WHAT comes to mind when Malaysia‘s political leaders declare that Malaysia’s strength lies in its diversity? Do we believe the claim that is being made? And if yes, do we believe that they too, believe in these pronouncements they make and that they will do anything to defend Malaysia’s diversity? There is ample evidence that [...]

THE idea of abolishing the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) exams shouldn’t have taken us by surprise when Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced it in June 2010. Those who follow developments in the Education Ministry might recall that plans to have school-based assessments instead of centralised exams [...]

TO its credit, the government is trying to introduce sex education in schools. From mid-2009 till end of 2011, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and the Education Ministry are implementing a pilot project targeting 16- and 17-year-olds in five schools. “The ministry hopes to use the outcome from the project to advocate for [...]

VARIOUS concerns about Malaysia’s education system emerged from the The Nut Graph‘s latest forum, Found in Conversation: Creativity and Innovation in Education. But they all centred on a key and not unfamiliar complaint: that education is too politicised. Whether concerns were about the curriculum, the lack of critical thinking, obsession with scoring As, lack of [...]

PETALING JAYA, 2 July 2010: If the government wants children to start school at five instead of six, it must first review the existing curriculum for pre-school and Standard One, experts said. “There ought to be some reviewing of the curriculum so that there’s less emphasis on academic performance at such an early stage,” said [...]

KUALA LUMPUR, 29 May 2009: The MIC has requested the Education Ministry to review its ruling on allowing students to take a maximum of 10 subjects only in the Sijil Peperiksaan Malaysia (SPM) examination. MIC president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu said that following a series of meetings with Indian Malaysian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and [...]