The National Education Blueprint, an epic fail – S.Ramakrishnan

January 09, 2014

It is no longer a point of contention: Our education system is indeed failing and failing the economy.

Even a member of the cabinet, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapha Mohamed, has called for a total overhaul of the education system if Malaysia were to reach the goal of being developed by 2020.

The 2012 international student assessment (Pisa) results point to the stagnant bottom position held by Malaysian students in mathematics, science and reading.  The Pisa results rank Malaysia at 52 out of 65 countries. 

Even the launch of the Malaysian education blueprint does not seem to make any impact to allay the fears that the education standards are slipping and slipping badly.  All the Economic Transformation Programme and Government Transformation Programme initiated by Pemandu since 2009 have not brought about any significant achievements.

Bottom of the class

Malaysia came out 55th out of 74 countries in terms of reading literacy, 57th in Mathematics and "only marginally better" in 52nd position for Science literacy. 

How can we achieve vision 2020 developed status when we are languishing at the bottom of the world’s classrooms in our education standards? 

The irony is that the Education Ministry is always considered the stepping stone for all our prime ministers.  A country in search of growth must invest in education.  And the double irony is that ministry receives the highest allocation in every budget. 

Despite the generous spending on education, Malaysian students are getting a poorer and poorer quality of education, says the World Bank report. The Ministry of education is more focused on schooling the students then educating them. I wonder whether the ministry ever thought what education is.

Emperor with no clothes

Malaysia urgently needs to revise the ways it formulates and implements education system. So much is written in the media about the shortcoming in the Malaysian education system. Much like the emperor with no clothes, the Education Ministry appears oblivious of the situation and goes about as though all is well in the system.

Education policymakers do not seem to pay attention to the numerous works, writings and positive contributions by people outside the ministry. Indeed it’s such a pity that many people who can identify and articulate well about the problem are outside the system. 

And people who don't seem to understand the problem, or uneducated about the problem, are in the system and holding high positions. In this stalemate and mismatch, the ministry ignores the services of people who can turn around this dire situation. The ministry is all for indoctrination to make the whole education system dogmatic inculcate a non-questioning attitude among students and regurgitate what has been given in notes and lectures.

Perpetuating ignorance, not education

Good teachers and real educators could never survive in our backward education system that seems to perpetuate ignorance rather than knowledge.  In this highly centralised system, only the mediocre and those that slavishly follow instructions will thrive and even get promoted to their level of incompetence. Creativity, skill, original and critical thinking are alien concepts in our system.  

Vietnam, which was war torn for decades, has overtaken Malaysia in the Pisa assessment and even the recent SEA games medal tally. Foreign investors too seem to be moving to Vietnam and Myanmar.

Garbage in, garbage out

While others are running forward, Malaysia seems running on the same spot, or even running in reverse and watching other nations pass by. Malaysia is already a facing brain drain and lacks skilled workers. One thing consistent in the ministry of education is the flip flops in policies despite having spent billions setting up the hardware and software.

It is also puzzling that all these shortcomings and failures do not seem get any counter or corrective action or open consultation. There is no learning, relearning and unlearning by the education ministry.  

The World Bank report also highlights that "Most countries whose students perform well on international student achievement tests, give their local authorities and schools substantial autonomy over adapting and implementing education content or allocating and managing resources". 

The Malaysian education system is too centralised, with schools and teachers having very little autonomy. In the 1960s and 1970s Malaysia had headmasters who were par excellence and made their schools the envy of others. Alas, those bred of educators faded away with heavy heart with what is coming in the later years.  

Can Malaysia become a developed nation come 2020? A failing education system can never lead the country to developed status. But the Umno-led ruling coalition will never admit that our education is substandard. If the others don't agree with them, they will be asked to migrate. And this is an incentive for the very brain drain they are trying to prevent. Irony of ironies! 

Quo Vadis educare? (NB In Latin, Where is the education system going?) – January 9, 2014.

*S.Ramakrishnan is a former senator.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider

Award-winning American Muslim scholar on Allah ruling: “We are laughing at you”

BY ELIZABETH ZACHARIAH
October 22, 2013

Reza Aslan says Christians using the word Allah do not pose a threat to Islam. - Pic courtesy Wikimedia Commons / Roanoke College, October 22, 2013.

