LETTER | The recent statement by Sarawak’s education, science and technological research minister that the standard of education in Sarawak must improve is most timely.

For far too long Sarawak has been dependent on the Malaysian federal education ministry to spearhead the drive towards high-quality performance which sadly is lacking.

Our Malaysian universities are way below others in international rankings within our own Asian region never mind compared to the universities from developed nations.

To improve, the Sarawak minister said we must benchmark against the best like Finland and Singapore where the education systems have contributed to their nations’ success.

The Malaysian education system has been tweaked countless times since independence; almost every new federal education minister appointed would add something new to the system with no long-term aims or target, focusing on exams results which do not correctly reflect the standard of the education received.

It is no wonder that the mushrooming of private schools, as well as Chinese medium schools, flourish as these provide quality education that foreign universities recognise when compared to the Malaysian school certificates.

There are countless graduates in Malaysia who cannot get a job simply because they cannot communicate in English, one of the primary languages in the international arena.

The Malaysian education system must undergo changes to keep pace with the expectations of the modern world and adopt measures which have proven to be successful elsewhere to suit our schools here.

With the focus now on digital technology and artificial intelligence for development, our education system has to provide the necessary skills for young children to be able to seamlessly adapt to these technologies when they graduate from the primary and secondary schools.

Malaysia definitely does not need to reinvent the wheel for education reform but the urgency is crucial for our future well-being and the country’s development.

The writer is director, Sarawak Institute for Public Affairs (Sipa).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.