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Education for National Development: A Difficult Road Ahead
Associate Professor Dr. Tie Fatt Hee
University of Malaya, Malaysia
Abstract
The Education Act of 1996 in Malaysia enunciates that the purpose of education is to equip individuals with a command of the knowledge, skills, and values that are prerequisites in a highly competitive global economy. Education is recognized as an important tool to achieve sustainable development in the near future. It is deemed to be significant as it acts as a catalyst towards the nation’s vision of achieving a fully developed nation. On the other hand, recent developments indicate that the education system appears to less effective in this aspect as it faced a number of challenges and obstacles. This paper discusses some of the objectives of the education development plan as stipulated in the educational legislation and the various national development plans as well as the challenges faced by the education system.
Introduction
Education for national development continues to be given considerable priorityin allof Malaysia’s national development plans. These national development plans includes the Five-Year National Development Plans (that are often referred to as ‘the Malaysia Plan’) and Vision 2002. These development plans seek to transform the nation to become a developed nation by the year 2020. As a result, the government has continued to allocate a substantial amount of its development budget for the development of education in its annual budget to ensure that the objectives outlined in the plans are fulfilled.Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), the government has allocated RM45.1 billion for education and training in contrast with the RM42.3 billion under the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005).
Education for National Development
There are a number of measures that have been implemented to further improve and strengthen the quality of the system of education. This is vital to enhance the quality of the nation’s human capital and ability to compete in the global market. The government has also introduced a number of education regulations and laws that covers pre-school to tertiary education. An example of a piece of educational legislation in Malaysiais that of the Education Act of 1996 (EA 1996). The EA 1996 enunciates that the purpose of education is to equip individuals with a command of the knowledge, skills, and values that are essential prerequisites for national development in the competitive global economy. In this respect, education has been given due recognition by the authorities as an important tool to achieve sustainable development for the nation in the near future. The contribution of education towards national development cannot be rebutted as it facilitates and acts as a catalyst towards the nation’s vision of achieving a fully developed nation. The earlier Education Act of 1961 (EA 1961) in Malaysiahad emphasised the role of the Malay language as the national language and its function as a medium of instruction to promote a national integration. The EA 1961 also stressed the need for a common curriculum and common public examinations for all schools to foster national integration.After thirty years in existence, the EA1961 was subsequently replaced by the EA 1996. The latter Act retained some of the major objectives of the former. These include the establishment of a national language, national curriculum and common examinations.
On the other hand, the EA 1996 took into consideration the influence of globalisation and the impact of development in information technology in the knowledge economy. The EA 1996 was implemented with theprimary purpose of addressing the challenges posed by these two global developments. In seeking toprepare the nation to compete in a global economy, the EA 1996 strived to address some of the significant changes that are imminent in the knowledge economy. In responding to the changes in the global economy, the EA 1996 expressed that the purpose of the system of education are as follows: - to enable pupils to be well-equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and values that is required to compete in a highly competitive global economy; establishment of a world-class quality education system; development of a democratic, liberal and dynamic nation; and, the development of the potential of the pupil in a holistic manner that encompasses the social, spiritual, emotional as well as the ethical aspects of the individual.
Since 1995, the government has introduced six pieces of legislation that are related to education. There were major changes made to the educational policy, language policy and national development policy. These legislative changes were mainly attributed to the urgent need to prepare a future workforce that is able to survivein open economy characterised by greater transparency and accountability. The government has also implemented a number of initiatives to achieve the objectives expressed in the EA 1996.An example is the 2001-2010 Education Development Plan. The Plan seeks to ensure that all individuals are provided with the same educational opportunities for the first twelve years of schooling in terms of accessibility, equity, and quality. In line with developments in other countries, the Ministry of Education had also re-structured the national education system and reduced the duration of schooling to twelve years from the present thirteen years. In terms of access to education, there was more attention paid towards the setting up of a common pre-school education curriculum, increasing the availability of pre-school education for all, and improving the quality of pre-school teachers.
In general, market forces exert a significant influence on the educational reforms in Malaysia. The national curriculum gives priority to producing students who are knowledgeable, competent, and possess high moral standards and confidence. It strives to produce students who are global ‘players’ with the ability to compete in the international arena, resilient, and able to communicate in international languages, in particular, the English language. In addition, the national curriculum play an important role in producing a knowledge worker that is innovative, creative, possess a thirst for knowledge, mastered the skills of information and communication technology, and has a passion for life-long learning.
Development of Human Capital
Under the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005), nine policy thrusts areas that are required for the optimal utilisation of resources to develop human resources were listed as follows:-
(a)Expanding the supply of highly skilled and knowledgeable manpower to support the development of a knowledge-based economy.
(b)Increasing the accessibility to quality education and training to enhance income generation capabilities and quality of life.
(c)Improving the quality of education and training delivery system to ensure that manpower supply is in line with technological change and market demand.
