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UG clueless, continues with ‘BN’s prawn head education policy and system’
What say Jakim and PAS about this?
A social media visual mocking time-wasting racial and religious bigotry
KUALA LUMPURW, Oct 23, 2025: Many criticisms have been penned on the continuous deterioration of Malaysia’s education policies and system.Yet, the so-called Madani Unity Government (UG) continues with its “adopted Barisan Nasional (BN) prawn head eduction policy” under its arguably most incompetent ever education minister Fadhlina Sidek, whom prime minister Anwar’s support for the daughter of a former Abim leader is unwavering.
Bullying, rape and murder are now rampant in schools and why is that?
Is it a sign that the billions of Ringgit spent on religious education and teachings, and Jakim, have also failed?
It is becoming clear to law-abiding multiracial Malaysians who treasure national unity and harmony that no amount of constructive criticisms will convince the UG to revamp the “BN prawn head education policy and system”, and so much for the UG’s transformasi (transformation) promises.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below a few key articles on Malaysia’s failing education system and the way “forward/backward” for Budget 26:
All-star contributor
Good to read again
Good to read again
Very blunt message with unfortunately valid points. 
The BN Prawn Head Education Policy :
Achievements : most of the Prawn Headed ministers found lately!
*By Syed Akbar Ali*
Forwarded message:
Ok firstly congrats to Puan Yeo Bee Yin.
This is actually at another level.
This is her Cambridge Education coming through.
Dear Malay brothers and sisters, this is a very big difference in understanding, opinion and approach between the Chinese and the Malay-Muslims regarding education.
This is one of the main reasons why young Chinese people grow up to become towkays, managers and owners of companies and businesses, but Muslim Malay children will be chronically dependent on Malay political power to earn a living.
This is the main difference. Suka dengar atau tak suka dengar, nak percaya atau tak mahu percaya itu pilihan tuan-tuan. (To listen or not to listen, to believe or not to believe is your choice).
I would like to comment / add to a few of the points from Puan Yeo's message:
Malaysian public school (sekolah kebangsaan) achievement is at the bottom 1/3 of the international PISA scores. (The situation is so bad that the Ministry has stopped participating in the PISA education surveys. I dont think Maszlee will be too worried about the PISA either).
Children from the B40 households (the vast majority of which are orang Melayu juga) lose the most or suffer the most from the worsening sekolah kebangsaan situation. 90% of dropouts from sekolah kebangsaan are from the B40 group.
*There is now a solid caste system among the Malays* themselves - the "have nots" and "have nothing" Malays versus the privileged, connected, cable pulling Malay "haves". The sekolah kebangsaan now perpetuates this class division - especially among the Malays.
Many middle class families sacrifice their wealth to send their children to private schools and international schools. Despite being very expensive (8th most expensive in the world) enrolment in international schools is increasing in Malaysia.
Yeo Bee Yin says that a good education system for all will make the economy flourish because of greater overall worker productivity. At the macro level a good education system increases labour productivity and job creation.
And at the individual level, education enables the rags to riches opportunities for all people.
In Malaysia the ROI (Return on Investment) on education is lower than in other countries.
Then Yeo Bee Yin touches on the quality of teachers - which I would like to expand upon.
It is extremely very true that teachers play a very important role in student learning and student success. Teachers can make or break a student's future.
In Malaysia, the sekolah kebangsaan have seen so many useless changes in the past.
The colour of school shoes have been changed to black.
Long ago they school bags became too heavy.
Then the size of the school bags were made smaller.
One dunggu came up with the KBSM and KBSR.
No one knows what was all that supposed to achieve.
There was the switch to 100% Malay.
Then the switch to Maths and Science in English (PPSMI).
Then switch back to 100% Malay.
Now again they are arguing the switch again to PPSMI.
The school holidays were changed. Then switched back again.
The syllabus has been changed / upgraded.
Even the architecture of the schools has been changed.
Three-in-one Chinese-Malay-Tamil schools in one campus were introduced.
Form Six was taken out and put into Sixth Form Colleges (Kolej Tingkatan 6?)
The Band system was introduced for schools.
