In a speech at the Invest Malaysia 2019: Capital Market Forum here, the prime minister said these include reforms in the use of the English language, the quality of teachers and the employability of graduates.
He said key steps had been taken towards this over the last 10 months.
“They include reforming the curriculum where the national civic and religious education curriculums are currently under review to ensure the values that are practised and inculcated.
“In other words, let’s make national schools great again,” he said.
Mahathir also cited how exams for Standard One to Three had been abolished to provide for the more holistic development of students.
“Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM graduates will be increased by making it more accessible, experiential and meaningful,” he added.
“Likewise with the development of a single technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system to ensure standardisation.”
He said the government had also amended the Universities and University Colleges Act to give students more freedom, and cleaned up the procurement process to remove leakage and potential for corruption.
“There will be bigger reforms expected after the special task force to review in entirety our education policies, from preschool to tertiary, completes its findings next month.”
In an open dialogue with investors later, Mahathir said there are many ways to impart knowledge to children. He also noted the need for good teachers across the board.
He added that certain state-owned entities may be listed to reduce government debt and liability.
He said a government committee on reducing debt is looking at strategies, including “identification of opportunities on potential asset monetisation, which means mature unlisted government entities may be listed in the stock market”.
Reducing some equity stakes of state-owned firms is also being considered, he said.
Other issues he addressed included:
Financial literacy among the youth
Malaysians have money. During the 1998 crisis, what saved us was our source of funds like the EPF. We could fall back on our savings.
But this requires a lot of skill to manage. We have to think of new ways to handle our finances by saving. However, savings depreciate over time. Money saved must be invested in good assets like gold, land or buildings.
Invest wisely. It is not how much you get but what you can buy with it.
Food security
We are fixated on palm and rubber estates. The colonial powers introduced this. The locals thought if we planted them, we would be as rich as they were. But we only had two or three acres.
Now we have revised the idea. They must mix farming, vegetables and fruits. We want to amalgamate all sorts of ideas to increase food. Follow the number of people in the country.
Electric cars
If you study Japan and Korea, they started with cars. It takes years to produce good cars. A car has thousands of parts. Various tests have to be passed to improve the quality of cars.
When we decided to have a third national car, the idea was to upgrade our automotive industry.
Advice on immediate challenges
We live in a time of globalisation. We are no longer able to confine business to our own country. We should acquire new tech.
SME status for those wishing to invest in the country?
We welcome MNCs (multinational corporations).
How to stay focused and healthy
When you reach retirement age, keep on working. I became prime minister at 56, when most people were retiring. Now, I don’t have to tell you what my age is.