The New Government's promise to reform education took off in earnest this year with a flurry of activities centered around a number of committees that were formed to look into this and that in education. In higher education, the focus appears to be on the harmonization of the public and private sectors of higher education. The plurality of views on this issue come from different directions. From the top, the proposals are about autonomy, academic freedom and the freeing of universities from government control. From the other end, the concerns are more pedestrian, more practical, if you like. Issues like teaching permit, the speeding of bureaucratic processes and lesser control of the academic processes have been raised by representatives of the private sector. Surprisingly, I have not heard of any discussions on the harmonization of language policies across the sectors.
The opinions and 'findings' so far published only tinker with the issues. Any real proposal to harmonize the two sectors must examine the reasons for the division of the higher education sector and more importantly the root policies that forced that division. There is a serious misunderstanding underlying current discussions which is that the private sector was created by and for the well-to-do in our society and has no place for the poor. This is an inaccurate way to describe the origins of the private sector which evolved to meet the needs of a large section of our population that could not find its way into public sector institutions.
The main issue in higher education, which has always been controversial and constituted a large chunk of the political fodder for the racial polemics of this country is ACCESS to higher education. Any move towards harmonization must first deal with that very, very important issue. With over 800 post-school institutions in the country, we can no longer hide behind capacity issues. A fair and progressive approach to providing educational opportunities to all will ensure harmonization. Without a fair policy on access, nothing will really be harmonized, let alone reformed.
Mutterings on Education
I have found the mutterings in this blog very enlightening.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great article on ACCESS to higher education in Malaysia. The writer must be complimented for putting the issue so precisely. Malaysians are aware of the need to access higher education but they find it difficult to just even get admission to a college or university.
ReplyDeleteFor all the ambitious educational blueprints that have been published, there are politicians waiting to give different slants to those ambitions. Quality and access is lost on them.
Speaking of the ‘ACCESS’, we are looking at a large group of poor parents, who are exhausted fighting to earn their living, and also to get their children a better education, no matter how expensive it is. Their first priority is to get into a public higher educational institution, to earn a prestigious degree. But their chances are low due to the quota system in Malaysia. The alternative for these poor parents is a private higher educational institution. This is their last hope for education, no matter how expensive it is. They believe, education, is the only way to transform their children`s destiny.
Poverty and education and the sensitive issue of the quota system resides in every single corner of our society in Malaysia. Malaysian have been handling these issues with very much care so that these issues will not provoke any bad incidents. For this, I salute and respect a foreign movie – the ‘Medium Hindi’ that uses a bold and realistic plot to satirize the corruption of the education system in India. For me, that reflects our current state.
Dear author, Prof U K Menon, thank you for making such an important note on the ACCESS in higher education in Malaysia.
Athila Naaru S
I agree with Athila's comments.
ReplyDeleteDear prof.Menon,very actual issue was touched and I like comments to the article as well. If we speak about the educational system in KR, I would better speak about lack of schools in cities and towns in Kyrgyz Republic. Because post Soviet period a lot of kindergartents' buildings became private or turned into other office. And now government is not building new kindergartens and schools. Only mosques are beeing built. So there are 70 and up kids in one group.
ReplyDeleteSo demand is great and a lot of private kindergartens and schools appear now. Which is not available for poor families. Because monthly payment is equal to almost half or full monthly salary of poor parents. The same problem at schools. 50-60 children in one grade. Sitting 3 people in one desk,what kind of quality are we waiting for? mr.Menon your article made me think deeply about our Ed.system. thank you
http://ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/
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