There have been so many other changes as well - most of which did nothing to improve our education system. The sekolah kebangsaan are still deteriorating, anak yang keluar sekolah mungkin lebih bodoh daripada sebelum masuk sekolah.
However the one thing that has never been touched upon, the most important thing - is the quality of teachers.
Especially the quality of teacher training and teachers' education in Malaysia.
Despite teacher training colleges and universities, the quality of the average sekolah kebangsaan teacher has either fallen or not improved at all.
This is perhaps the single largest failure of the sekolah kebangsaan system.
First of all the vast majority of the 450,000 or so sekolah kebangsaan teachers in the country are Malays. And most of them went into teaching because :
they had no other career choice or they had few options.
It is deemed an easy job - work ends by 1 or 2 PM.
Its a five day week, with almost 13 weeks of holidays thrown in
dapat pencen.
The hiring of over 450,000 mostly Malay teachers is certainly a very politicised matter in Malaysia. If they did not become teachers, where would those 450,000 mostly Malay people find work? The government may lose the elections.
So teaching has become a dumping ground for Malay employment.
And now the sekolah kebangsaan has also become a dumping ground for the "graduates" who studied religious subjects. They too have few other career options except to become teachers. When they become teachers they transmit the religious virus (tidak boleh menggunakan akal dalam semua perkara) to the students.
Is it any surprise that the sekolah kebangsaan are the bottom 1/3 of the PISA scores?
Makin lama makin bodoh lah.
Tuan-tuan saudara Melayu - for those of you who are rich you can send your kids to study at the private international schools. There are many private international schools in the country now. The products of the private schools are just different from the products of the sekolah kebangsaan. The teachers, teaching and students are superior - in many aspects.
Here is something to ponder. There are expatriate Mat Salleh teachers in some (not all) of these private international schools. Also Indian expatriate teachers.
But the vast majority of teachers at the private schools are Malaysian teachers - and the majority of these teachers are Chinese and Indians.
What does this mean? I will keep it simple.
At the sekolah kebangsaan, the vast majority of teachers are Melayu Islam. The medium of instruction is Malay. The sekolah kebangsaan are at the bottom 1/3 of the PISA scores.
At the private schools, the majority of teachers are Malaysian Chinese and Indians. The medium of instruction is English. And according to Yeo Bee Yin, Malaysian private international schools are now the eighth most expensive schools in the whole world.
May I suggest something ?
1. Switch teaching back to the English language.
2. Increase the numbers of Chinese and Indian teachers / guru besar / pengetua in Sekolah Kebangsaan.
3. Remove religion from the education system. (Mak bapak boleh belanja duit sendiri mengajar agama kepada anak-anak. Macam bapak saya buat dulu.)
If you can do this, our education system will excel - like what it was when I was in school.
Syed Akbar Ali
Address the rot in our school system
· 22 October 2025
· 7:35 am
‘The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.’
– Martin Luther King Jr, American activist
Recent ugly incidents in Malaysian schools should awaken the Education Ministry to the rot in our school system. If they have not, then we are in deep trouble.
Over the past few months, there have been multiple reports of rape incidents involving students in schools, along with other serious disciplinary issues. Then came the suspected murder cases of two schoolgirls — one in Sabah and the other in Petaling Jaya — incidents that should jolt us to the very core.
Seriously, I don’t know what else needs to happen for our education authorities to sit up and earnestly work out concrete plans of action to address these long-standing issues.
We are somewhat consoled that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is aware of, and publicly concerned about, multiple systemic weaknesses in the Malaysian education system — such as discipline, language proficiency, infrastructure, and readiness for future technological demands.
The murder of a schoolgirl in Petaling Jaya on 14 October could be seen as part of the broader challenge of ensuring a “safe school environment”, where discipline, student behaviour and supervision are critical — issues he has publicly addressed.
Thankfully, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has also put on her thinking cap in light of the Bandar Utama school murder. At the very least, she has become more proactive in education matters; the mounting criticisms against her poor performance must have sunk in — at last.
Fadhlina’s plan to introduce “Character Education” in schools is intended to address what she describes as a growing moral and behavioural deficit among students.
