Education: Racial and religious bigoted politicians want Malaysia's education to be in the pits

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Education: Racial and religious bigoted politicians want Malaysia's education to be in the pits

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16, 2024: Singapore tops the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) ranking 2024.

The island republic is No.1 in Mathematics, Science and Reading!

Malaysia is languishing below 50!

And the racial and religious bigoted politicians from both sides of the political divide (ruling and Opposition) are demanding that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education be taught in Bahasa Malaysia!

Malaysia’s education and academic performance in the international arena is already inferior or below par and failing, and the bigoted politicians want their country’s education standard to be in the pits!

Such bigoted morons, and one too many in multiracial Malaysia!

No News Is Bad News reproduces below Penang Institute’s executive summary titled “Raising the Alarm: Urgent Reforms Needed to Address PISA and Propel STEM Education”, but all it can do is propose measures but the bigoted politicians and the useless Education Minister and her ministry are deaf:

 

 

· The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and science literacy. It is typically conducted triennially, with the current cycle experiencing a one-year delay (from 2021 to 2022) due to the pandemic.

· In the ASEAN region, the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores have dropped, with Malaysia showing the most significant decline compared to Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, and Vietnam.

· Malaysia’s PISA results fell by 6.26% from 431 in 2018 to 404 in 2022 in the overall scores whilst Indonesia and Thailand decreased by 4.09% and 4.36% respectively. Singapore, meanwhile, held on to the region’s top spot.

· The PISA results indicate that Malaysia’s school education delivery system requires further improvement.

· We recommend that the STEM teaching delivery eco-system should be implemented holistically in line with PISA, involving collaboration among educators, policymakers, and parents to create a supportive and conducive learning environment. Additionally, ongoing assessment and adjustment of these strategies based on feedback and outcomes are deemed to be crucial for sustained improvement.

Background

Malaysia has long recognised the growing need to integrate higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) into its school curriculum. HOTS encompasses a range of cognitive skills like reflection, value reasoning, innovation, problem-solving, and decision-making, as defined by the Ministry of Education (MoE) in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025. [1]

HOTS is not a recent initiative; in fact, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has been actively incorporating various educational reforms into its system since the 1980s. The emphasis on HOTS in Malaysia gained attention with the implementation of the Integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools (ICSS) in 1988, followed by Vision 2020 in 1991, the promotion of critical and creative thinking skills in 1996, and the introduction of the ‘Smart School’ initiative in 1997. These reforms aim to foster an elevated level of cognitive abilities among students. [2]

To continue policy initiatives on HOT skills, the MoE undertook comprehensive research in 2013 to develop the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. This blueprint outlines a comprehensive roadmap for integrating STEM education in Malaysia. [3] It underscores the crucial qualities that Malaysian students need in order to excel on the global stage. These attributes encompass a strong national identity, leadership skills, bilingual proficiency, a solid knowledge base, ethical and spiritual values, and the development of Higher Order Thinking (HOT) skills.

To make the curriculum more relevant to everyday life, the blueprint emphasises the incorporation of HOTS into topic content. Despite initiatives like the i-Think project and Kemahiran Berfikir Aras Tinggi(KBAT) by the MoE carried out since 2012 to equip teachers and students with creative thinking tools, problem-solving techniques, and critical thinking skills, there has not been significant demonstrable improvements.

The blueprint highlights that 50 percent of lessons were delivered unsatisfactorily, proving a decline in current teaching standards. Despite the demand for HOTS, Malaysia’s performance in the PISA has been declining. Specifically, Malaysia’s score decreased by 6.26%, dropping from 431 in 2018 to 404 in 2022. Similarly, Indonesia and Thailand saw decreases of 4.09% and 4.36%, respectively. [4] In contrast, Singapore maintained its position as the top-performing country in the region.

PISA is an international assessment administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that evaluates the reading, mathematics, and science literacy of 15-year-old students every three years. Indeed, STEM education, which focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, plays a crucial role in developing HOTS. STEM subjects require analytical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, which are fundamental components of HOTS. Engaging with these disciplines nurtures critical thinking abilities, encourages innovative approaches to challenges, and enhances logical reasoning—all of which are key aspects of higher-order cognitive skills. Furthermore, as global attention shifts towards these skills, equipping individuals with the ability to make
connections between these interconnected disciplines becomes increasingly critical.

Penang STEM initiative in fostering HOTS

HOTS activities to raise the country’s PISA ranking have already been developed and carried out by the MoE. At the state level, the Penang state government has embarked on their own plans to nurture STEM talents.[5]

The Penang state government has been actively promoting STEM education through Penang STEM, a collaboration between six centres and the North-East Education Department. These centres include PSDC, Penang Digital Library, Tech Dome Penang, @CAT, Penang Science Cluster, and Penang Math Platform. The initiative aims to boost student interest in STEM, especially during lower secondary school years, and even at primary school level.

Despite these concerted efforts, the Penang state government remains concerned about the lack of interest in STEM subjects among students. There is also a notable lack of preparedness among teachers to effectively implement HOTS during STEM instruction. Even teachers who recognise and understand the significance of HOTS seem to struggle with its practical application in the classroom.