The frequent changes to Malaysia’s education policies according to the country’s political mood have undoubtably compromised the quality of education and failed to meet the needs of the present generation of students, said experts.

The educationists argued that the constant changes in policies have also resulted in a drain on taxpayers money with the need to buy new textbooks and to retrain teachers.

In addition to causing a financial burden to parents who are not eligible for the ‘free textbook loan scheme’, the changes have also created deep uncertainty in the employment market.

“When Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) became premier, he reduced the number of English periods and as a whole, the importance of the English language (in schools),” said former National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) deputy secretary-general S Sundralingam.

“However, when he was about to leave (office), he mooted the idea of uplifting English by making science and mathematics subjects to be taught in English. Now it is going back to status quo.

“In fact, education should not be subjected to political pressure,” said Sundralingam, who is also an English teacher.

He said that while Japan and South Korea are concentrating on elevating their standard of English to be on par with other developed countries, the same cannot be said about Malaysia.

“The rich can afford to either send their children to private international schools or overseas, but what about the poor and the middle-class children who have no alternative?” asked Sunderlingam.

Wave-like changes

Voicing similar thoughts is former NUTP secretary-general N Sivasubramaniam.

“The quality of education in the country should not be compromised and it should be able to take care of the needs of our future generations irrespective of their social standings.

“There should be a consistency in outlining the education policies of the country that should match the modern requirements of our society,” said Sivasubramaniam.

“The wave-like changes in the education policies will only weaken the education system in the long run, like a rudderless ship lost in a sea of international job opportunities,” he said.

Sivasubramaniam said politicians should not be emotionally blackmailed by groups with vested interests.

Instead, they should ensure that our education system can create a pool of talented human resources that can meet the high standards demanded by foreign investors coming to Malaysia.

On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also education minister, announced the government’s decision to reverse the teaching of math and science from English to Bahasa Malaysia.

Six years ago, just before Mahathir step down as premier, he implemented the policy of teaching the two subjects in English.

However, they will now be again fully taught in Bahasa Malaysia in three years’ time.