Innovations and education wisdom are never the exclusive preserve of ministry bureaucrats, and the government is not the only entity that can provide quality education. With our diversity, there is no "one size fits all" solution. We should expect and indeed encourage different approaches.

The nation already has two models: national and national-type schools. Both fail miserably in integrating our young.

Additionally, the national and national-type Tamil schools are academic failures. The plight of over 40,000 graduates unable to find jobs highlighted a few months ago is only the latest indictment of the system. They are not so much unemployed as simply unemployable.

Amidst the general gloom there are bright spots. The stellar performance of Mara Junior College, Banting, in the International Baccalaureate (IB) examination comes to mind.

Permitting private sector participation in higher education is another, resulting in such quality institutions as Monash and University of Nottingham entering the scene.

Yet another is the superior performance of national-type Chinese schools. The challenge is to enhance and replicate such successes.

Diversity in schools

Take residential schools. They are expensive and enroll our best students, yet their collective results have been disappointing. The recent decision to enroll non-Bumiputras will, apart from ensuring greater integration, greatly boost the competitiveness and reduce the insularity of such schools.

These schools would also achieve more by eliminating the lower forms and expanding the upper ones. And if they charge those who could afford it, these schools could use the added funds to enhance their curriculum.

These schools must prepare students for internationally recognised matriculation examinations like the IB, GCE A level or the American SAT. They should be feeder schools for elite universities.

Our private colleges and universities are dangerously segregated racially. Surely their students' experience would be enriched by diversity in the classroom?

The government could facilitate this by providing more study grants for bumiputra to enroll, and rewarding those institutions that have a diverse student body. These institutions should also post performance bonds in case of closure, enough to reimburse students for the year's tuition.

A successful formula

I am terribly disappointed with the latest entry, University Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar). It fails utterly in attracting bumiputra. Before Utar can aspire to be a great university, it must first be a great Malaysian university, meaning it must attract all Malaysians.

The luminaries on Utar's board of trustees have impressive degrees from prestigious Western universities, but scratch the surface a bit and the trustees' clannishness oozes out.

I would have thought that Utar's trustees would have emulated their alma mater by having a more inclusive board. Can they not find some capable non-Chinese Malaysian?

Turning to Chinese schools, the reluctance of their advocates to tamper with a successful formula is understandable. After all, many Malay Malaysian parents are sending their children to such schools. That speaks volumes.

The trick is not to mess up the system but to make such schools attractive to even more Malay Malaysians. Invite them to be on the governing board and as teachers; serve halal food in the canteen; and introduce Islamic studies. In China, Islam is taught in Mandarin; use those textbooks.

With more non-Chinese Malaysian students, these schools would be regarded more as national-type schools that happen to use Mandarin, and less as Chinese institutions.

The new Vision school where Malay, Chinese and Tamil schools share the same facilities, is one approach towards greater integration. I would expand that to a few more campuses, and then pause and evaluate.

Thus far, the Vision school is getting rave reviews from politicians, but we need more objective assessments. If we are not careful, such schools could degenerate into hotbeds of race-based gangs.

Powers to schools

Two other models worth introducing are charter and private schools. The underlying concept of charter school is to empower the ultimate 'consumers' of schools  and two, the student body must reflect Malaysian society.

In return the schools would get state funding, the same amount it would have cost the government to educate these pupils in national schools. The state could also guarantee loans for capital expenditures.

Any entity could establish such schools provided it meets enrolment requirements to prevent both the one-teacher school and the giant educational factories. Furthermore, parents and teachers must constitute the majority on the governing board to ensure that the mission is not subverted.

The board would have total control, including choosing the medium of instruction and setting of fees. It would be accountable to the students and parents who would monitor the school better than any government official.

Such schools are free to set their own goals. Some could emphasise the fine arts, others, foreign languages or the sciences. For the non-college bound, there could be vocational charter schools started by industries.

A consortium of construction companies, for example, could start one to train plumbers, electricians and other skilled workers. Industry and the schools, not the ministry, would set the curriculum beyond the core mentioned earlier.

Setting specific conditions

To prevent charter schools from becoming enclaves of the rich, they would have to provide scholarships to some students.

They must also provide hostels so that students from rural areas would not be excluded. The schools must also have adequate facilities to preclude their being set up above shoplots.

We could extend the charter concept to universities, creating a hybrid model of public and private sector collaboration comparable to private American universities. Harvard, for example, gets a significant chunk of its revenue from governmental entities.

The second model, private schools, would have greater freedom but no state funding. The only requirements would be that their student body should reflect our society and Malay, a compulsory subject.

Beyond that they are free to chart their own course. Presumably there could be a private school using Swahili if there are enough Malaysians of all races wanting it.

Choices however are meaningless if parents do not have the freedom to exercise them. Parents know their children better than anyone else, better than any politician or minister. This is the cardinal premise of any meaningful reform in education.

This piece was adapted from the writer's latest book An education system worthy of Malaysia , to be published in 2003. He can be contacted at bakrimusa@juno.com