Tuesday April 24, 2012

Most think education system up to par

By REGINA LEE

PETALING JAYA: About 55% of Malaysian adults believe the education system here is comparable to developed countries, according to a survey by market research agency Introspek Asia.

Another 35% said it was even better than developed nations, said the survey which interviewed 1,800 Malaysians over a one-month period ending Jan 15.

Citing the study, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the Malaysian education system had assumed a crucial role in transforming the nation.

Token of appreciation: Muhyiddin receiving a souvenir from Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah after delivering his keynote address at Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute’s 16th Malaysian Education Summit at Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa in Petaling Jaya yesterday. Looking on are (from left) Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, Datuk Dr Michael Yeoh and Tan Sri Dr Ramon V. Navaratnam.

“Had it not been for our education system, we would not have eradicated poverty, experienced rapid industrialisation, generated robust economic growth, expanded our middle class and emerged as one of the most advanced developing countries in the world.

“It must be because we have put in place a good education system,” he said in his keynote address at the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute’s 16th Malaysian Education Summit here yesterday.

However, Muhyiddin said the findings must not lull the Government and the public into complacency.

“We have to come to grips with the stark reality that challenges confronting our nation today require us to re-assess the priorities of our education system and realign them with present national goals,” he said.

In the country’s quest to move to a knowledge and innovation-driven high-income economy, he said the Government must ensure that the education system would produce the human capital equipped with necessary skills.

Thus, the blueprint and the plan to transform the education system set to be finalised by the end of this year would include nine “critical levers” for development.

They are the teachers, school leaders, school quality, curriculum and assessment, multilingual proficiency, post-secondary opportunities, parents and community, resource efficiency and effectiveness, and ministry delivery capacity and capability.

To be carried out together with a series of dialogues nationwide, Muhyiddin said the exercise was historic because this would be the first time in 30 years that the education system would undergo a thorough review.

The two-day summit themed “Transformation in Motion: Opportunities and Challenges for Malaysian Education” will feature talks by leading industry players as well as heads of universities.

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