 A well-known American Muslim theologian has joined a long list of critics over the recent Court of Appeal ruling on the use of the word Allah, saying it was a "political decision more than anything else".

"This notion that Malaysian Muslims need to be protected by the court because you can't think for yourself, you can't make decisions on your own. We are laughing at you," said Reza Aslan, speaking on BFM Radio's Evening Edition programme yesterday.

"That you can control people's ideas, their behaviour, their faith and their minds simply by trying to control the words that they use, is absurd. It is an embarassment to a modern, constitutional, democratic and deeply Muslim state like Malaysia," he added.

Aslan insisted that Christians using the word Allah - which means God in Arabic - were not a threat to Islam.

"A Taliban put a bomb in the Quran and took it to a mosque in Pakistan, where Muslims were slaughtered on one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar. You want to talk about threats to Islam? That's a threat to Islam," he said, in dismissing the argument that allowing Christians to use the word in their worship was a threat to Malaysian Muslims.

He was referring to an incident during the Aidiladha holidays, in which Afghan governor Arsala Jamal was killed while scores were injured after a bomb placed in a copy of the Quran went off in a mosque during the Eid sermon.

Aslan, who wrote the international bestseller No God But God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, said he was mystified by the court ruling on October 14, stressing that the word Allah was merely an Arabic term for God, "any God".

"Allah is constuction of the the word al-Ilah. That's what the word is," he explained.

"Al-Ilah means 'The God'. Allah is not the name of God. Frankly, anyone who thinks that Allah is the name of God, is not just incorrect, but is going against the Quran itself. It is almost a blasphemous thought to think that Allah has a name.

"And this is not an interpretation. It is a historical fact," Reza added.

In its judgment, the Court of Appeal's three-man panel ruled that the word Allah "was not an integral part of the Christian faith and practice and that such usage if allowed, will inevitably cause confusion within the community".

The decision sparked a debate among local clerics and scholars, while several editorials in Muslim countries expressed their surprise over the issue.

Pakistan's Daily Times questioned the ruling, asking why Malaysia would deny people of other faiths to "own God in all His attributes". The United Arab Emirates's The National called the court ruling "wrong", and said the word Allah was never exclusive to Islam but used by both Christians and Jews to refer to God even before the advent of Islam.

Aslan poured scorn on the court verdict, asking, "How can you read that and not laugh?"

Soon after the court ruling last week, he had taken to Twitter and remarked, "How stupid has Malaysia just become? In honor of Malaysia banning the word Allah by non-Muslims I suggest US ban the word 'twerking' by anyone over age of 17," he said, referring to a type of sexually provocative dance.

Much of Aslan's interview yesterday was made available on Podcast.

In it, he slammed those who argue that the faith of Malaysian Muslims can be undermined if Christians use the word Allah.

"This idea that not only should Christians not be able to use this word, but that using the word is somehow a threat to Islam... that Malaysian (Muslims) are so stupid if they hear a Christian use the word Allah, they will accidentally become Christians. I mean, the idiocy of that statement speaks for itself," he said.

Echoing many other Muslim scholars and writers, Aslan said Christians and Jews in the Arabian peninsula since before the time of the Prophet Muhammad had been referring to God as Allah.

"Why? Because they spoke Arabic... that's why. Not because Allah meant a specific God but because that it is nothing more than the Arabic word for God. It is not an opinion. It is a fact," he pointed out.

"Any Imam that tells you God has a name, is blasphemous. It is as simple as that. Allah is not God's name. Muslims do not own the word itself," said the 41-year-old Iranian-American, who is Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Iowa. - October 22, 2013.


Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/

Muslim-Christian ties deteriorate while extremists celebrate

BY SHERIDAN MAHAVERA
January 04, 2014

Muslims at a protest against the use of the word ‘Allah’ by Catholic churches in Kuala Langat yesterday. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, January 4, 2014.

What's up with the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais)?  This seems to be the catch-all phrase when describing its raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia office on Thursday where some 300 Bahasa Malaysia and Iban Bibles were seized.

And the more some leaders and pundits struggle to come up with answers through the fog of silence that shrouds Jais, the more it looks like “politics” instead of “law” emerges as an explanation.

