The weakness of Malaysian
education system has been debated over and over again. It is like an endless
argument regarding to this issue although our education system had undergone a
lot of phases and changes. The main issue about Malaysian education system is
that, it has been said to be too exam-oriented and does not consistent with the
changes. Before I am going far with comparisons and explanations regarding to
this issue, let’s look through the definition and concept of education
beforehand. Education has various definitions and meanings. According to
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s dictionary, 'education' is the process of teaching or
learning in a school or college or the knowledge that you get from the school
or college. Education is very important for a society to make sure that the
country is well-developed and harmony. According to Airil Haimi Adnan and Edwin
Smith (2001), there are seven main social functions of education. The social
functions of education are related to the development, political, value, identity,
stratification, economic, and socialization. These functions should be taken
into consideration whenever changes need to be made in order to come out with
better policy and system.
One of the weaknesses of
Malaysian education system is that students often are required to memorize
facts and formula in their classes. Often teachers give a lot of facts and formula
for students to memorize. The students will then be tested with the memorizing
skills through multiple choice questions and short answer type of
questions. How many smart people do the
systems produce each year? How come
there are no smart Malaysians who invented the newest car, the newest
technology? All we see is students who
are really good in memorizing facts and formula while do not know how to apply
their skills to solve tomorrow’s problem. Students are often ask to learn how
to write exams instead of learning. Most of the time, some of the parents and teachers put high expectations on students to score well in all the exams and solely depend on the results of the exams as the symbol of success in future. No doubt doing well
in exams are important, but it should not be overlooked since doing well in
exams does not guarantee one’s success in their lives. I am not putting the blame on the parents nor the teachers because the system itself is lacking in producing students who are always be prepared to face the real world instead of just depending on what they had learned in schools. This happens when students are the products of exam-oriented system; they lack in soft skills and are not critical in thinking. There are a lot of students who get straight A's in national exams yet their capabilities in applying the knowledge in real life still vague.
Besides that, the inconsistency of the Ministry of Education (MoE) in implementing the changes in our education system also became an issue, especially the changes in the language used in the syllabus. Since then, Bahasa Malaysia had been used in the syllabus of all subjects except English subject,in the textbooks, in teaching; in all schools except SJKC, SJKT, and private schools. However, since January 2003, the policy has changed. A new policy in which Science and Mathematics subjects had to be learned and taught in English. At first, many people protested and against the policy as the policy was still new to Malaysians. As the time goes, Malaysians seemed to accept and adapt to the policy well although many students had difficulties to blend into the new policy once it had started. Nonetheless, the issue does not stop here. Once MoE decided to change back the language from English to Bahasa Malaysia since last few years, protests were everywhere. Many people questioned the relevance of changing the language used many times as it would cost much (textbooks, etc) and, could affect the students and teachers who already adapt well into the new policy. Although MoE had explained the purpose of the change, but some Malaysians cannot accept it. This inconsistency makes some people lose faith in Malaysian education system although the system is not extremely bad. It is just that the system needs massive improvement to produce better generation who would lead the future and conquer the world with great knowledge and good morale. We, should come out with recommendations and suggestions to make it becomes better, not only condemning the system without doing anything, for the sake of the future generation.
In addition, there has been a gender issue regarding to the comparison of achievement of female and male students in national examinations such as Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). Female students often dominate the top-ranking of the results for every single year compared to the male students. On 29th of March 2013, as stated in Utusan Malaysia, the Professor of Malaysia's Permata Pintar Centre, Prof. Dr. Siti Rahayah Arifin said that her team gone through a research and found out that SPM questions nowadays are more into writing skills, texts, and linguistics which give more advantages on female students. She said, on the contrary, male students are more into numbers, graphic, visual, logic, and mathematics in which those elements have not been emphasized too much in the national examinations. In order to overcome this problem, she came out with recommendation if that the government would consider to replace the approach of Classic Test Theory (CTT) in SPM with a new theory, Inner Tret Theory (IRT). Personally, I partially agreed with the result of the research as we can see that a lot of male students in technical school compared to female students. Besides that, most male students are taking engineering which mostly involves numbers, mathematics, and logic. I believe that this is one of the factors that female students dominate the top-ranking results compared to the male students, although there are a lot of factors should be taken into consideration. Malaysian education system should undergo a lot of improvements including the questions for national examinations. It is unfair if our education system keep continues to give the advantage to the female students. However, the researchers also said that even the system changes, the male students have to strive to compete healthily with the female students. If they do not work hard and keep their focus on their studies, the changes will be nothing. The students have to have the willpower to give their best, not only condemning the system all the time. This statement is true as we will overcome the barriers if we want to success in future. We cannot keep on blaming the system without giving our best as everyone can be successful as long as they work hard and do not give up. It is just that it is better if we have a fairer system for national examinations. The rest, it is up to the students either they want to make good of the changes or still remain the same.
To wrap up, I always have faith that Malaysian education system will be better as the time goes as long as MoE strives to improve the system and considers all the options and recommendations wisely to upgrade the system. As for the other parties, including us, we should be open-minded to accept changes and not only know to condemn the system without contribute anything. Many factors have to be taken into consideration and this issue should not be taken slightly as the future of our next generation depends on it. There are more weaknesses of Malaysian education system but I think I would like to point out the main points that have been debated repetitively. Last but not least, this is just my personal opinion and point of view based on what I've read and observed. It has been discussed that every education system has its merits and demerits. Most important, actions should be taken before it is too late. The current education system will shape our future generation so think carefully; is this kind of education system we want them to go through? It is time for improvement; there is always room for improvement. As the saying goes, "Better late than never".
To be reminded again, this post is only for the educational purposes. I shall not be liable for any decisions made or actions taken based on the information I provided.
To be reminded again, this post is only for the educational purposes. I shall not be liable for any decisions made or actions taken based on the information I provided.
