Formal education, generally perceived by large sections of society as a vital motor to an individual's social mobility and also an asset in the process of nation-building, is, as a result of this very perception, much sought after by both the general public and the mainstream media.

Parents and their children, in particular those from the middle class onwards, often, judging from the manner in which education is pitched, become prime targets of educational institutions and the media.

In the case of Malaysia, nowhere is the social significance and pecuniary value that are pegged to education abundantly expressed than in the pages of some of the Sunday mainstream newspapers.

Commodified, education is neatly packaged for sale by various institutions of higher learning from within and outside the country primarily via media advertisements.

It appears that the business of selling and marketing education is pretty lucrative for the newspapers given the frequency and large volumes of such advertisements in the newspapers. If anything, this commodity called education ought to constitute a newspaper's biggest selling point, particularly for newspapers whose circulation figures - due to recent "journalistic inaccuracies" and eroding credibility - have apparently dipped in an unnerving fashion.

In other words, the education supplements can help offset to a certain degree the narrowing profit margins experienced by certain newspapers in recent times. This meant that readers of the education supplements signify to the newspapers concerned a vital contact that requires maintaining just as a computer column would attract and retain a certain segment of readers.

Often accompanied by some write-ups - or some would call them advertorials - in the newspapers concerned, this smorgasbord of educational courses suggests an unabashedly utilitarian approach to education. What are often highlighted are courses purportedly meant to serve the needs of the industry and - as if to imply a necessary synonymity - of the nation, those "marketable courses" such as business management, economics, accountancy, marketing, advertising, public relations, information technology, civil engineering, law, medicine, and architecture.

Not likely to enhance the image and standards of local journalism, very often the educational pieces in the education pages that project the above courses are somewhat akin to the brochures or public relations flyers provided by the educational institutions. There appears to be a lack of creativity and imagination.

Like some designer clothes sold off the rack, these courses are "exhibited" and offered for sale by the advertisements concerned as well as the educational articles (that normally emphasise the importance of these courses) as if they are stand-alone items. Put another way, these courses are usually projected as things mutually exclusive, with no linkages whatsoever.

But then education is no ordinary commodities such as bath tub, urinal, toothpaste, hammer, or underwear. For it has all its social implications and ideological underpinnings that cannot be simplified via mere subject categorisation, and these complexities ought to be reflected in the accompanying pieces.

And this is where the educational pieces instead could play an important and useful role in making the important mental link. Indeed, writers concerned can identify certain disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, such as sociology, anthropology, political science, philosophy, literature, performing arts, and history - the "less marketable courses" that are often sidelined or given less emphasis - to help make the mental and crucial connection between say, business management or information technology and the larger society.

In a write-up about media studies, or journalism, for example, the feature writer could, apart from explaining the rudiments of this course, alert the reader of the significance of, say, sociology in an attempt to better understand the relationship of the media to the larger society. Only then can a pursuit of knowledge be made more meaningful and attractive.

Another example that comes to mind is genetic engineering. While a writer may hail the prospects of such scientific exploration, he/she may also want to link it to the question of ethics and morality. This approach would not only prove intellectually beneficial and stimulating to the prospective students, but also to curious members of the general public. Although such an approach may not be politically correct for some people, it sure can provoke deep thinking, especially among the young ones, that is sorely needed in our society.

An introductory write-up on, for instance, law, that much talked about subject these days, may require the writer, aimed at trying to enlighten the prospective student a little, to link it to the larger issues of politics, economics and ethics.

Apart from this heightened fragmentation of knowledge in the newspapers via a kind of vocational approach to education, commercialisation of education of this nature may not necessarily be in the interest of students as there is the likelihood that the newspaper advertisements concerned - as well as the advertisers - would only sell, nay prioritise, those courses, i.e. "the marketable" ones, that they consider having high potential of reaping massive profits. Such a scenario would eclipse the essential meaning of knowledge and contributions of other relevant disciplines.

Having said that, though, before one bangs one's head against the wall in despair, one also needs to caution oneself about wishing too much for a change to such an editorial and commercial strategy in the newspapers concerned.

For one thing, market- and profit-driven newspapers have the tendency not to problematise something that many people, particularly those in positions of political and economic power, have been comfortable with. Hence, to the politically correct editors and/or writers, politically sanitised pieces pertaining to education are preferred to those challenging the status quo.

At any rate, isn't such a fragmentation and commercialisation of knowledge a reflection of the larger society in these so-called modern times?