I saw this comment at FMT a few days ago. I am reproducing only some of it. My comments in blue. To me it is an inaccurate assessment of the country's entire schooling system. This FMT article focusses largely on the sekolah kebangsaan system. The fact is there are many parts in the country's schooling system. Only some are breaking down very badly while other parts are doing very well.
- decline of schooling system isn’t sudden implosion – quietly unravelling
- teacher no longer smiles at morning assembly
- student who stopped asking questions
(OSTB: What about students who never ask questions?)
- parent who’s given up because “it won’t change anything”.
- ideal classroom size 20. Instead, I walked into a class of 46
(OSTB: When I started school 58 years ago there were 40-50 kids in class. We all did quite ok).
You can’t talk about literature or culture when half the class can’t even hear you.
(OSTB: Well stories about magical flying horses and fake history may not interest everyone).
The so-called “21st-century learning” initiatives are hollow when teachers are forced to buy their own projectors and print their own materials, often without reimbursement.
(OSTB: Money is not an issue. Billions were lost in that computer labs scam, billions are lost to ketirisan and corruption every year, millions are spent on useless books, millions are spent on building five-star sekolah asrama penuh. Please do not pretend to be naive).
two hours out of the city school toilets have no doors, pipes are left broken for months, and ICT labs have computers that died long ago.
(OSTB: There are some schools where the students are taught not to break the toilet doors. If you can teach the students NOT TO BREAK THE TOILET DOORS then they will not break the toilet doors. While you are at it you can also teach the students to PLEEEEEASE flush the toilet after use).
elite public institutions thrive under the generous donations of successful alumni.
(OSTB: donations of successful alumni? Who? The kluster mahkamah types? Correction - they are funded by the taxpayers. "Wealthy" suppliers have since long ago cornered the market to supply the extravagant needs of these 'elite public institutions' - for example horses with air conditioned stables in one sekolah asrama penuh, swimming pools, more sports gear than they will ever need. For over 50 years now there is an eco-system that has become wealthy supplying the "extravagant" needs of these select elite public institutions. It is another way of "distributing" wealth in the country. Agih kekayaan negara. If ever a sekolah asrama penuh would like to have elephants on campus, who knows? There will always be a well connected supplier available to supply elephants - at tens of millions of Ringgits of course. In the meantime that other school does not have money to fix its broken toilets.)
Their students enjoy international exposure, access to competitions and state-of-the-art facilities – all under the banner of “public education”.
(OSTB: I beg to differ. We have had 50 years of these 'elite public institutions'. So where are their Bill Gates or Elon Musks? They have not produced a single graduate worthy of any real success. Kluster Mahkamah, pemain bontot and public funds stashed in London do not count as success.)
Policymakers rarely see this disparity because their children never live it. Their children attend private institutions or elite public schools – the kind with imported syllabi, well-paid teachers and polished campuses. So when they talk about “education reform”, it’s through a lens of privilege. They don’t understand what it’s like to teach in a class of 46 students under a ceiling fan that barely works.
Scholarship programmes, too, are distorted by inequality. On paper, they’re meant for the underprivileged. In practice, they often reward the already advantaged – students from well-funded schools who have access to English-speaking camps, personal tutors and extracurricular exposure.
schools nationwide recorded 7,681 bullying cases in 2024, up from 6,528 in 2023 – a 17% increase despite ongoing disciplinary reforms.
Meanwhile, recent surveys and classroom observations highlight growing concerns over students’ digital distractions during lessons, with many reportedly turning to social media during class time, affecting their focus and engagement.
Every few years, the ministry launches a new “education blueprint”. It’s got a sleek logo, the promise of digital transformation, and pages of jargon about “empowerment” and “21st-century readiness”. But on the ground, nothing changes.
(OSTB: Again the consultants and well connected make money from "preparing" each and every new "education blueprint". Every new blueprint costs tens of millions of Ringgit. The well connected 'consultants' make money - taxpayers money. Of course there will be 'satu untuk kau satu untuk aku'.)
Malaysia’s PISA results – which measure international education standards – have stagnated for three consecutive cycles. We are teaching more, but learning less.
(OSTB: Malaysia stopped participating in the PISA scoring system since the time of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Old story).
