Kiss good-bye to Vision 2020: Malaysia’s education system still in the pits

Kiss good-bye to Vision 2020: Malaysia’s education system still in the pits

In March 2014, that’s more than two years ago, the World Bank warned that Malaysia’s students were lagging behind Vietnam.

It also warned that the ineffective education system is even more alarming than household debt.

No News Is Bad News is as curious as its readers to know where we stand now? Have we improved the system?

We will not speculate or answer those questions. We leave it to Malaysians and performance to do the answering.

No News Is Bad News has been asking this: http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/08/has-malaysias-federal-debt-surpassed.html, http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/09/30-million-malaysians-and-every-new.html and http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/08/maybanks-profit-down-27-malaysias-tip.html.

So, is Malaysia on track to achieve Vision 2020’s developed nation status?

We say Malaysians can kiss good-bye to Vision 2020 that is due just under four years.

Here’s the malaymail.online news report dated March 25, 2014:

"World Bank: Malaysia’s students lagging behind Vietnam’s, more alarming than household debt
BY BOO SU-LYN
Tuesday March 25, 2014
01:20 PM GMT+8
UPDATED: March 25, 2014 03:20 PM GMT+8

World Bank senior economist for Malaysia Frederico Gil Sander at a Global Malaysia Series forum on March 25, 2014. ― Picture by Boo Su-Lyn

PETALING JAYA, March 25 ― The performance of Malaysian schoolchildren that is lagging behind even those from a poorer country like Vietnam rings more alarm bells than Malaysia's rising household debt level, a World Bank economist said today.

Frederico Gil Sander, senior economist for Malaysia, stressed that it was crucial for Malaysia to start education reforms immediately if the Southeast Asian nation aims to achieve developed status by 2020, less than six years away.

“Vietnam is a much poorer country, but Vietnamese students in rural areas actually perform better than Malaysian students,” Sander told the Economic Transformation Programme's Global Malaysia Series forum here today.

“That should be very alarming to Malaysia, much more alarming than the debt situation,” he added.

In the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is an exam testing 15-year-olds on mathematics, science and reading, Vietnam was ranked 17th out of 65 countries, above Malaysia's 52nd spot.

The findings released last December also showed that Malaysian students scored below average in all three subjects.

Sander recommended a decentralised education system, where schools are given more decision-making powers and hence, would enable parents to receive more information.

“Also, moving the best teachers to the classrooms and making sure that we're taking the best students in the teaching profession,” he told reporters after the forum.

GE Global Growth & Operations ASEAN CEO Stuart Dean, who was also at the forum, stressed that meritocracy is the key requirement in any education system.

When asked how the American multinational conglomerate would respond should Malaysia suffer a talent gap, Dean said: “That would certainly depress our investment spending, whether in Malaysia or any other country.”

Minister in Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala told the forum that the National Education Blueprint would ensure continuity in the country's education policies, irrespective of a change in prime ministers, as it is a 20-year plan.

“What doesn't change is improving the quality of teachers,” he said.

Malaysia’s household debt rose to 86.6 per cent of the total value of the entire economy in 2013, despite measures by Bank Negara Malaysia to curb borrowing. - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/world-bank-malaysias-students-lagging-behind-vietnams-more-alarming-than-ho#sthash.SQpT1QaU.dpuf"