SHAH ALAM - The government needs to understand the current challenges of the Malaysian education system by focusing on access to education and improving quality to expand the market power of national schools.
Former Education Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said that parents would naturally choose and send their children to the best schools, even if they were located further from home.
He clarified that during his tenure at the ministry, many questioned the decision of parents to send their children to Chinese national-type schools (SJKC) instead of national schools.
"Our focus should be improving quality and fostering a positive perception of national schools so that the market would indirectly adjust itself. If a better educational option emerges, parents will naturally gravitate towards it.
"That is why policymakers need to understand that we cannot follow sentiments in the field of education. We must comprehend culture and human nature to ensure that renewed policies are indeed the best," he said during a roundtable discussion titled ‘Creating Resolutions: The Malaysian Education System After 60 Years, Where Did It Go Wrong?’ broadcast on Sinar Harian's portal at 8pm on Monday.
Radzi also stressed the need to depoliticise the education sector, arguing that politicians should not dictate educational policies.
He provided an example, stating that while he was at the ministry, no policies were changed unless they harmed the national education system.
"I informed the officials involved from the very beginning that we would not change policies because if everyone did that, our education system would go nowhere.
"However, if improvements were needed, we would make enhancements," he said.
According to him, every educational policy that was formulated needed to consider the data and constraints that arose to ensure it could truly be implemented.
"The public needs to trust the existing system. That is why policies must be carefully considered to ensure they can be implemented and achieve their objectives," he added.