Retardation of a nation

Retardation of a nation Edmond R Aug 22, 2008 - Malaysiakini Letters Malaysian leaders are hypocrites. On one hand, the ministry of education continues to restrict students' participation in politics through the University and University Colleges Act 1971 and on the other, education itself is used as a political issue and pawn by leaders from both sides of the government. The recent protest by UiTM students in Permatang Pauh to oppose the opening up of its university's enrolment to non-Malays is proof of our government's bias when the situation benefits their own political mileage. To make matters worse, the prime minister vetoed the suggestion almost immediately without so much as giving it a thought. Adding to the hypocrisy, the education ministry approved an allocation of RM1 million to the few Chinese vernacular schools in Permatang Pauh a few days later in an obvious attempt to win the hearts of the Chinese community for the coming by-election. If this is not considered mixing politics and education, then I suppose the world must be flat. It's amazing how the government spends taxpayers' money to achieve their own goals as if it belongs to them entirely. The majority of schools in Malaysia are in serious need of funds and not only those in Permatang Pauh. If every school needs to wait for a by-election before getting due assistance, then this is definitely political blackmail at its worst. In the case of UiTM, this tactic is also being used to retard the progress and development of a single community. This time, the blackmail works in a different way – by restricting the enrollment to a single community, the government effectively limits students from being exposed to real competition and challenges posed by the multiethnic make up of Malaysian society. How do we expect these students to excel in their studies and be competitive in the real world if they have never been exposed to any real obstacles at all? Isn't it true that the government has wasted millions, if not billions of ringgit to produce graduates who are only fit to work as clerks and coffee-boys? The only logical reason I could think of for this illogical education policy is that it has been implemented to produce unthinking and subservient young Malaysians who will forever be indebted to the ruling government. After years of political intervention, our education system has grown into a jungle of malfunctioning institutions deprived of a unified vision. I have always wondered why there is a need for so many different types of schooling system in a country of only 27 million people. Is it part of the ruling party's aim to segregate our future generations so that they will remain polarised and therefore easier to control through communal politicking? It is no secret that the quality of our education system has regressed to such an embarrassing level as compared to our neighbours. Even our ministers and government leaders realise this decline and send their children overseas to be educated. But not many families can afford an overseas education for their children. The large majority of Malaysians have no choice but to accept the mediocre standard of teaching from the various public institutions, which I would label as 'half-way houses' for students with retarded goals. In order to rectify the situation, we should start by voting in qualified leaders who are educated in various fields and not merely half-past six goons who depend on their charisma and racial rhetoric to put them in power. Secondly, our civil service should employ people based on meritocracy to ensure their capability in delivering quality service to the public. Teachers and educators should be properly trained to provide the best education for all our students. They should be fluent in languages, professional and most of all, able to instill a sense of excellence and creativity in our children. The progress of the country depends on our future generation but just look at the abhorrent ways our educators and politicians treat our children. Not only do we produce teachers who are uninspiring and insensitive, but also a few who have no qualms about dishing out ethno-phobic remarks in class. We need leaders in the education field who are brave enough to develop policies and education syllabuses which will enable our students to take over the helm of leadership in the future. Malaysia cannot afford to have selfish sifoos or teachers who only teach half the knowledge to our children in the hope that they do not overpower the teachers themselves. We must come to our senses now and admit that there are faults at every level of our education system – national schools, vernacular schools, smart schools, universities, colleges and religious schools. It is not surprising that national type schools have been very much neglected and more parents are sending their children to vernacular schools. Even the Malay and Indian community enroll their children in Chinese medium schools as these are perceived to be more academically orientated and the students more disciplined. However, Chinese schools tend to emphasise a lot on academic achievement and rote learning, so much so that the faculties of creative and critical thinking are not well developed. The various religious schools in the country might be able to produce students who are well versed in theology but not able to cope with the material side of life. Some of these schools could also be breeding grounds for political extremists cloaking themselves in religious robes to recruit their followers. And of course we have the various government sponsored mono-ethnic institutions such as UiTM which continue to produce students who have not been exposed to the multicultural realities of our country and the world. If we are to assess the situation objectively without looking through our own veil of different political ideologies, race and religion, it is obvious that the national type school education is still the best for the creation of a united, civilised and educated nation. The first thing the policy makers should do is to stop the rot and retardation in these schools. This will require the whole hearted effort by our leaders and their willingness to abandon policies based on racial lines. We need to inject new blood into the education system and create education policies which are based on meritocracy. Teachers should be well trained in their various fields and specialties. Promotions should be based on merit and achievements and not merely on seniority and preference alone. The standard of education syllabus in our national schools should be raised to international standards in order to produce students who are competitive world wide. If we can revive our national schools, students will start to gravitate back to these schools and at the end of the day, fulfill the goal of national unity and progress. If we can provide an atmosphere of fairness in these institutions, then we can get rid of politicians who shout their lungs out upon hearing any sensitive suggestion about education policies. At the moment, the only way to resuscitate our education system is to replace warlord politicians and archaic educators with visionary leaders. Fifty years of political ping-pong have damaged and retarded a few generations of potentially smart Malaysians. Let this be the final year of our regression! Let us hope that a new beginning will dawn upon us soon. ...more http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/88336