Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE

CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?

1

Can the Current Malaysian School System Meet the

Challenges of the 21st Century?

Noradlina binti Roslan (1429238)

Nur Shahirah binti Muhammad Haris (1421058)

International Islamic University Malaysia

 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
2

Introduction

For decades, the education system in Malaysia has gone through a series of immense

transformation and growth. The year 1950 and early 1960 are two significant periods in the

development of education in Malaysia. During these periods, the colonized education system has

been replaced with Malaysian’s own national education system. The previous system does not

concern with the development, unity and formation of national identity. For instance, the British

colonizers built and segregated schools according to races. Tan (2009) stated that there was a huge

gap in education in terms of the advancement between the Malay and the non-Malays, especially

the Chinese. This shows how the colonizers purposely trying to divide the people in order to make

sure that they would not unite. Due to that, Malaysian’s past leaders and the people have decided

to fight for their independence and nation. As a result, they achieved their independence from the

British on 31st August 1957 and since then the education system in Malaysia has become more

unified, strong and resilient.

However, the last few years have witnessed another dramatic change in education system

in Malaysia. At the end of 2013, Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) was abolished by the board

of Malaysian Ministry of Education. The system has been replaced by Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3

(PT3 or Form 3 Assessment). Many students find the exam to be a lot more difficult. According

to The Rakyat Post, 64% of the Malaysian citizen does not agree with the system. This has led to

cause investigation whether education system in Malaysia is meeting the challenges of

globalization. Furthermore, it has caused a number of politicians, educationists, parents and

students to question whether the education system in Malaysia is good for the 21st Century.
 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
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The present essay will argue that the current school system in Malaysia is not sufficiently

good for the 21st Century because Malaysian schools focus more on theory than practice,

inconsistency in medium of instruction policy and the Malaysian education system does not equip

students with soft skills needed in our globalized world.

Argument 1

The current education system in Malaysia should be changed because it focuses more on

theory than practice. The typical learning course in Malaysia is usually the students will just sit

and listen to the teacher teaching without really getting what is the teacher saying and its relevance

to their future career due to lacking hands-on activities by the teachers in applying the teaching.

This kind of situation is very relatable to most students in Malaysia. This is because the teachers

in schools only tell the students the things that they should know. However, the students are not

fully certain why it is important to understand these things. Prince (2004) stated that students who

apply their knowledge first-hand retain the knowledge three and a half times more than those who

are sitting and jotting down notes in a classroom. Basically the students have no deep

understanding of the materials. This shows that practicing is important compared to learning the

theory only. Thus, it can be proved that the current education system in Malaysia focuses more on

theory than practice.

The problem with the teaching practice in Malaysia is that it is too conventional. In other

words, the teacher will usually be the one who does all the talking in class. There is not much

interactive learning between both educators and learners. According to Salmiza Saleh & Afik Aziz

(2012, p. 66) “most of the teaching practices applied in Malaysian schools still takes place in a

condition whereby the teacher still dominates over the students, and in most cases, this
 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
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phenomenon occurs in a linear way.” This indicates that the traditional practice of learning is still

being used by most teachers in Malaysia instead of using the more alternative way of teaching. In

consequence, most of the students will be lacking in the critical and creative thinking aspect due

to this method of teaching.

Next, the problem with Malaysian education system is too that the students are too exam-

oriented. The education system in Malaysia put so much emphasis on academic excellence.

Because of this system, students will become too relax and tend to concentrate on their studies

towards the end of their academic term rather than having deep understanding of what they have

learned (Mohd Farid, 2013). Education for most students in Malaysia means acquiring more

knowledge for the examinations, scoring the examination papers and targeting for many A’s in the

examination. Not only the result has become a benchmark of intelligence, it also has created

division among the students. As a result, the students tend to be compared to one another based on

their results. Result should not be the sole indicator in determining students’ performance because

every individual has different kind of intelligence and talents.

Argument 2

Throughout the 60 years of post-independence in Malaysia from British colonizers, the

education policy especially the language policy has changed gradually from using the English

language prior to being colonized to using the Malay language as the official language used in

government functions. Later in 1971, the National Education Policy was introduced which the

Malay language was used as the medium of communication and instruction in schools (Gill, 2005).

