What do Malaysians expect from the new education minister?

By Ranjit Singh

THE resignation of Dr Maszlee Malik as education minister after holding the office for 20 months was somewhat expected. He will go down in the annals of history as one of the most controversial ministers in the government since Pakatan Harapan swept into power in May 2018.

To be fair to Maszlee, not all the changes that he brought to the ministry were adverse. The decision to abolish streaming after Form 4 was a positive move to give students the choice of taking subjects according to their proclivity rather than being forced into either the Science or Arts streams at the tender age of 16.

Other moves such as making education more “fun” rather than exam-oriented were introduced to follow the Scandinavian countries’ model which has been described by academics as the best in the world.

Maszlee was also relentless in his quest to upgrade the standing of local institutes of higher learning. Under his watch, Universiti Malaya climbed to its highest ranking in the Times University Ranking to the 301-350 band in the world, although it is difficult to say how much he was responsible for it.

What do Malaysians expect from Maszlee’s successor?

First and foremost, religion has to be completely taken out of the core education system. The government’s move to introduce Jawi writing or Khat in all schools, including the vernacular ones, was seen as proselytising Islam by certain quarters there was a severe backlash.

It would have been acceptable if the move was implemented among the Malays but to enforce it across the board was deemed “unnecessary”. It cast aspersions on the secular basis of the educational system and the nation.

Graduate employability is a matter of grave concern to all Malaysians. Currently, the unemployment rate among graduates stands at around 10% which is three times the overall unemployment rate.

The education system needs a serious overhaul to address the issue to ensure that the system churns out graduates who are industry-ready. If matters were left as they are now, the problem will only get more critical. We need an education minister who is sensitive to the needs of the industry and who can put in place sound education policies which will tailor-make our graduates to fulfil the needs of the industry.

One of the most pressing issues that employers have zeroed in when commenting about graduate employability is the poor command of the English Language among graduates. The Education Ministry has been grappling about its focus towards the empowerment of English among graduates for a very long time. There needs to be a firm commitment from the incoming minister to give English its due place and provide the mechanisms in the system to ensure that our students have a good command of the language.

Previously, the education portfolio was separated into the Ministry of Higher Learning and the Ministry of Education. Under the PH government, the portfolios were merged. Perhaps the time has come to separate the portfolios as the jurisdiction is just too wide for one minister to handle.

Last but not least, the incoming education minister should be a Malaysian at heart and fully cognisant of the fact that his policies will affect the whole stratum of society which is multi-cultural and multi-religious in nature. He cannot be seen introducing policies which seem biased to one race or religion to the detriment of another. That will be the prayer of many Malaysians. – Jan 6, 2020

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