World Bank: Worsening education obstacle to Malaysia’s high-income hopes
The Malay Mail Online
December 11, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Education standards that were deteriorating despite Putrajaya spending twice as much as neighbouring countries on schools could stand in the way of Malaysia’s plans to join the ranks of developed nations, according to a recent World Bank report.
In a report titled “Malaysia Economic Monitor: High Performing Education” that echoes criticism over the recent performance of Malaysian schools, the World Bank highlighted the critical role quality education plays in a country’s aims to gain a high-income status.
In 2011, Malaysia spent the equivalent of 3.8 per cent of its gross domestic product on education, or more than twice the average 1.8 per cent within Asean nations.
“A nation’s human capital, which is largely built by its education system, is a fundamental driver of economic growth,” it said in the report.
“The quality of cognitive skills of Malaysian students, as measured by standardized international tests, is not on par with the country’s aspirations to become a high-income economy.” Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin should ask McKinsey & Co to answer the question how Malaysia is to become a “wonder nation” and make the double quantum jump from the bottom third to top third of 2021 PISA or reclaim the RM20 million spent on the consultant for the Malaysian Education Blueprint
Posted by Kit in Education, Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin on Wednesday, 11 December 2013, 10:15 am
The Deputy Prime Minister and the Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should ask the American consultants McKinsey & Co to answer the question how Malaysia is to become a “wonder nation” and make the double quantum jump from the bottom third to top third of 2021 PISA in four triennial PISA tests which had not been achieved by any country in the world from 2003 to 2012.
If Malaysia can achieve what no other country could do in four triennial PISA tests to make the double quantum jump from the bottom third to top third of the PISA system from 2010 to 2021, Malaysia will become the envy and even poster boy of all countries in the world as a miracle nation which could make a double quantum jump in educational transformation from a nation of mediocrity to become a nation of excellence through four triennial PISA tests.
Malaysia is presently stuck in the bottom third of the PISA system for all three subjects, i.e. 421 for maths, 420 for science and 398 for reading, when Malaysia needs to achieve scores of 450 for maths, 442 for science and 446 for reading to get into the middle third and scores of 532 for maths, 511 for science and 508 for reading to get into the top third of the PISA assessment.
This is based on 2012 PISA as from the four triennial PISA tests of 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012, the threshold for each third of the assessment rises, for instance, the top performer in maths in 2003 was Hong Kong with a score of 550 while Shanghai topped the 2012 PISA with 613. Read the rest of this entry »
What Our Leaders Can Learn from Mandela
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 11 December 2013, 1:55 am
By Kee Thuan Chye
msn.com
10.12.2013
When Nelson Mandela died last Thursday, some Malaysian political leaders paid him tribute and expressed their admiration for what he stood for.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, who recently bought back preventive detention, tweeted, “Mandela lives on in the spirit of every human that believes in democracy and freedom.”
Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, the champion of Perkasa, Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) and the New Economic Policy (NEP), called Mandela a great leader dedicated to the cause of social justice.
Kedah Mentri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir, who in September said he would not entertain any requests for allocations from Chinese schools in Kedah, called Mandela “a true international patriot” for having suffered for the freedom movement against Apartheid.
Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who last year raised the threat of another May 13, extolled his message of unity and called him a “role model for all of the world”.
Weighed against what these people have said, done and been perceived to believe, the tributes sounded hollow. Even hypocritical. It makes one wonder if they truly understand the meaning of Mandela’s legacy. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno Baru running scared
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Mariam Mokhtar, Najib Razak, UMNO on Tuesday, 10 December 2013, 5:21 pm
Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Dec 9, 2013
The 4Rs – race, royalty, religion and the rural people – have been used by Umno Baru to divide and rule Malaysia.
When Najib asked the rhetorical question, “Where would the Malays be without Umno Baru?”, it was a cry of desperation and an admission of defeat.
Umno Baru’s hold on the Malays is slipping. Najib and Umno-Baru are scared. Without the Malays, where would Umno Baru be? Domination of the Malays is not about protecting their rights. It is all about power and status.
The line that Umno Baru has used for over five decades to divide the nation, is no longer relevant. Malay graduates who return to Malaysia do so because they have to fulfil the terms of their scholarship or loan. Try asking them what they really feel about Malaysia, about Umno Baru and its leaders. Their stories will fill you with hope.
