It’s no secret that Malaysian students and graduates are falling behind their counterparts in much of the rest of the world. Generally, they’re considered uncompetitive in subject areas such as science and mathematics and in employability.
Some may look at statistics and argue that there’s not much to worry about. After all, Malaysia still ranks ahead of some countries. But if we are to harness a brighter future and attain developed-nation status, one of our most pressing tasks would be to develop and mobilise a competent and globally competitive young workforce.
Recently, Prime Minister Najib Razak expressed the government’s wish to rectify this issue. He said local varsities needed to focus on innovation, entrepreneurship, language proficiency, and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to help Malaysia achieve its goal of becoming a fully developed country.
Acknowledging a problem and dealing with it are two different beasts altogether. It’s one thing to say that Malaysian tertiary education needs improvement, but another to actually do something about it.
Our universities are only part of the equation. Problems with the education system have much deeper roots and this begins at the primary and secondary levels. Just as a strong building requires a solid foundation, the kind of progress the PM speaks of will require reform at the most basic level.
How can one talk about innovation when rote-learning is the norm, when answers are spoon-fed to children in a system where learning is secondary to scoring As? How can universities stress language proficiency when primary and secondary schools treat English as a subject of little importance even though they know that it is the lingua franca for research, education and STEM?
How can STEM be emphasised if experimentation always happens by the book, if inquisitiveness and scientific discovery are repressed in lieu of memorising experiments? For that matter, is it wise to continuously stress STEM alone and risk having a deficit of talent in the humanities and social sciences when attention to these fields will help ensure holistic growth instead of lopsided progress in society?
Moreover, even if public universities become stellar, excellence in education represents only the tip of the iceberg. Without policies and initiatives to protect the workforce, our graduates may not have the incentive to stay in the country. Malaysia’s brain-drain will not only be prolonged but become even worse.
And if the government is so keen to improve the quality of education and emphasise those four areas that Najib spoke of, why then did higher education become a target of budget cuts in the recalibrated Budget 2016?
Local varsities tend to rely on government funding to operate. Even if public universities find new sources of revenue through endowments, for example, it will take years before they reach a level where their research capability is globally recognised and sought after, consequently bringing in funding. These institutions need help to get new business models up and running first.
It’s ironic that in drawing up this year’s budget, the government, in its short-sightedness, weakened one of the key areas that could become an economic saviour if it were put on the right track. If the government is serious about turning Malaysia into a developed country, it needs to start planning and implementing long-term policies that will take Malaysia not only to 2020 but beyond.