The idea is to instil values such as empathy, discipline, respect, responsibility, and civic awareness — qualities that she believes have been overshadowed by an excessive focus on grades and examinations.
This new initiative will reportedly be integrated into the school curriculum and co-curricular activities — not as a standalone subject, but as a values-based approach embedded across teaching, learning, and school culture.
It also aligns with the Prime Minister’s call for a more “holistic education system” that nurtures both intellect and integrity.
Herein lies the question. While we want Fadhlina to succeed moving forward, we must also ask: why have previous character-building programmes in schools been unsuccessful? Will she succeed where others have failed?
Indeed, this is not the first time Malaysia has attempted to inculcate values in schools. Since the 1980s, subjects like Pendidikan Moral and Pendidikan Islam have been part of the national curriculum, aimed at producing disciplined and ethically grounded citizens.
Additionally, Civics and Citizenship Education (Pendidikan Sivik dan Kewarganegaraan) was reintroduced in 2019 under the Malaysia Education Blueprint to promote unity and social responsibility.
Yet many educators and parents admit these programmes have largely failed to shape students’ character in a meaningful way. They were often taught through rote memorisation, focusing on exams rather than real-world application or emotional development.
It is my contention that whether the new “Character Education” initiative succeeds will depend on its implementation, the quality of teachers, and the sincerity of its purpose.
For it to work, it must move beyond slogans and moral preaching towards an engaging, consistent, and community-driven approach.
Students must see these values lived out by their teachers, school administrators, and public figures. Without that alignment, the initiative risks becoming yet another cosmetic reform — well-intentioned, but ultimately toothless.
If effectively executed, however, it could help reverse the moral and disciplinary rot that recent school incidents have so starkly exposed, and re-centre Malaysia’s education system on the formation of good, principled citizens — not just high exam scorers.
If we pay close attention to the malaise in our school system, it becomes clear what parents and Malaysians in general are essentially asking for in order to improve our national education agenda.
We want to see greater investment and equitable allocation of resources so that rural and underprivileged schools can catch up. We cannot allow our rural students to lag so far behind, as is currently the case.
We also want curriculum reform, so that schooling becomes more relevant to modern demands — vocational skills, critical thinking, digital literacy. Malaysia must move with the times.
Certainly, better teacher support is needed — particularly in training, morale, workload management, and professional respect. Teachers must be respected and appreciated for their role as educators of the future generation of Malaysian leaders.
There must also be consistent policy direction and stability — so schools and teachers aren’t constantly adjusting to shifting priorities. Let us also adopt a stronger focus on student welfare, safety, and the school environment, rather than merely academic outcomes.
Finally — for now — the education authorities must work towards restoring public confidence in national schools, so they remain the backbone of our education system, rather than being overtaken by private or international alternatives.
In closing, let me share this noteworthy comment from a former teacher, Siti Safariyah Shahar, who wrote in a national news portal a few days ago:
“The decline of Malaysia’s schooling system isn’t a sudden implosion — it’s a quiet unravelling.
“You see it in the teacher who no longer smiles at the morning assembly; in the student who has stopped asking questions; in the parent who’s given up complaining because ‘it won’t change anything’.
“It’s not noise that kills a system like this; it’s fatigue.”
This opening to Siti Safariyah’s long and insightful letter says it all.
● Francis Paul Siah is a veteran Sarawak editor and currently heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS). He can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune.
Very well written article.
This article is circulating widely in Malay society. It's being translated to English.
"When Schools Lose Their Soul and Education" - Dr. Ahmad Fadhzil Mohamad
Schools today are becoming increasingly incomprehensible.
They were supposed to be places of learning, safety, and nurturing the future, but now they have become places of fear, trauma, and loss.
Just look at what has happened in the past two years.
Six-year-old Zayn Rayyan was tragically killed in Damansara.
To this day, the murderer remains unknown.
Zara Qairina, a boarding student in Sabah, died under mysterious circumstances, with numerous suspicions surrounding her death.
A student died while playing rugby, a clearly avoidable injury.