The English were then only used as a subject taught in school although it is regarded as the second
 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
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most important language. Gill also stated that the fluency in the national language over two decades

caused the early generation to have a limited exposure and not competent in the English language.

Due to this, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Datuk Seri Mahathir Mohamad

saw this as a problem for Malaysia to compete in global market as well as to realize his Vision of

2020 as an outline for Malaysia to become an integrated country. So, in 2003, he introduced The

Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPMSI) policy to primary,

secondary and lower six government schools (Gill, 2007). This announcement became a hot debate

among academicians as well as politicians and received negative feedbacks mostly from the public.

Malaysians were not welcome this new policy due to its sudden implementation.

The objectives were transparent to the public whether they want to improve the English

language proficiency or to make Malaysia’s development of science and technology competent in

the 21st century (Lai & Yien, 2012). There were also no stages of implementation for them to be

prepared and the policy was still in need of more studies to see the good and bad of it. This language

shift also causes a challenge to teachers of Science and Mathematics generally because they have

been trained to use Malay language (Mansor, 2007).

Fast forward to 2009, The Ministry of Education Malaysia (MoE), Tan Sri Dato' Haji

Muhyiddin announced that PPMSI policy has been abolished. After the abolishment of PPMSI,

government replaces it with a new policy called ‘To Uphold Bahasa Malaysia and to Strengthen

the English Language’ (MBMMBI). This new policy, as explained by Tharmalingam (2012), is to

protect and preserve the national language as well as to strengthen the knowledge of English and

to improve the students’ capability in mastering Science and Mathematics. The transparency of
 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
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this country education systems is one of the factor that many students are still lacking in English

competency.

Despite the low proficiency level of English, the MoE decided to set a new ruling on

English as a compulsory subject for all SPM candidates to pass starting from 2016. If they fail the

subject, they are unable to graduate from school along with their SPM certificate. Goh (2013)

explained that it is easier for students to score in public exams like SPM and PT3 than normal

school test due to the passing grade is much lower in public exams. This somewhat implies that

the quantity of students to score is more important than the quality of their exam answers. In other

words, it is better to look good than to be good.

Lastly, Malaysian schools will welcome the class of 2018 with the new imported English

textbooks from Cambridge University Press and MacMillan publications. This new policy was set

by the education ministry to meet the new goal of Common European Framework of Reference

for Languages (CEFR) that is to improve the English language proficiency aligned to international

standards (Chin & Rajaendram, 2017). However, the questions arise whether the teachers have

been trained to use them or not and how the students will cope with the higher level of English

command in the textbooks compared to what they have in the local ones. This inconsistency will

probably make the teachers feel disheartened to teach the future generations. In addition,

Rajaendram, Chonghui, and Menon (2017) stressed that government should believe more in local

publishers to publish English textbooks aligned to the CEFR standards. Plus, students can relate

more to local content better because English is not just a language but, it should also teach students

about Malaysian cultures and values.

 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
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Argument 3
It is a matter of fact that Malaysian education system needs a better improvement to equip

students with soft skills needed in this globalized world. Maclean and Ordonez (2007) believe that

education system must meet the parallel transformation with other sectors of society like

transportation, media, and healthcare. They also stress that education should not be isolated from

social and economy of a society. The very same belief should be applied in Malaysian education

system. It can be seen nowadays, the transportation especially Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) has a

better transformation than the education system itself.

Soft skills can be defined as “generic skills which include cognitive elements related to

non-academic abilities, such as positive values, leadership, teamwork, communication and lifelong

learning” (MOHE., 2015., p.5). Higher Education Ministry has introduced a total of 34 soft skills

taxonomy that need to be applied in universities curricula (Nikitina& Furouka, 2011), but, do these

soft skills acquisition helping the students to face the 21st-century challenges? In addition, soft

skills are also one of the necessities to be a skilled employee.

Department of Statistics Malaysia (2017) has released the statistics on the recent labor force

participation with 67.9% which equivalent to 15.06 million people and other 3.4% are unemployed.