This latest incident also highlights (again) the persistent contradictions and problems in the ruling Barisan Nasional’s (BN) handling of the “Allah” issue.

Also, it reflects a deep gap in the understanding of Islam, not just among Muslims, but also the authorities who are supposed to be in charge with regulating its practice.

A cursory look at the case and the 1988 Selangor enactment that was used by Jais to justify the raid reveals some problems, a law expert told The Malaysian Insider.

Associate Professor Dr Azmi Sharom said that the enactment, which prohibits the use of 35 Arabic words and phrases, including “Allah” and “nabi” by non-Muslims, was to prevent proselytisation or attempts to convert Muslims.

This is evident in the title of the enactment itself: Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation among Muslims) Enactment 1988.

“Books lying in a building are not evidence of proselytisation, even if they contain the term ‘Allah’,” said Azmi of Universiti Malaya.

To prove proselytisation, there has to be an act of one person giving the Bible to another with the expressed intent to convert, he added.

But even such an act can be challenged.

“Anyone can still go into a bookstore to buy a Bible. Muslims can also read the Bible if they need to study it. So how is Jais going to make this distinction?”

Azmi also pointed out that there was no federal law banning the use of “Allah” in Christian holy books.

The October 14, 2013 decision by the Court of Appeal to affirm the home minister's right to ban the use of the term “Allah” by Christians only applies to the Catholic weekly Herald.

As had been pointed out on numerous occasions by politicians and lawyers, Bibles of all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia, could still be imported and used in the country.

The term “Allah” appears in Bahasa Malaysia Bibles widely used by the Christian Bumiputera communities of Sabah and Sarawak, who worship in Bahasa Malaysia.

Also, it was unclear whether Jais, as an organisation that regulated the practice of Islam, has any jurisdiction against non-Muslims, said Azmi.

“Going by the reports, Jais did not even have a warrant to conduct the raid.”

For PAS leader Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, Jais' contradicting behaviour in the raid further tarnished the image of Islam among non-Muslims.

“Unless Jais comes up with firm evidence that Christians were propagating to Muslims, then the whole raid was an act of stupidity and ignorance.”

And instead of promoting “true” Islam he said, the authority which was supposed to regulate the faith, risked further confusing Muslims themselves.

“When there is misunderstanding, people in the extreme right take advantage the issue,” said Mujahid, who is also Parit Buntar MP.

Mujahid has been actively going around churches to explain the “Allah” ruling on the Herald and how the decision did not reflect true Islam.

As he and other PAS leaders have consistently argued, “Allah” cannot be a term exclusive only to Muslims.

However, both he and the party agree with the Federal Constitution’s ban on preaching to Muslims.

Just as Jais has to clear the air on the raid, Christian leaders, Mujahid argued must come out strongly and state that there has been no intention of converting Muslims.

Although Jais’ motives are still unclear, their effect on Muslims and Christians are not.

Christians are livid while Muslims, such as Azmi, Mujahid and prominent preacher Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin are shaking their heads in disbelief.

The only ones elated by the whole episode were the Malay supremacists and right-wingers, said Mujahid, such as Perkasa, Isma and elements within Umno.

Though these groups have insisted that the ban on “Allah” was to protect the sanctity of the faith, Mujahid argued that it was a stand taken more out of political interest.

Mujahid’s and PAS’ position on Allah has been echoed and supported by numerous well-regarded Muslim scholars worldwide.

Christian communities in the Middle East and in Indonesia continue to use “Allah” with no prohibitions.

It is a mystery as to why officers and experts within institutions such as Jais and ministers in the BN government continue to differ with world opinion on the use of “Allah”.

After all, if Malay Muslims can still be confused by the use of “Allah” by Christians, then what have they been learning for 11 years in primary and secondary school?

Wouldn’t they have learnt something as basic as this in all those compulsory classes? So that when Malay Muslims reach adulthood, they know Islam and its relation to the other Abrahamic faiths, such as Christianity and Judaism?

And if Malay Muslims are so vulnerable to be led astray can Umno – which has been responsible for religious education for the past 50 years – claim that it has really served the interests of Malay Muslims?

“If there is true ignorance, we can explain to them (Malay Muslim authorities),” Mujahid said. “But I feel the motives (behind not solving the ‘Allah’ issue amicably) are determined by emotions and politics.” – January 4, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/