(d)Promoting lifelong learning to enhance employability and productivity of labour force.
(e)Optimizing the utilisation of local labour.
(f)Increasing the supply of Science and Technology manpower.
(g)Accelerating the implementation of the productivity-linked wage systems.
(h)Strengthening labour market information system to increase labour mobility.
(i)Intensifying efforts to develop and promote Malaysia as a regional centre of educational excellence, and,
(j)Reinforcing positive vales.
The Ministry of Education contributed towards meeting the objective of the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005) in the development of human capital through a number of measures. A skilled and knowledgeable work force in the knowledge economy requires the mastery of the English language. In 2003 the Ministry of Educationimplemented a programme that used English as the medium of instruction for the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science.The decision was made with the aim to enhance student’s competitiveness in the global labour market.This policy of changing the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science from the Malay language to English started in 2003 with students who were in Year One, Form One, and Lower Six.
In an effort to increase the supply of manpower in the Science and Technology field of specialisation, the Ministry of Education has also taken measures to improve the achievement of the 60:40 ratio of Science and Arts students. This was to ensure the creation of a critical mass of Science and Technology personnel to meet the demand of a knowledge-based economy.
The new economy demands the supply of a work force that is knowledgeable and highly skilled as well as proficient in language, science, and mathematics.The Ministry of Education encouraged students to develop their skills and knowledge in these three areas. There was greater emphasis on these subjects in school.
In 2006, the government implemented the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010). It listed eight policy thrusts area for human capital development towards achieving a developed nation status by the year 2010. The areas are as follows:-
(a)Undertaking comprehensive improvement of the education and training delivery systems.
(b)Strengthening national schools to become the school of choice for all Malaysians to enhance national unity.
(c)Implementing measures to bridge the performance gap between rural and urban schools
(d)Creating universities of international standing and ensuring that tertiary institutions meet the needs of employers
(e)Providing more opportunities and access to quality education, training and lifelong learning at all levels.
(f)Nurturing an innovative society with strong science and technology capabilities and the ability to acquire and apply knowledge.
(g)Strengthening national unity and developing a society with a progressive outlook, exemplary value system and high performance culture as well as with an appreciation for tradition and heritage, and,
(h)Enhancing the forum of engagement and consultation between the government, private sector, parents and community in human capital development.
The Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) recognised that the quality of the nation’s human capital was one of the most critical factors that determine national development. The national development plan stressed the need to further develop the quality of human capital. It seeks to develop human capital in a holistic manner where emphasis was given to knowledge and skill acquisition as well as intellectual capital. Education, training, and life long learning were identified by the authorities as the three importantareas that would be given priorityas the nation seek to develop the knowledge, skills, and intellectual capability of its future work force. The national development plan also aims to enhance capacity building, develop human capital, entrepreneurial skills, innovation, and strengthen the education system. It further strives to improve on the past success achieved in total student enrolment, quality, and rate of participation in the education system. It is envisaged that the quality of the labour force would be further improved with the increase in the supply of educated and skilled human resource in the future. Many initiatives were taken to implement training programmes to enhance the employability of the labour force.
In terms of access to education for all, the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) reported that in 2005, the labour force in Malaysia had increased to 11.3 million. In 2005, the Malaysian population had increased to 26.75 million. The population consists of 65.9 % bumiputras, 25.3 % Chinese, 7.5 % Indians, and 1.3 % of other races.
The quality of the labour force has also improved when one considers the educational attainment of the overall population. Those who have a tertiary education level recorded an increase from 13.9 % in 2000 to 20.0 % in 2005. There was also an increase in accessibility to education. Similarly, in 2005, the rate of participation in education among pre-school children increased about two–fold, that is 60.0% as compared to 33.1% in 1990. The rate of participation for the primary school increased to 96.0% in 2005 compared to 93.2% in 1990. For the secondary level, the rate was 85.0% in 2005 compared to 68.0% in 1990. Nevertheless, the rate of participation for tertiary education was 29.9% in 2005 compared to 16.9% in 1990. The statistics showed a general overall positive improvement in educational attainment and educational participation among Malaysians (Table 1).
Table 1: Access to Education and Class Size 1990-2005
1990 / 2005 / Average OECD Countries (2003)Participation rate (%)
Pre-school (4-6 yrs old) / 33.1 / 60.0
Primary / 93.2 / 96.0
Secondary / 68.0 / 85.0
Tertiary (17-23 yrs old)*[i] / 16.9 / 29.9
Average class size (student)
Primary / 33.2 / 31.0 / 21.6
Secondary / 33.6 / 32.5 / 23.9 **
Teacher-student ratio
Primary / 1:20.4 / 1:17.2 / 1:16.5
Secondary / 1:18.9 / 1:16.3 / 1:13.6
*Refers to degree, diploma, STPM, matriculation, A-levels and post-SPM certificate.
