The debate on the issue of language vis-a-vis our nation's education policy continues. That could be a good sign; it does indicate that some people are beginning to examine critically some of the most entrenched ideas on the fundamental principles of our social contract.

One consensus that seems to have emerged from this discussion on malaysiakini is that the quality of education offered by our Malaysian national school system is deeply flawed.

Of course Chinese and Indian parents send their children to vernacular schools for other more deeply rooted motives, and not merely because the vernacular schools offer better education. ( I myself have some reservations about the quality of education in the Chinese schools as well, but that is beside the point.) Nevertheless, the philosophy behind formal education within the ambit of officialdom has doubtless outlived its relevance and usefulness, and ought to be overhauled inside out and upside down. We need an education reform now like a man on the desert needs water.