Selangor exco in charge of education Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad called for a decentralisation of schools so as to allow stakeholders have a greater say.

"We need to give parents, teachers and students a greater voice in policymaking rather than concentrate power in ambitious federal government politicians and faceless bureaucrats in Putrajaya.

"Moreover, there has to be greater decentralisation, with states being given more power to compete among themselves. This should be further delegated to districts and schools," Nik Nazmi ( photo ) said in a statement today.

This, he said, is because Malaysia needs a paradigm shift in education, particularly after an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) report which pointed out the country's gross domestic product could increase by as much as 500 percent if every 15-year-old is given proper basic education.

Malaysia has a long way to go

"Nevertheless, as the OECD report also highlights, Malaysia has a long way to go in this regard. To take just one metric, Malaysia was ranked 52nd out of 76 countries in terms of mathematics and science proficiency," the state assemblyperson for Seri Setia added.

On top of decentralisation, Nik Nazmi said teachers must be "treated, paid and held to the same standards as professionals, rather than civil servants".

"Prejudice in public institutions of learning and the marginalisation of certain students due to race and religion must be combatted.

"Also, the politicisation of education, including the prosecution of student leaders and the shameful clampdown on freedom of speech that has been occurring in Universiti Malaya (UM) and International Islamic University (UIA), must cease," he added.

On Wednesday, UIA cancelled a forum featuring PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli and Department of Special Affairs (Jasa) representative Lokman Adam.

Yesterday, UM issued a last minute cancellation for a forum in the publishing industry without giving an explanation. Nik Nazmi was part of the forum panelist.