Educationist warns against policy flip-flops according to govt

An educationist has warned against flip-flops in the country's education policies amid concerns that students will be left behind by their peers in neighbouring countries due to the changes accompanying each successive administration. 

Anuar Ahmad of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) said that leaders should respect the policies put in place by their predecessors. 

"Those appointed to positions of leadership should not take lightly the importance of implementing the policies put in place by the leaders before them," he said. 

"This is important because we don't want policies in the midst of implementation to be marginalised." 

Malaysia's changes in its education policies have raised concerns that students will end up as "lab rats" for each new course of action. 

During Dr Mahathir Mohamad's first tenure as prime minister, for example, science and mathematics was taught in English under the PPSMI policy in an effort to improve students' command of the language at the primary and secondary level. 

However, the policy, introduced in 2003, was scrapped in 2012 although it resurfaced as part of Mahathir's election campaign for the 14th general election in 2018. 

The education ministry also proposed the abolition of the Standard Six UPSR examination in 2016. 

The suggestion, made during the Barisan Nasional era, was eventually carried out in 2021, under the Perikatan Nasional administration. 

Speaking to MalaysiaNow, Anuar said it was important to respect the decisions made by previous governments even if the leaders in question were at opposite ends of the political spectrum. 

"It does not matter who implements the policies," he added. 

"What matters is the implications of the policies on our children and development." 

Some had also proposed a royal commission for education, to prevent political interference and the changing of policies according to whim. 

In some developed countries, meanwhile, education policies are implemented according to district instead of by central control. 

But for Azlin Norhaini Mansor, the former chairman of UKM's Leadership and Education Policy Centre, education in Malaysia is in dire need of change.

"The world is constantly changing," she said to MalaysiaNow. 

"Malaysia is actually slow to implement changes and does not keep up with the flow," she said.

And on the calls for a royal commission, she said there was no guarantee that decisions made by the body would not be rejected by the education minister. 

"There needs to be wisdom at the top if any policy changes are to be made," she added. 

On the move to abolish the UPSR and Form Three PT3 examinations, she said she would prefer to see them carried out in a hybrid fashion alongside classroom-based assessments. 

Anuar meanwhile said that new policies should be introduced based on comprehensive studies and data. 

He said there had been no convincing data to back the government's move to do away with the UPSR and PT3 examinations. 

"When a minister says he wants to form new policies, he is seen as a good minister," he said.  

"This is not an acceptable situation." 

He also cited the Sekolahku Sejahtera initiative, introduced early last year. 

"There were no studies and in fact no efforts to convince the people," he said. 

"In the end, the programme was carried out, but without any implications for development. 

"Teachers are kept busy with the programme and end up wasting a lot of time."