The current clampdown on dissent and the hunt for Malays who speak their minds is because the government is afraid. A thinking Malay is a threat to Umno Baru. A thinking Malay who is prepared to question the leaders and make them accountable for their actions will erode the power of Umno Baru.
Umno Baru knows that one thinking Malay will embolden other Malays and very soon, Umno Baru will become irrelevant. Read the rest of this entry »
In ‘Islamist’ Umno, analysts see a nation torn by religion
By Boo Su-Lyn
The Malay Mail Online
December 10, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — Umno’s increasing focus on Islam will likely spark inter and intra-religious tensions here, and even affect the country’s development, analysts have said as they warned of the dangers of placing one religion, or denomination, above another.
The political observers noted that in recent months, Umno appears to have entered a competition to “out-Islamise” Islamist PAS, the one opposition party seen as its biggest competitor for the Malay-Muslim vote, the country’s key voting demographic.
Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive of libertarian think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), even said Umno’s 67th general assembly last week seemed very much like a gathering by PAS two decades ago.
“I must say it’s really disappointing to see the Umno assembly becoming like what PAS was 20 years ago,” Wan Saiful told The Malay Mail Online yesterday.
“PAS has moved on. Umno has suddenly become Muslim again… it’s really sad to see the prime minister outside the assembly talking about progressive, liberal views.
“But, in his own party, at the annual gathering, it’s like attending a PAS gathering 20 years ago,” he added. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin can have no plans to catapult Malaysia into the top third in 2021 PISA as Malaysia would have to become a “wonder country” to achieve what no nation could do in four triennial PISA tests
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday, 10 December 2013, 9:22 am
In the past two days, I have asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to stop “building castles in the air” or he should outline concrete plans to prove that the Malaysian Education Blueprint for Malaysia’s 15-year-olds to be in the top third of 2021 PISA is no “pie in the sky”.
I now understand why Muhyiddin has been conspicuously silent about the 2012 PISA results in the triennial global test of 510,000 15-year-old students in 65 countries in reading, science and maths, with Malaysia’s 15-year-olds not only falling below the international average in the three critical subjects but ranging from three to five years behind their peers in the top-performing PISA countries/regions particularly in Shanghai, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
For instance, for mathematics with score of 421, Malaysia’s 15-year-olds is five years behind their peers in Shanghai (613), four years behind Singapore, and more than three years behind seven countries/regions – Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Macao, Japan, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
For science, with score of 420, Malaysia is 4.2 years behind Shanghai (580), and more than three years behind six countries/regions – Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Finland and Estonia.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tidak mungkin Muhyiddin mampu mengadakan rancangan untuk melonjakkan Malaysia ke dalam kelompok sepertiga teratas dalam PISA 2021 kerana untuk mencatat pencapaian sedemikian dalam tempoh empat ujian tiga tahunan PISA, Malaysia perlu menjadi “negara ajaib”
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday, 10 December 2013, 10:07 am
Sejak dua hari yang lalu, saya meminta Timbalan Perdana Menteri merangkap Menteri Pendidikan Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin untuk berhenti membina “mahligai kayangan” dan menggariskan rancangan padu untuk membuktikan bahawa sasaran Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia untuk meletakkan pelajar berusia 15 tahun di Malaysia dalam kalangan sepertiga teratas dalam PISA 2021 bukan angan-angan kosong.
Kini saya faham mengapa Muhyiddin membisu tentang keputusan PISA 2012, ujian tiga tahunan global melibatkan 510,000 pelajar berusia 15 tahun dari 65 buah negara untuk subjek sains, matematik, dan bacaan, yang mendapati pencapaian pelajar berusia 15 tahun di Malaysia dalam ketiga-tiga subjek itu bukan saja di bawah tahap purata antarabangsa, malah mereka ketinggalan empat atau lima tahun di belakang rakan-rakan mereka yang seusia dari negara-negara berprestasi tinggi seperti Shanghai, Singapura, Korea Selatan, Hong Kong dan Taiwan.
Sebagai contoh, untuk subjek matematik, skor 421 yang dicapai oleh pelajar berusia 15 tahun Malaysia adalah lima tahun ketinggalan di belakang rakan-rakan sebaya mereka dari Shanghai (613), empat tahun di belakang Singapura , dan lebih tiga tahun di belakang tujuh buah negara/wilayah lain –Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea Selatan, Macao, Jepun, Liechtenstein dan Switzerland.
Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin should outline concrete plans to prove that the Malaysia Education Blueprint for Malaysia’s 15-year-olds to be in top third of countries in 2021 PISA is no “pie in the sky”
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO, university on Monday, 9 December 2013, 3:49 pm
Malaysia has two Education Ministers but this has not stopped the country from continuing to slide down international educational standards, transforming our previous status in the early Merdeka years as a nation of excellence for primary, secondary and university education into a nation of mediocrity.
This was painfully highlighted by two events last week, the release of the 2012 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) last Tuesday and the inaugural Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies Rankings 2014 last Wednesday.
The 2012 PISA, a global test of 510,000 15-year-old students in 65 countries in reading, science and maths, found Malaysia’s 15-year-olds not only below the international average in the three critical subjects but four or even five years behind their peers in the top-performing PISA countries/regions in Shanghai, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The inaugural Times Higher Education BRICS and Emerging Economies Rankings 2014 has finally confirmed Malaysia’s removal from the pedestal of the world’s top ranking universities – as not a single Malaysian university succeeded for the third year running to be ranked in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for top 400 universities for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin perlu membentuk rancangan padu untuk membuktikan Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia untuk meletakkan pelajar berusia 15 tahun Malaysia dalam kelompok sepertiga teratas dalam PISA 2021 bukan janji kosong
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO, university on Monday, 9 December 2013, 6:25 pm
Malaysia mempunyai dua Menteri Pendidikan, namun hal ini tidak menghalang mutu pendidikan dalam negara daripada terus merosot di bawah piawaian antarabangsa, mengubah status kita yang dikenali di tahun-tahun awal Merdeka dulu sebagai sebuah negara cemerlang mutu pendidikan rendah, menengah, dan universitinya, menjadi sebuah negara yang pencapaiannya serba biasa sahaja.
Kita diperingatkan tentang hakikat ini menerusi dua peristiwa pada minggu lalu, iaitu pengumuman PISA 2012 (Programme for International Student Assessment) Selasa lalu dan Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies Rankings 2014 pada hari Rabu lalu.
PISA 2012, ujian global melibatkan 510,000 pelajar berusia 15 tahun dari 65 buah negara untuk subjek sains, matematik, dan bacaan, mendapati pencapaian pelajar berusia 15 tahun di Malaysia dalam ketiga-tiga subjek itu bukan saja di bawah tahap purata antarabangsa, malah mereka ketinggalan empat atau lima tahun di belakang rakan-rakan mereka yang seusia dari negara-negara berprestasi tinggi seperti Shanghai, Singapura, Korea Selatan, Hong Kong dan Taiwan.
Read the rest of this entry »
How Dare Najib Discredit Mandela
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 9 December 2013, 11:50 am
By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
9.12.2013
Umno President Najib Razak diminished the stature of a great man when he said last Saturday at his party’s general assembly that Umno fought for the “same cause” as Nelson Mandela, who had died two days before.
What same cause? Mandela fought against racial discrimination whereas Umno institutionalised racial discrimination a few decades ago and still upholds it.
Mandela never advocated black supremacy, whereas Umno promotes Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy).
After he became president of South Africa, Mandela proposed reconciliation and sought to bring the races in his country together, whereas in Malaysia, Umno divides the races in order to keep itself in power.
Even at its general assembly, Umno’s delegates lobbied for the ethnocentric ‘1Melayu’ to replace the more inclusive ‘1Malaysia’, bashed the Chinese for not supporting the party at the last general election, and demanded a bigger stake in the economy, totally ignoring the reality that most of the country’s economic development is now already in Malay hands. Read the rest of this entry »
Islamist conservatism in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam on Monday, 9 December 2013, 11:27 am
By Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid
New Mandala
7 December 2013
The transmission of Islam in the Malay-Indonesian world remains entrenched in history as one of the foremost examples of peaceful proselytisation of religion on a trans-continental scale. So successful was the continuous process from around the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, that the Islamic faith (agama) became comfortably embedded as a definitive criterion, apart from the Malay language (bahasa Melayu) and rulership (kerajaan), of Malayness – in reference to the broad category of Southeast Asia’s indigenous population who were previously adherents of animism and variants of Hindu-Buddhist religious traditions prevalent in the archipelago. The sources, modalities, timing and other details of the genesis of Islam among the Malays had always been diverse – there were sufis or Muslim mystics and shias; Arabs, Chinese, Indians and Bengalis; sayyids, sheikhs and itinerant missionaries; merchants, traders and political escapees from the flux engulfing their lands of origin or transit.
