THE ABYSMAL EDUCATION TRAP

[1] Article 12 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia guarantees rights in respect of education, prohibiting discrimination against citizens on grounds of religion, race, descent, or place of birth in the administration of public educational institutions and the allocation of funds. It ensures non-discrimination in education, permits religious groups to establish institutions, and regulates religious instruction for minors.

[2] Educational rights are constitutionally guaranteed; prohibiting discrimination and non-discrimination can only mean giving the best of the best in education; but regulating religious instruction is certainly not the duty and function of the government because it is not the moral parent of minors. Article 12 noticeably does not address private education.

[3] Despite Article 12 of the Federal Constitution, the education trap is ongoing, unforgiving, inevitable, and relentless. Governments make education compulsory but utterly fail to offer the quality of education that will prepare students to think instead of simply learning facts and applying just enough of memory power to pass written examinations. That is a vicious trap and a deepening abyss.

[4] “Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not preparation for life but is life itself. The good man is the man who, no matter how morally unworthy he has been, is moving to become better,” observed the American educational reformer John Dewey. Malaysian parents and students must cope with and apply this aphorism with unbridled fervor notwithstanding government apathy.

[5] John Dewey developed four cardinal principles in matters concerning education: Utility, Interest, Experience and Integration. These four principles should serve as objectives and goals for the singular purpose of preparing the platform for future leaders which our nation sorely lacks.

[6] Reports say Malaysian employers encounter interviewees severely lacking in English proficiency, soft skills and critical thinking abilities. What is being shoved into the students’ minds is desperately insufficient and inefficient for employer expectations. Neglecting human capital must be criminalized.

[7] Other reports say that the STEM subjects lack innovation while rote memorization is the reigning and ruling emphasis. This means the quality of teachers is the primary culprit, cause and curse whose dynamics are meant to inculcate nothing of worth and value to the students.

[8] Malaysian students are seriously, sorely, and severely lagging behind in Math, Science and Reading (PISA scores), say other reliable reports. Heavy curriculum burden, unnecessary homework and classroom sizes are also compounding the problem. And what is the Ministry of Education doing about this incurable malaise?

[9] Malaysia reportedly has 54 private universities, 39 university colleges and 10 foreign branch campuses, known for affordable twinning degrees. This seems to offset and solve the headaches for national schools as a high-quality alternative that the lower middle class is unable to afford. No subsidies and scholarships for private education?

[10] Therefore, the Higher Education Ministry is in place and on call to support and encourage alternative education offered by foreign education systems instead of developing local high-quality educational models. That seems to be a fair assessment under the current circumstances and prevailing conditions.

[11] It is also a fair observation that a serious lack of high-quality policy makers and teachers surely top the list of our Failure Quotient in providing an education system that will yield a future corps of leaders. Will the Ministry of Education get ready to address this sorry state of affairs? What concrete remedies has this Ministry deployed thus far? Or is this Ministry another source of employment for bureaucrats?

[12] Radical change and effective reform must strike at the rotten roots of our education system if government leadership means anything at all. The Education Minister is not known to announce or innovate anything of worth and value if the press reports are to be relied on. How does she spend her time and resources at the Ministry?

[13] So how does anyone escape a trap knowing there is one around the corner masquerading as an educational institution that has encouraged, supported and caused hundreds of “tuition centers” for students like another willing trap for earning fees? Education has ultimately succeeded in achieving the status of another capitalist enterprise.

[14] Has anyone ever sued the Ministry of Education under the Government Proceedings Act 1956 for utter failure to offer a meaningful and affordable future-oriented education system for students? Has YAB Rakyat been lulled into complacency and apathy? YAB Rakyat must demand their just desserts under Article 12 Federal Constitution for the purposes and plans for and of future leaders.

[15] Even if such a lawsuit was filed, and the plaintiff students or student body wins, will the Attorney General Chambers appeal the decision like the courts have made a mortal mistake? That’s the question that parents and students must ask. I am not advocating lawsuits for the sake of becoming a litigious society, but where else can parents and students turn to?

[16] Another issue that needs to be addressed and fixed is whether, if indeed, our present education system is the cause for concern for the lack of employment opportunities to well-paying jobs or careers. The government is not doing anything about correcting this malady. YAB Rakyat has to get ready for direct action.

[17] I often wonder whether an educational institution will succeed in obtaining its operator permit or license if a particular type of curriculum is developed that will create a cadre of future leaders who will only study such core subjects like Economics, Political Science, Philosophy, Business, Finance, and Ethics not to disparage History, Geography and STEM subjects.

[18] “We are students of words: we are shut up in schools, and colleges, and recitation-rooms, for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words, and do not know a thing,” remarked Ralph Waldo Emerson who became aware almost three hundred years ago that our education system is going down the drain.

[19] The Malaysian education system, or lack thereof, is a social engineering experiment that has gained years of toil and meaningless experience. Leaders are doing nothing. Parents and students are willingly agreeing to fall into the ever-ready trap like there are no other alternatives except for not very affordable private education.

[20] “This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.” This is the quote from Albert Einstein that parents, students and unwilling government leaders must pay heed to with all deliberate speed if they care to do anything about it at all.

[21] Malaysia is ripe and ready for a “humanitarian dictator” as a government of well-meaning and results-oriented leaders who force excellence upon the student population by making it enjoyable to experience a different sort of education where memorization and passing written examinations are not primary objectives.

[22] We cannot afford to accept and elect recycled government leaders who have failed in unlearning the old and obsolete value systems that hinder progress and instead offer hurdles and hardships. We need to avoid this trap with all our six senses, and more. No government possesses any right, duty, function or obligation to dumb down its citizens through a contrived lack of quality education.

[23] Time is nigh for Malaysian leaders to attend “Accountability Culture” Courses where the emphasis is on “Ability, Responsibility, Accountability, and Mobility Defies and Defeats Disability.” Winning an election does not bestow leadership qualities. Evidence and proof of efficiency, sufficiency, and proficiency in serving YAB Rakyat is the key qualification, requirement, need and necessity.