Education system needs urgent fix to stay on track

SHAH ALAM – The national education system is still grappling with several shortcomings that demand urgent attention from all stakeholders to ensure it remains on the right path.

Deputy Youth chief of Parti Amanah Negara Danial Al-Rashid Haron said without pointing fingers at any party, it must be acknowledged that the current education landscape was facing issues.

"If we want to keep denying that our system is functioning well and that we are on the right path, yes, we can say that. But behind that statement, there are indeed weaknesses that we can observe," he said during Sinar Harian's "Program Meja Bulat: Adakah Pendidikan Kita Dalam Krisis." 

Deputy Youth chief of Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) Danial Al-Rashid Haron

The other panellists were Bersatu Armada International and Diplomatic Relations Exco Muhammad Afiq Hassan; Dapsy Publicity Secretary Ho Chi Yang; AMK Strategic Director Mohammad Syamil Luthfi Samsul Bahrin; and Selangor Umno Youth Chief Datuk Mohd Imran Tamrin, while Deputy Director of the Institute for Inclusive Development and Progress (Minda UKM) Dr Anuar Ahmad was the moderator.

According to Danial Al-Rashid, although Malaysia has over 400,000 teachers for approximately five million students, the situation in schools did not reflect the true potential of this ratio.

"When we talk about the ratio, it should ideally have a positive effect, where teachers can give better focus and attention to students and teaching.

"However, the burden on teachers is getting heavier, with numerous documentation and reporting tasks that must be completed," he added.

Danial Al-Rashid added that aside from the increasing workload faced by teachers, the education system was also dealing with the issue of many students still being unable to master reading skills.

"We often say that we’re on the right path, we have a national education policy, we have education reforms but the real question is, where are we actually heading?," he said.