What
factors are responsible for the poor state of affairs of our public education?
The mushrooming of international and private schools catering to Malaysians,
not just foreigners, best exemplified this situation. Results from
internationally recognized assessments such as TIMSS and PISA, highlighting the
weaker performance of Malaysian students, is another.
For
many, this is the consequence of the poor quality of teachers. While this may be
true, it is only the symptom. What are the causes? A lack of training or too
low a salary scale, which drives away capable candidates from the profession?
Or is it more to do with the absence of meritocracy, where the quality of
teaching is not relevant to the teacher’s career development? Is our education
policy too “centralized”, driven by bureaucrats that have lost touch with the
needs of teachers and students?
What
about the language of instruction? Was the change from English to Bahasa a
fundamental cause? It is hard to imagine that language does not affect quality
of the students and their capabilities when they subsequently join the
workforce.
Why
must we improve the quality of our public schools?
Quality
of education directly impacts the livelihood of the individual and his family,
and the growth and prospect of the entire nation. For the individual, it
determines his employability, wages and in the longer term, his upward mobility
through gaining greater knowledge and experiences.
For
the nation, it creates national wealth, innovation and creativity, job
creation, higher income, higher tax revenue to fund national development,
better institutions and so forth. One is
tempted to argue that the quality of education may be the single most important
factor to move the country out of the middle income trap.
Two
other related issues are equally important.
Education
should be a unifying factor for Malaysia, given our diversity in ethnicity,
religion, languages and wealth.
Those
of us who went to public schools in the 1970s not only remember fondly our
teachers, their passion and commitment to the wellbeing and quality of their
students, but also our classmates. Every class was multi-ethnic, Malays,
Chinese and Indians. We were all Malaysians, we played football and badminton
together. We cheered for our school teams, not our race. We ate together, even
if at times, we cannot participate in each other’s food.
Are
our schools now contributing to racial and religious polarization? The Sekolah
Kebangsaan are predominantly attended by Malay children. Chinese and Indian children
go to vernacular schools. If the children do not learn to live and play together
when they are young, how much more difficult will it be for them to live
together later, when their prejudices have already been formed?
Those
with the means send their children to private and international schools. Does
this not create another layer of polarization? Between the haves and the have
nots?
And
if education is meant to be the universal “leveler”, giving equal opportunities
to all, the fact that we have so many private and international schools, which
charges exorbitant fees, is contradictory. These privileged schools will
obviously be able to hire better teachers and provide superior resources. A
further question is whether education should be a business for profit. Is it
more of a social good or a private good? Should everyone have equal access to
the same quality or should those with money be advantaged?
I
hope these issues and more will be debated at the upcoming “The Edge Education
Forum 2014” and I look forward to many of you participating.