A Cacophonous Comedy!

The Star carried THIS ARTICLE written by my old friend Lim Ai Lee on how US has agreed to send volunteer English teachers to our country in response to Malaysia’s proposal to revive its Peace Corps programme after a 21-year lapse. It is certainly heartening news as this can alleviate the shortage of English teachers in Malaysia and improve proficiency of the language. Besides, this will not overly burden our national expenditure as Najib had said Malaysia was prepared to partly sponsor the programme of bringing in qualified teachers to teach English.

In the past, many USED to have a colonialistic view that the west is leading in many fields, particularly in education. Realistically, this is not really true any more, especially with regards to standards of education in many western countries including US.

Just last week, I met up with a former student who resides in US with her family. The present she gave me was a copy of November/December issue of Foreign Affairs. In that issue, I came across an article by Arne Duncan titled Back to School - Enhancing U.S. Education and Competitiveness. You can read a summarised digital version HERE.

I was quite surprised to see that the issues raised by Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, are quite similar to what we are facing in Malaysia.

Just as "U.S. students are falling behind their peers in advanced nations in the global race for economic competitiveness (extracted from page 65 of Nov/Dec issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, page 91 of the Malaysia Economic Monitor stated that results indicate not only that students—and eventually workers are not ready to compete with students from higher income countries but also that their competitiveness in mathematics has been worsening over time.

Arne Duncan observed that "to succeed in today's knowledge economy, the United States will have to become more economically competitive and more collaborative." Now if he as U.S. Secretary of Education can realize this fact even at their level of development, it is about time our leaders, especially those in the education field do MORE than just raising the proficiency of English in our country.

We have to go beyond protectionist ethic (a term that Arne Duncan also used in his article) to realize that we cannot imagine or fantasize that our nation's prosperity is dependent on how they launch popular policies that gain mileage for some quarters by winning hearts and minds rather than truly executing programs and policies that arrest and elevate the deteriorating standards of education in our country!

Arne Duncan's article also mentioned how other developed nations are more successful at recruiting talented teachers, providing first-rate teaching preparation and professional development and honoring the teaching profession. The article mentioned that unlike in the United States, South Korean teachers are selected from the top 10% of graudates and those who teach are viewed as making an important contribution to building their nation.

How about in Malaysia? How have some teachers or heads been making headlines??? I do not wish to repeat those heartbreaking incidents. What I hope is to see a definite improvement in teaching standards and teaching faculties across the board.

While some may be lauding policies promoting History as a compulsory subject without realizing how narrow is the new syllabus, the very same people who proposed such 'progressive' moves have failed to realize that we are now living in global community where IT has wrought fantastic revolutionary changes that have propelled many world economies forward.

Our leaders have failed to realize that while we are still in the backwaters in many academic areas just because the system churns out straight A students like hamsters/rabbits propagating, Malaysian students have now to compete throughout their careers with their peers from other developing and developed nations!

In other words, if we do not arrest the decline in education standards, other nations which currently have BETTER education standards will outclass our population in terms of competitiveness!

A very good example would be South Korea and our nearest neighbour, Singapore. Years ago, Malaysia was ahead of South Korea but today, look at how that nation is making headlines in many areas of technology and even in education. Arne Duncan said that young adults in eight other nations, including South Korea, are MORE likely to have college degrees than those in the US.

I believe our leaders may have slipped into their own blissful comfort zone and forgotten that international competition in many areas has actually increased international collaboration. While we may delude ourselves with crop after crop of straight A students, high percentage passes in UPSR, PMR, SPM or STPM etc, many have failed to realize that in modern society, education is a public good that goes far beyond national boundaries.

What is the value of an 'A' in a public exam of our country? Those in this line would know but are not in a position to divulge confidential information.

Do you think that our students can stand in good stead against those from neighbouring countries, such as Singapore?

For far too long, our system has cushioned our students, especially selected ones, from the harsh reality of the very competitive field in the world.

The teaching of Science and Maths in BM for many years has certainly put many at a disadvantage. Apart from that, what has the government done to develop better critical thinking skills, cross-cultural understanding and language skills of our students?

Last year, The Star reported HERE that one million laptop computers will be given out free to poor students of secondary schools nationwide soon in an effort to increase broadband penetration in the country. Does anyone know whether ONE MILLION LAPTOPS actually reached ONE MILLION STUDENTS in our country?

The point I am trying to make is that there is always a lot of hot air and fanfare about grandiose policies but at the end of the day, what can the country show in terms of results?

For far too long, our leaders have been closeted in the dream world and forgotten the borderless nature of innovation, meritocracy and education standards all over the world. They have chosen to be blind to the slew of global challenges which have spurred others to make progress by leaps and bounds. Instead, they have crippled many by dishing out aid and other perks if you get my drift - the sum total of which has crippled our young population who are so comfortable with the crutches that they receive so readily.

I find it so tragic that many chose to ignore the fact that education is the greatest tool that will help us to equalize with other nations. With higher standards in education, the government can overcome regional/cultural differences and open a whole new vista of learning opportunities that will, in the future, open up MORE economic opportunities once the student population reaps advantages from improving their international competitiveness. As it stands, many have told me that potential employers seem to prefer overseas graduates than local graduates for obvious reasons. How saddening! In the long run, how many can send their children overseas for tertiary education? I cannot! And what will happen to our nation 30 years down the road???

Where are we in STEM fields i.e. science, technology, engineering and mathematics? It is very scary to see how even though immigrants make up 12% of US workforce, they are also 50% of the country's PhD qualified scientists and engineers!

Obviously, strengthening and improving our country's education standards and enhancing our international/economic competitiveness require a sea of change in the mindset of political leaders and voters if they treat these areas as a source of threat, rather than as a tool to propel our nation forward.

Until and unless our leaders have the political will to do the right thing for the nation, are we expected to 'tolerate' and live with such conditions, to our nation's detriment or development? Only time will tell who is singing the right tune for the right audience. In the mean time, we will have to survive this cacophonous comedy!

Read more at: http://masterwordsmith-unplugged.blogspot.com/2011/01/cacophonous-comedy.html