With its kaleidoscopic provenance as the backdrop, Islam as understood and practised by Malay-Muslims prior to the era of the nation state never bore monolithic traits. On the contrary, accommodation of mores from a variety of civilisational traditions prevailed, as strongly reflected in the assortment of religious practices deriving from various ethno-cultural traditions that eventually assumed the label of being part of Malay-Muslim heritage. Hence we find for instance, in Penang, the boria musical tradition which traces its ancestry to Shiah festivities. Religio-cultural marhaban and berzanji troupes who commonly perform during Malay wedding receptions, in turn, owe their origins to rhythmic salutations of the Prophet Muhammad popularised by sufi congregations. Islam in Malaya, up till independence on 31 August 1957, had remained steadfast to the spirit of wide interpretation, as personified by its perennial willingness to accommodate the intricacies of local customs known as adat, and to tolerate the arrival of new cultural strands such as the Kaum Muda and even the West. The celebrated public debate in Kelantan on whether a dog’s saliva could be considered impure or not in 1937 was indicative of the spirit of tolerance of diversity of views that prevailed in pre-independent Malaya. The differences of views between the traditional and reformist ulama notwithstanding, the terrain of Islam in Malaya was invariably pluralist from the pre-colonial through the colonial epochs. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin should stop “building castles in the air” about Malaysia among the top one-third of TIMSS and PISA systems by 2021 when he seems to be comfortable or resigned to the country being a nation of mediocrity instead of being a nation of excellence
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin on Sunday, 8 December 2013, 2:38 pm
The Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will be remembered for what he failed to say instead of what he said in the past week.
On the morning of his joint opening of the annual general meetings of UMNO Youth, Wanita and Puteri on Tuesday night, the 2012 PISA results on the global assessment of 510,000 15-year-old students in 65 countries and regions on the three critical subjects of mathematics, reading and science were released, but he did not have anything to say on it although it fell directly under his portfolio.
Although Muhyiddin as Education Minister would have earlier notice of the 2012 PISA results, he continued to keep dumb on the 2012 PISA results, even omitting reference to it in his winding-up speech at the three-day UMNO General Assembly yesterday.
Elsewhere in the world, the 2012 PISA results have created waves. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno’s never-ending theatrics
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 8 December 2013, 11:45 am
Jeswan Kaur| December 8, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
Refusing to deal with the truth and reality has left Umno in a vulnerable position.
COMMENT
When it comes to self-aggrandization, no one does it better than the nation’s largest political party, Umno. The party whose reputation precedes it continues to be ‘recycled’ by its leaders under the myth of ‘evolution’.
Umno after it was ‘reinvented’ by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is full of vengeance, of hatred towards those who refuse to be cowered in the face of injustices.
Racist, seditious, ethnically intolerant, disrespectful of fundamental rights and selfish – this best defines Umno Baru, the party which continues to be in denial over its marred credibility and warped reason d’etre.
The fact is that Umno has long lost its bearing and left many of its supporters disenchanted. Still, the hands that dictate Umno’s fate continue to be out of sync with the truth, acting instead in their own best interests.
This is perhaps the reason why the 64th edition of the Umno general assembly that kicked off on Dec 5 has turned into a ‘circus’ of sorts, with members trying to outsmart one another by resorting to ‘talking shop’.
While the keris wielding has stopped making its presence felt in the Umno assembly, Malay supremacy and racially-charged speeches continue to be harangued at the party’s gatherings. Read the rest of this entry »
Despite Najib’s much vaunted 1Malaysia, Umno debates show otherwise, say analysts
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 8 December 2013, 11:17 am
by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
December 08, 2013
Two facts were established during debate time at the Umno general assembly – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s much-vaunted transformation programme and his 1Malaysia dream have failed.
His party men clamoured for contracts and projects and continued to see everything through the prism of the Malay race.
From demands for government-linked companies to award public contracts to more Bumiputera firms to the re-examining of the BR1M cash handouts and calls for a 1Melayu slogan, the attitude at the Umno general assembly makes a mockery of the 1Malaysia slogan and talks of national reconciliation.
There was also nothing about inclusiveness in the debates. Nor was there any mention about corruption in the country, wastages, leakages or wrongdoings by those in power – concerns that are shared by other Malaysians.