In the Malacca gang rape, four male students destroyed a girl's life.
And yesterday, news broke of a Form 8 student murdering a Form 4 student.
Think about it: these are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a system in critical condition.
The Ministry of Education is busy displaying beautiful statistics, claiming SPM results are improving.
But look at the reality: students are increasingly anxious, bullied, depressed, and lost.
Official data shows that in 2023, there were 6,528 cases of bullying in schools, soaring to 7,681 in 2024.
And those are just the reported cases.
How many more are afraid to speak up, afraid to report, and held captive by fear?
We are cultivating a generation of children who are smart on paper but hollow in spirit.
They can take exams, but they can't tell right from wrong.
Teachers are also trapped in the system.
It's not that they don't care, but that the entire system is suffocating them.
Reports to be rushed, online systems to be updated, meetings to be held one after another.
Students are bullied or experiencing emotional problems, and teachers want to help, but they're afraid—
of being filmed and uploaded, of being punished, of being blamed by the school.
Every time a major incident occurs, the Ministry of Education issues the same statement:
"We are aware of it."
"The investigation is ongoing."
"The Ministry of Education will not compromise."
But a week later, everything is quiet.
The case has cooled, and the lives are gone.
Our current problem is no longer just about curriculum or textbooks, but rather the "forget it" attitude.
Forget it—students are rude, as long as the grades are good.
Forget it—someone is bullied, as long as the school's reputation isn't affected.
Forget it—teachers are overworked, as long as the KPIs are good.
Forget it—children are in trouble, as long as the department's image remains.
This is an education system that has lost its way.
Reform must begin now.
Not tomorrow, not waiting for a trending topic.
We must put character development, spiritual education, and empathy education back at the center. "Values" shouldn't just be a chapter in "Ethics" or "Religious Studies."
They must be integrated into every activity, every school rule, every teacher, and every student.
Schools aren't exam factories.
Schools should be places where people learn to be human beings.
If we continue on this path, in ten years we will have a generation of people who can use AI but don't respect their parents; people who can give presentations but don't understand emotional management; people who can discuss mental health but can't apologize.
We don't need another generation of soulless geniuses; we need people who are knowledgeable and well-mannered.
Minister of Education,
Enough with those flowery statements.
We want action—not reports, not promises.
Malaysian children should no longer be used as guinea pigs for failed policies.
When schools lose their soul and vitality,
the country loses its future.
When children no longer understand what "values" are,
that day, we have lost our qualification to "educate people."
Dr. Ahmad Fadhzil Mohamad
Perlis • Kangar
#Read this and share it with others
*Where is Malaysia Headed?*
*98.57% of Malaysia’s 2026 National Budget Spent on Administrative Expenses*
(11 October 2025)
According to media reports today (11/10/2025), the Malaysia 2026 National Budget reveals some shocking figures:
1. Total Revenue: RM343.1 billion
2. Total Expenditure: RM419.2 billion
Administrative Expenditure: RM338.2 billion
Development Expenditure: RM81.0 billion
3. Deficit:
419.2 – 343.1 = RM76.1 billion
4. Deficit as Percentage of Revenue:
22.2%
5. Administrative Expenditure as Percentage of Total Revenue:
338.2 / 343.1 = 98.57%
6. Development Expenditure:
Total Revenue – Administrative Expenditure = only RM4.9 billion left.
Of the RM81.0 billion development spending, only RM4.9 billion comes from actual revenue;
the remaining RM76.1 billion is deficit spending — i.e., borrowed money.
7. Public Debt:
As of the end of June 2025, Malaysia’s public debt reached RM1.7 trillion,
an increase of 4.2% compared to 2024.
Any rational observer would ask:
How many of Malaysia’s 62 years have been spent under a deficit budget?
Over the decades, how much wealth — especially oil and gas revenue — have Sabah and Sarawak contributed to Kuala Lumpur?
Why has the federal government in Kuala Lumpur taken so much from Sabah and Sarawak,
yet Malaysia’s finances remain so deeply in deficit?
Ultimately, the question remains:
Where is the road ahead for Malaysians?
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