Read an article in one of our local dailies regarding our education system. Augusto Lopez-Claros, chief economist and director of the global competitiveness programme at the Geneva-based World said that our education system has a lot of catching up to do. He said we need to look at Taiwan, South Korea and Israel as benchmarks to help us improve our system.
Taiwan and South Korea maybe but Israel, I don't think that is a good choice right now. Anyway, he was commenting on their tremendous improvement because of their attitude towards education and the resources they have put to train their labour force. They also seem to have a close collaboration between the business communities and their universities. By doing so they can produce what the market needs and the end result as in South Korea which used to be an agriculture economy is now a high technology power today. Agusto went on to say that Israel has also evolved from a major citrus exporter to a high technology power house due to its enormous investment in education.
Can we evolve into a high technology power house? We could if we had some minor changes to the education line up that we have right now. At the moment our education policy makers can't seem to see further than their noses. Look at the "Ethnic Relations Book" bungle. It needed the Prime Minister to solve it. Certain universities are more concerned with the women's headgear than upgrading their educational level. Look at what happened at UPM. The students acted like thugs. There's no intergration and this seems to be exactly what some people want. We need to change these worms that came out of the woodwork and who are now sitting in management positions and making stupid decisions. Some are even lecturing!
If Malaysia is going to be a high technology power house we need to have a different mindset. We need to think of ourselves as Malaysians. We must not hear of students who obtain 11A's not getting scholarships. We should not have to read about those handicapped high achievers who can't get admission to universities because of their handicap. There must be a working system that will cater for these students who do well in their studies. We do not need the minister to step in to help. We can do it if we leave the politics out of education and think of the bigger picture - our country. If this isn't a wake up call I don't know what is.
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It's pathetic, isn't it? Yesterday's Star said that there are btw 50,000 to 80,000 unemployed graduates, and our nanny state government had started a Graduates Training Scheme in 2001 for them. Those who undergo the courses get a monthly allowance of RM500 throughout the 5 to 7 months of courses such as, Cert in English Language, Marketing, Insurance, and others (13 in all). Well, if you spoonfeed and mollycoddle students from elemenary age onwards, you gotta continue doing it, till they are old and grey? How do you solve a problem like that?
That's the whole problem in Malaysia. Certain quarters think that the government owes it to them because it is their heritage. This one must be shouldered by the policy makers. You reap what you sow.
I know, but it's our tax money being used! We are reaping what others have sown, unfortunately, because we are all in it, brother! No man is an island, and a leader's decision affects all his followers.
With the present set of leaders, I doubt that would take place. I don't expect to see it in my lifetime either. The mentality is bogged down with race and religion. The 'bolehland' is becoming a big joke and all this started by the former PM who is making a lot of noise like he is one of the members of the Justice League! A lot of bull going around.
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