The tragedy of Malaysia’s schooling system
OSTB: The article above is NOT an accurate assessment of the entire schooling system in the country.
1. We have the gomen run sekolah kebangsaan which has actually broken down
2. We have the private schools / international schools which teach in English, follow different syllabus and produce a generally higher quality of school leavers (they produce more normal kids, better adjusted, more well read, able to communicate better, better academic results, go on to become more successful - these are general observations but otherwise the private schools / international schools will not be in such high demand).
3. We have the sekolah agama / sekolah tahfiz which often appear in the news for totally wrong reasons. Just Google 'guru tahfiz rogol pelajar' and see what pops up. Here is an example:
4. Then we have the Chinese schools (both primary and secondary) which are now becoming more popular among Malay parents. There are about 100,000 or more Malay students enrolled in Chinese schools and their numbers are increasing. There is an over all quality about the Chinese schools. They stress on discipline - so bullying, raping, sodomising, murdering school kids are all less heard of in Chinese schools. The Chinese community keeps the economy afloat - run and managed by Chinese school graduates as well. So their contribution to society is proven. The level of English taught in Chinese schools has also improved by leaps and bounds. Plus extra curricular activities like music and sports. And their students are not indoctrinated with really useless religious ideas and time wasting religious studies. They seem focussed on imparting good values to their students. You can see this in the way the Chinese school handles traffic when parents drop off and pick up children to and from school.
5. Then there is one more school system in operation in the country which I know but which I do not talk about. They are also very successful and increasing in popularity. With the continuing failure of the gomen's sekolah kebangsaan more parents are enrolling their children in this other schooling system. A friend of mine has put his children through this schooling and they are now entering college. Well adjusted, well read, super normal kids who fit in anywhere in the world.
6. Finally the Tamil primary schools are also doing well in Science and Mathematics. The Tamil schools frequently outperform all other schools in Science and Maths scores.
So you see not the entire schooling system is breaking down. Parts of the schooling system are breaking down (the big parts) - mainly the sekolah kebangsaan and the sekolah tahfiz types. But there are other parts of the schooling system that are doing very well - where both students and parents are happy and do well within the system.
The sekolah kebangsaan has many issues. This includes the over dominance of religion in the school. Religion seems to determine almost the entire functioning of the school. Often the sekolah kebangsaan may not be distinguishable from a sekolah agama.
Forms 1–3 (menengah rendah) — Pendidikan Islam ≈ 3.0–3.4 hours/week while Mathematics and Science ≈ 2.7–3.0 hours/week.
They teach more religion than science and mathematics. Many parents seem to like this over dominance of religion in the sekolah kebangsaan - perhaps to help wash away their own sins as well.
Now here is where the doom comes in. The other school kids in the private schools, international schools, the Chinese schools, the schools in Singapore, Vietnam, China etc are learning an extra 3.0–3.4 hours/week of Science, Maths, humanities, commercial studies etc. They do not study 3.0–3.4 hours/week of religion.
Their students will get jobs, they will be able to acquire more 'worldly knowledge', more 'practical knowledge'.
Education has become all about awarding huge contracts - to suppliers of often foolish and useless textbooks. To the 'connected' contractors who crave for DANA AWAM or taxpayers funds to build five star sekolah asrama penuh with swimming pools, horse stables, archery ranges etc. The sekolah asrama penuh system requires big money to build, maintain and operate its five star facilities. DANA AWAM. Taxpayers money.
Or to build a huge school for 800 students in a kampong in Ulu Tembeling which has less than 80 school going children in the kampong. Complete with bungalow house for guru besar, semi Ds and apartments for the guru sekolah. I have been to that kampong - five hours up river by sampan. That was how the education budget was spent. It is about contracts to build oversized kampong schools and five star sekolah asrama penuh. Then when the toilets break down in the sekolah kebangsaan there is no more budget to fix the broken toilet.
Ok it is Deepavali today. Let me conclude this walkabout. What does this all boil down to? It means that the really foolish politicians who have screwed up the education system will get kicked out at every other elections. The people are getting tired. They will get kicked out - again and again.
This is the best outcome of the failed gomen sekolah kebangsaan system - the politicians will get kicked out, again and again. When are the Sabah Elections? Lets kick them out.