The unemployment rate of 2017 rose 0.3% compared with 2015 with 3.1% and remains unchanged

until 2017. Frazier (2015) has addressed the issue on the low percentage of Malaysia’s skilled

workers with only 25% compared to Singapore with a double percentage. Then, in the 3rd quarter

of 2017 from July to September, the percentage of skilled workers only rose 0.4% which they need

“at least 40% more to become a high-income nation” (Malaysian Digest, 2016). These worrisome

statistics need to be analyzed on where could be the off beam in the education system.
 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
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It all started with primary school’s life until university’s life. In Malaysia, high school

students have not exposed to the insight of their career life until they enter university or college.

Often universities give opportunities for students to get a job by inviting companies from different

industry sector at Career Fair but most of the graduates are still lacking for what is needed to obtain

and secure jobs. Gurvinder and Sharan (2008) say that today’s young graduates especially the

degree holder are still needing to improve their employability skills, positive work attitudes, and

understanding that are necessary to successfully enter the world of work. One of the common

attitude problems the employers often face is “punctuality and proper work ethics” (Seetha, 2014,

p. 48). She also says that the incompetency of soft skills is one of the factors that contribute to

fresh graduate’s unemployment with 70%-80% rate.

Besides, it is also important to note that the effectiveness of teaching throughout study’s

life influence the students’ employability. Subramaniam (2013) stresses that teachers are mostly

aware of the importance of work skills for students, but they are still lacking in the knowledge of

soft skills as well as the correct way to practice them. Thus, a more systematic and effective

planning, acquiring and teaching of soft skills need to be emphasized as a two-way approach for a

better preparation to improve the future work’s performance.

Another reason for the failure in promoting soft skills among students is the class size. In

most of the developed countries like Australia and Finland, their class sizes are far smaller than in

Malaysia (Singaraju, 2010). The typical number of students in a Malaysian classroom can reach

up to 50 students compared to 20 students in the developed countries. The smaller the class size,

the more effective the teaching and learning due to the equal devotion of time and focus to each

student. In fact, it is common in Malaysian schools to have unequal attention among the students
 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
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in the top and low rank classes. Usually, those in the lower class are regarded as problematic and

have a poor understanding of the subjects so, they often neglected and somehow, they do not get

the equal education quality as others. Thus, it is important for teachers to be trained on how to

improve their teaching methods if the class size in Malaysian schools is still the same in a long-

term.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, this research has revealed that there is no doubt that the current school system

in Malaysia should be improved as it is still not competent to face the challenges in the globalized

era. This is because Malaysian schools tend to emphasize more on theory than practice, the

medium of instruction policy is changing haphazardly over the years and finally because the

education system itself is still lacking in preparing the students to utilize soft skills needed in this

21st century.

Therefore, a number of reforms should be implemented in order to improve the education

system in Malaysia. Firstly, the class size in Malaysian schools should be reduced from average

number of 40 students to 20 students per class. For example, in Finland, the teachers have the

authority to arrange their class into small or big groups of students in whichever they prefer the

learning environment should be (Finnish Education in a Nutshell, 2016). In fact, Finland education

system is considered to be the best due to their systematic way of maintaining the education quality

in schools. Thus, the Malaysian government must focus on the schools that have large number of

students to solve this issue. This can be done by dividing the students into 2 sessions that is

morning session is for upper level (Form 3,4,5) whereas evening session is for lower level (Form
 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
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1,2). The idea is to avoid high density of students in one session and can create a more conducive

environment for the students.

Secondly, the problem with Malaysian education system is that they are too exam-oriented

rather than focusing on the development of identity. Another policy in Finland that this country

can practice is Finland have a short span of school time. They spend an average of 3 hours and 45

minutes a day (Rubin, 2011) while Malaysian schools spend up to 6 hours and another 9 hours at

home doing homework and going to tuition. In addition, Finland does not consider homework

important for students as they do their exercises during class time and spend the rest of the day

doing something they like while Malaysian students usually have free time to play with friends

only on weekends and school holidays. Hence, the government should consider shortening the

school period.
 Running head: CAN THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM MEET THE
CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY?
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