Please see the McKinsey&Company report on:
How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better.
The executive summary ends with a short paragraph (http://mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/Education/Education_Intro_Standalone_Nov%2026.pdf)

“The fundamental challenge school system leaders face is how to shepherd their system through a journey to higher student outcomes. This journey is all the more complex because system starting
points are different, contextual realities vary, and system leaders face multiple choices and combinations of what to do along the way – a single misplaced step can result in system leaders inadvertently taking a path that cannot get them to their desired destination. While there is no single path to improving school system performance, the experiences of all the 20 improving school
systems we studied show that strong commonalities exist in the nature of their journeys. This report outlines the aspects of these
journeys that are universal, those that are context-specific, and how the two interact. We hope these experiences benefit school systems around the world in navigating their own path to improvement.”

Critical to Malaysia is an understanding and appreciation of the multiple types of schools in Malaysia before 1974, including English-medium schools. We had excellent schools then VI, PFS, Chung Ling, MCKK, the mission schools, etc. Yet, MoE had destroyed excellence in the name of nationalism. And the new blueprint worth 20 million recommends further destruction of some of the remaining excellent schools, all for and in the name of national schools and the national language.

Interestingly, McKinsey&Co themselves recognise that “there is no single path to improving ….”, yet the 20mil recommends a very rigid blueprint. And surely in their own words “a single misplaced step…” will not succeed.

They end by saying school systems around the world should navigate their own path to improvement.

Yet they have colluded (for 20mil) with the racial UMNO baru MoE to set a blueprint for Malaysia that will further destroy whatever excellence there is left of education in Malaysia.

The issues that need remedy and political will to overcome are clear as daylight to everyone in Malaysia. Just to list a few.
1. We need quality Malaysian teachers for schools, quality Malaysian lecturers for universities and colleges, irregardless of cultural background, and quality education officers in the various departments of MoE. No more ketuanan in education.
2. We need to allow more affordable independent English-medium schools so they are not monopolised by just the rich folks. They could be encouraged to also run classes that follow the national school curriculum in Bahasa Malaysia for students who cannot afford to pay fees for the English medium classes. All students can choose to learn additional languages such as Mandarin, Tamil, etc. There are many advantages to be gained by both groups of students, parents and teachers through common school activities.
3. We need a more balanced and equitable budget (with subsidies) for all types of schools, including nursery and preschool classes. Rural and inner city schools need more assistance.
4. MARA schools, colleges and universities must open their doors to all Malaysians who qualify for admission.
The list goes on. Let’s not just talk and make use of the McKinsey&Co blueprint for political advantage. The people deserve and demand a responsible MoE and quality education from nursery to tertiary. The future of Malaysia depends on it. Let’s embark on the journey to excellence.