Pen-wielders push for educational reform

Malaysia Today's Raja Petra had an interesting post today on the long-forgotten concept of Malaysian Inc. Although I don't always agree with his ways, I can't deny that Raja Petra has a convincing and fact-packed writing style, hence his loyal following. The country needs more high-level thinkers like him who dare to change, the latter quality which is still sorely lacking in our education system. He's named our education system as one of the top ten problems plaguing the nation (i.e. Malaysia Inc):

"What is the top ten? I would say a failing education system, state-endorsed or institutionalised racism, abuse of power, corruption, wastage of public funds, lack of transparency and accountability, attitude problem, no civility or courtesy, serious crime problem, and arrogance, though not necessarily in that order.

Now, if we can attack those top ten items, in particular the top five or six, 80% of the country’s problems will be solved. And many of the other problems will also automatically solve themselves."

Showing similar love for people and progress is The Star's P.Gunasegaran, a well-respected veteran Malaysian journalist who shares his ideas for educational reform in his article "10 Ways to 1 Malaysia":

"Move to a single school system over the long term: Yes, the constitution guarantees vernacular schools. But to continue with this where schoolchildren of various races no longer mingle at work and play as the educational system becomes polarised is extremely unsatisfactory. Some system should be devised where mother-tongue education can continue unabated and at the same levels as now within a unified single school system. This is a major cause of disunity and can be changed if there is consensus.

Abolish racial quotas: Racial quotas are archaic as a means of achieving social distribution aims. The idea should be to help all disadvantaged. If that is done, and if a particular race as a whole is disadvantaged, it will automatically be helped more. That removes the considerable social angst and divisiveness of racial quotas and directly fosters national unity.

Move towards equality of opportunity, not outcome: To do away with a dependence habit and to encourage and reward effort, the aim should be equality of opportunity. All disadvantaged groups can be given some forms of advantage to redress imbalances without bringing into play the question of race.

Award scholarships, university places etc based on need and merit: There are two ways to award places in universities and give scholarships – according to need and according to merit. When poor and disadvantaged groups need to be given a leg up, clear guidelines can be set and adhered to so that the process is transparent, effective and not based on race.

Introduce anti-discriminatory legislation and enforce it scrupulously: No one should be discriminated against anywhere on the basis of race, religion, language or gender. This should be clearly set forth unambiguously in legislation and a commission set up to enforce it. In any country where there are minorities who are citizens, their rights must be scrupulously protected to ensure national unity.