 23:19
Haha i3lurker,
I stop paying income tax since 2001 and my Indonesia boss pay my Indonesia income tax for me.
2021-02-28 23:25
SsLee! I totally agree with you! Most of those who got scholarships are politically connected! I mean, they sent the whole family on 'education' course only to waste billions as we don't see any benefit seen from our public universities!
Mohiden of course will say Malaysia has world class education system given how his children too enjoyed all the privilege while deserving students are sidelined!
Even majority malays no longer support Umno as they so called malay supremacy only charter to elites! And after Umno embrace islamic supremacy in form of hodod, sharing the gravy train with fake holymen Pas, we saw how Umno lost GE14!
Let's hope Umno and Bersatu be buried come GE15! Or at least Pkr Dap Umno alliance come to fruition!
I do not forsee better Malaysia but maybe just maybe finally we can see a little light at the end of the tunnel! Yeah, just a tiny wishful hope!
2021-02-28 23:31
The only certain thing is death and taxes
taxes comes from water and electricity bills, Indah water
Car import taxes
quit rent assessment
airport taxes
toll roads
telephone bills
your petrol bills
the clothes you wear unless you only wear underwear
your inflated house costs
your inflated food costs
your sugar
sales and service taxes
no tax?
just dun come back to Malaysia,
2021-02-28 23:32
Thats why the chinese must try to maintain their separate education system from the mainstream loh!!
1. Chinese Primary School
2. Chinese Independent Secondary School
3. Tar college & university.
4. New Era College
5. Entry to China, Taiwan and Spore higher instuition
For the English education
1. Chinese Primary school
2. International secondary school or home schooling
3. TAR college & University
4. Private University
5. Entry to Aus, NZ, UK, India, Spore, Can, USA university
2021-02-28 23:39
You know what! The Lims wants local chinese to be dimwits as well! I mean, by making UEC accepted as entry into public universities, we should see tons of jobless local chinese graduates as well with their new found low quality degrees!
I mean, would you emply chinese engineer from Malayaia Islamic Universities that can't speak English, need you to translate all terms into Bahasa!
Thanks to the Lims, now chinese schools are forced to employ those fake holymen teaching jawi to our children! I mean, maybe the reason is so that our public universities will teach engineering in jawi!
Talk about running backward!
2021-02-28 23:44
I3lurker you are right. So please bring back the GST. We love GST and i3lurker too.
You must be more generous.
Be more expansive even though it is expensive.
Save more money to pay taxes by eating kangkong and dun complain
Nobody likes a whiner
Heart must be wide, dun constrict and restrict your heart.
You must learn to pay and pay willingly
You must learn to give and give willingly.
Be a cheerful giver
Dun be a miser and a stingy payer
Every avenue must be given to people to better themselves.
Blessed are those who pay for you will get your reward in heaven.
2021-03-01 00:03
Not true mah...Lim is hoping...the B40....got a better chance mah...!!
Look at the Good old...days like sslee, Philip & Raider are Ex university Malaya Graduates and we are doing well mah...!!
Although got discriminations during that time....but if your results are reasonable good...u still get into a good degree course mah...!!
Nowadays the quality has dropped so low....that the employers do not give good opinion of local university graduates.
Lim is trying hard to improve the local university standard by infusion of more diverse undergraduate to improve the standard loh!
I still remember...the old days...University had so much fun during the convocations....u have fairs, entertainment and food.
I still remember sudirman was invited to University Malaya to give free performance songs as he is an ex MU graduate mah...!
the convocation fair was banned later bcos they viewed it is unislamic
posted by Tobby > Feb 28, 2021 11:44 PM | Report Abuse
You know what! The Lims wants local chinese to be dimwits as well! I mean, by making UEC accepted as entry into public universities, we should see tons of jobless local chinese graduates as well with their new found low quality degrees!
I mean, would you emply chinese engineer from Malayaia Islamic Universities that can't speak English, need you to translate all terms into Bahasa!
Thanks to the Lims, now chinese schools are forced to employ those fake holymen teaching jawi to our children! I mean, maybe the reason is so that our public universities will teach engineering in jawi!
Talk about running backward!
2021-03-01 00:07
no we should not improve the education system otherwise we could not mock it anymore
2021-03-01 23:20
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chinese always like to compare to others nation. stop it dude. We are in the harmony country, as long as got jobs and 3times a day eat, you should thanks the malaysia gomen. Dont say malaysia no good here and no good there, if you dont like to stay in this country ,then just leave.. heng ong huat arh...!!!
2021-02-28 13:01