Malaysia education ranked 14 is based on the opinion of 87 senior-level management in the business community in Malaysia who all sent their children to international and private schools in Malaysia. No wonder we are ranked 14. Only the wealthy minority can afford annual school fees of RM30K to 70K, what about the majority less fortunate? - 1Christians
APRIL 9 — Our deputy prime minister/minister of education announced
that the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitive Index (GCI)
report 2011-2012 for Malaysia ranks the quality of our education system
at No. 14 out of 142 countries. Malaysia should be proud of this
accomplishment which is above many developed countries including the
United Kingdom, the US and Germany.
We really should give ourselves a pat on the back for being ranked at
par with these First World nations. But instead, many have voiced their
concern over the misrepresentation or misinterpretation of the data by
the minister. Many are not amused but aghast.
The WEF CGI report has, for three decades, been perceived as the
world’s most respected assessment of national competitiveness, by
leading business executives around the world. The control sample is
based on the opinion of 87 senior-level management in the business
community in Malaysia. It is a snapshot of what they believe is true and
they believe that Malaysia has one of the best education systems in the
world.
Therefore, their opinion is credible and the report is not for
dispute. The information is to be helpful for business communities to
evaluate the viability of Malaysia as a global player in the corporate
world, and specifically to serve the needs of this niche group only.
To put the WEF opinion poll into better perspective, the respondents
would have belonged to the top echelons of the business community. It
can be safe to assume that they are among the elite — high income,
highly educated and living in the urban areas, specifically Kuala
Lumpur, with their children in private and international schools and a
plan for overseas tertiary education thereafter.
Therefore, to be ranked 14th would have highly likely been based on
the quality of private and international education, and not the overall
level of the Malaysian education system as a whole. The choices of good
private and international schools are plentiful and thanks to the
relaxation on local students’ enrolment, these schools are available in
every high-income housing area, making such schools very accessible to
this group.
To determine overall students’ performance and the education system
as a whole, the international standardised test, Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in Mathematics and
Science Survey (TIMSS) for Malaysia, would be a more accurate
determinant of the current state of affairs in education.
The number of students assessed in Malaysia for PISA 2010 is 4,999
and TIMSS 2007 is 4,466. Cognizance and modesty would point us to
evaluate our entire education internationally via PISA and TIMSS.
Unfortunately, the reality is that we performed below average in both
tests.
One would err to interpret the WEF GCI Education ranking report in
isolation without considering the control environment of the sample and
generalising that it represents the whole education system when it
clearly does not. The WEF CGI shows a true picture of only a cross
section of the population whilst PISA and TIMSS covers a wider spectrum.
At least now, nationally, we have been apprised of our ability to
compare the level of education available to the wealthy minority versus
what is available to the less fortunate majority. This goes to show that
we have the capability to provide quality education locally and we
should strive hard and work towards that benchmark.
Without doubt, these private and international schools offer
mathematics and science in English. We wonder what the opinion would be
if the following question was asked: “How likely are you to send your
children to schools which offer science and mathematics in English?”
* Tunku Munawirah Putra is the honorary secretary of PAGE Malaysia.
No comments:
Post a Comment