**Refers to lower secondary
(Source: Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education in Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010:8)
The responsibility for the development of the nation’s human resources in the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) was entrusted to five Ministries. These were the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources, Ministry of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development, and Ministry of Youth and Sports. The Ministry of Education was responsible for providing greater access to quality pre-school, primary and secondary education.
In a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-lingual society, education has been perceived to play a vital rolein fostering national unity. Education was deemed to be an important tool to promote national integration through the use of a common language of instruction. In its attempts to produce a highly-valued and educated citizen, the system of education may be used as a means to legitimise responsible government (Yeoh, 1982). In turn, national unity lays the foundation for greater economic development and vice-versa. In all of Malaysia’ national economic development plan such as the First Malaysia Plan (1966-1970) and the Second Malaysia Plan (1971-1975) several measures have been implemented to consolidate the education system and to promote the nation’s social, cultural, political, and economic interests. The government sought to improve the quality of the education system and also reduce the gap in the availability of educational opportunity among the races.
Challenges
The education system has to address a number of issues before it is able to contribute more effectively to the nation’s aspiration to become a developed nation.
The development of human capital that is knowledgeable, highly skilled, flexible and creative is deemed to be essential prerequisites for a nation to further strengthen its economic competitiveness and resilience in the global economy. It requires specific improvement of the education system and the training delivery systems; strengthening schools; narrow the gap between rural and urban schools; create universities of international standing; opportunities and access to quality education; nurturing an innovative society; and, strengthening national unity. During the Eighth Malaysia Plan period (2001-2005), the general improvement in the quality of the labour force was due to theincrease in the supply of educated and skilled human resource resulting from the expansion in the capacity of education and training institutions. Nevertheless, education for national development faces a difficult road ahead as it faces the following problems:- global competition; incorrect approaches to educational reforms; issues of meritocracy; curriculum; and, language.
In 2005, foreign direct investments in Malaysia fell 14 % compared to the previous year (Beech, 2006). The nation’s competitiveness has been affected by the rapid economic growth and development in countries such as China and Vietnam. In addition, foreign direct investments from the European Union, dropped 0.5 billion Euro from 2004 to 2005. The country’s attractiveness as a destination for the European Union’s foreign direct investment was also reported to be declining. In the latter, the difficult task of getting skilled labourwas one of the factors that caused the decline (Damodaran, 2006).
There are many factors that account for the fall in the nation’s competitiveness. However, if serious attention is not given towards enhancing the quality of the education system, it will decline precipitously in the future. It is inevitable that thequality of the education system must be enhanced even though it faces tremendous pressure between meeting the needs of nation building, developing local cultures and meeting local demands as against the demands of internationalisation and globalisation. There is a need for a strong political will to implement meaningful educational policies to improve the nation’s competitiveness. It is a challenge for policy makers to address the competitive world of globalisation while trying to promote national unity amidst an education system that is divisive and politically driven (M. Bakri Musa, 2003).
Globalisation initiatives exert an important influence on innovations that occurs in schools, curriculum, teacher education, and educational governance (Stromquist and Monkman, 2000). Thus, concrete educational reforms must consider the challenges of globalisation in order to avoid the imminent risk of being marginalised and become isolated due to inertia and inadequate preparation to compete with other countries. On the other hand, some argued that globalisation do not affect the classroom. However, critics indicated that at the macro level, globalisation transforms the education system due to the forces of international finance, the emergence of new patterns of economic growth, and market ideology. Undoubtedly, finance capital is attracted by a supply of skilled labour that is educated(Daun, 2002). Globalisation affects education in two ways, namely: - the rise in knowledge intensive information, and innovation. Educational reforms and change must be re-examined to ensure that it produces a competent and skilled workforce.Changes in the global economic landscape associated with structural changes in the economy involve issues related to employment. The rise in unemployment among university graduates is another challenge.
Educational reforms require a systematic and well-planned approach that accommodates to changes at the societal level. The formulation of a clear, comprehensive, well-thought out, and practical education policyensures that the education system is following a clear direction.The inclination towards perpetuating the one-size-fits-all approach in educational reforms which has already been well entrenched in the education system is evident.(Nik Ahmad, 2006). Parental aspirations for their children have shifted due partly to the influence of globalisation. Traditional system of education that fails to face the realities of the borderless world may be shunned. The number of middle-class parents sending their children to private and international schools in the struggle to ensure that their children obtain the best education possible which is not available in the public schools has increased. Parents exercise their choice by using the ‘exit’ mechanism.The government did realise these changes when it announced a new and flexible policy which allows more international schools to be established. The Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) seeks to address the issue of declining enrolment in the national schools by implementing measures to make such schools the school of choice among parents. Ad hoc measures and knee jerk responses are risky as the objectives of these measures may not be attained in the long term.