“The tone of the debates reflected the sentiments of members on the ground and it is a sad situation,” said Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) CEO Wan Saiful Wan Jan. Read the rest of this entry »
Fear of clowns revisited in Umno circus
RK Anand
Malaysiakini
Dec 7, 2013
“I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.” – Charlie Chaplin
COMMENT Whenever the Klan holds its annual congregation, it will revive the hitherto dormant coulrophobia in me. And when I confided in a colleague hoping that she will lend a sympathetic ear, she asked, much to my dismay, if it meant that I despised cauliflowers.
The condition has nothing to do with cauliflowers, I retorted. Or any other vegetable for that matter. Coulrophobia refers to the fear of clowns.
And where else can one find an army of clowns assembling under a single roof other than in the Putra World Trade Centre where Umno members from far and wide crawl out of the woodwork for their annual pilgrimage to the capital.
When this dreaded circus takes place, I cower with trepidation under the blanket and observe from a safe distance the numerous mind-numbing and incendiary antics that unravel.
While any self-respecting racist bigot will be proud of what is served, for the rest of us, it leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth.
Every year, Umno delegates, without fail, will trek the extra mile to drive home the point that Malaysia is still trapped in a Jurassic political era. Read the rest of this entry »
Pupuk perpaduan sesama Islam
– SM Mohamed Idris
The Malaysian Insider
December 07, 2013
Kami dukacita di atas cadangan oleh Timbalan Presiden Umno Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yang mahu meminda Perlembagaan Persekutuan untuk menjamin ajaran Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah sebagai kepercayaan umat Islam di Malaysia dan merayu supaya mempertimbangkan semula perkara itu kerana ia mempunyai implikasi serius ke atas perpaduan umat Islam dan komitmen antarabangsa Malaysia.
Kami percaya cadangan yang dibuat itu adalah respons kepada kempen anti Syiah pada masa ini yang sedang dijalankan oleh kumpulan tertentu yang dipengaruhi dan disokong oleh ulama Salafi yang bersikap melampau.
Islam itu satu dan tiada Islam Sunni atau Islam Syiah. Terdapat perbezaan mazhab dan orang Islam bebas untuk mengikuti mana-mana mazhab. Sebarang cubaan untuk menafikan hak sesuatu mazhab akan hanya membawa kepada perpecahan dan konflik dalam kalangan umat Islam dan melemahkan usaha yang sedang diusahakan untuk menyatupadukan umat Islam bagi menghadapi cabaran dari kuasa hegemoni, diktator dan pemerintah autokratik.
Pada Julai 2005, berdasarkan fatwa yang dikeluarkan oleh 24 ulama paling kanan dalam agama Islam termasuk Ulama Sunni, Sheikh Al Azhar Dr Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Abdullah Al-Qaradawi, Mufti Pakistan Muhammad Taqi Uthmani dan Ulama Syiah Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Ali Khameni dan Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Ali Al-Sistani, Raja Abdullah II dari Jordan telah menganjurkan satu persidangan Islam antarabangsa yang dihadiri oleh 200 sarjana Islam terkemuka dunia dari 50 negara yang telah menerima fatwa tersebut, iaitu: Read the rest of this entry »
Berselindung di sebalik isu perkauman
Posted by Kit in Corruption, UMNO on Saturday, 7 December 2013, 9:09 pm
– Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud
The Malaysian Insider
December 07, 2013
Pada November lalu, bekas Naib Canselor Universiti Malaya, Tan Sri Dr Ghauth Jasmon telah berkata di Persidangan Asia Barat dan Afrika di Kuala Lumpur bahawa isu perkauman digunakan oleh sesetengah ahli politik di Malaysia bagi melindungi kegiatan rasuah yang dilakukan pemimpin terbabit.
Beliau juga berkata isu perkauman dimainkan bagi melindungi salah laku selain mengelak mereka yang terlibat daripada dituduh atas aktiviti tidak bermoral itu.
Saya tertarik dengan kata-kata beliau memandangkan di Malaysia terdapat satu gabungan parti politik yang masih mengamalkan politk perkauman dan gabungan ini berada di posisi di mana rasuah boleh berlaku secara berleluasa.
Apabila seorang cendiakawan memberi komen sedemikian, kita pasti tertanya-tanya apakah yang beliau tahu, dan ingin mengetahui secara lanjut apa yang dimaksudkan oleh Tan Sri Ghauth Jasmon? Sejauh manakah dan apakah contoh-contoh sifat perkauman dan kegiatan rasuah berkait di negara ini. Read the rest of this entry »
