Activist: Overhaul of country’s education system necessary

KUCHING: A local activist is calling for a complete overhaul in the national education system.

Peter John Jaban of the Sarawak Association for People’s Aspirations (Sapa), says the country’s education has gone through a ‘disastrous and retrograde period’ caused by years of neglect and political interference.

“Since the formation of Malaysia, the provision of language instruction has been heavily politicised, from the neglect of instruction in major world languages such as Mandarin and English, to the absence of our own minority indigenous languages in a classroom setting.

“This has been to the detriment of our students’ ability to compete on a world stage, and also risks losing our cultural diversity which should be a source of pride,” he said in a statement yesterday, issued in response to the recent resignation of education minister Dr Maszlee Malik.

Peter believed that fellow activists from Sarawak and Sabah would agree with him, that a more representative education system for a multi-cultural country like Malaysia, with its wide range of distinct and unique language groups, was a fundamental requirement for national unity in the midst of increasing calls for autonomy and immediate solutions to racial disharmony.

He said the Education Ministry had come up with ‘ all kinds of crazy ideas’ over the last two years, from the scheme to bring in trainees from Saudi Arabia to teach English, to the policy of making Jawi script compulsory for all students.

While acknowledging Jawi as an important aspect of the Malaysian culture, history and heritage, Peter said it was perhaps time to have an education minister from either Sabah or Sarawak to bring some balance to the syllabus.

“Perhaps then our students might even learn the history of the formation of their own nation. It is time for Malaysia to fully recognise that the country is made up of multiple races and this must start with our youths,” he said.