LETTER | Pandemic reveals fabricated education

LETTER | The latest MCO 2.0 announcement has stirred mixed reactions and also caused a tremendous amount of challenge to every aspect of mankind. 

Many business sectors are greatly affected, but out of the many, a greater proportion of sectors have learned their way of surviving in the historical pandemic so far. 

For the education sector, it is truly a trying moment to get the sector alive and relevant to the people, younger generations of Malaysia especially. 

However, everything that is going on and revolving around us now, don't seem to take the education industry, be it private or public institutions, to be the role model to other industries as it was many years ago.

Let us just face the truth; education in Malaysia is not yet ready for all the works of policies that have been done many years ago. Despite being a leading sector in the country, having the biggest number of workforces and largest assets scattered throughout the country, schools now cannot deny the fact that they are lost in the direction in getting an education in place for the students. 

I still remember nearly 10 years ago, the education industry is the primary drive to make Industrial Revolution 4.0 a reality, by having the policies of 21st-century education in place, and with all those policies that will make science and technology in the centre of a digitalised Malaysia.

With the pandemic around us for more than a year already, we don't see the policies that they worked so hard for, being put in place. 

All the investments made so far, don't seem to be fruitful and this, undoubtedly, faces numerous challenges brought forward in terms of infrastructures and expertise. 

The billions of ringgits that were invested into making the digital classroom a reality ten years ago, are only to make the officers and ministers happy with the results by then. 

What we see now don't seem to correlate with the impact supposedly to be achieved after 10 years of pilot projects. 

Are we just making the students and all the investments made an experiment in a failed laboratory?

Operation of schools during the MCO 2.0 is seen as only focusing on finishing up the centralised assessments such as SPM and STPM. 

Schools shut down its gates to the students in the name of saving the students from the pandemic, but those who are going to sit for the public exams need to be in school, to prepare them for the exams. 

With less than a month to SPM, how far are we sure that the preparation is well enough. 

The students are assumed to be ready, with all the curriculum content that was supposed to be delivered all year round, are crammed into months of we-know-how digital learning at home. 

Not only that, psychosocial aspects and mental readiness of the candidates are neglected. 

We have students affected by the recent flood and not to say, the Covid-19 pandemic, and we have not even yet gotten rid of all these before proceeding with the exam. 

One thing for sure here is that the education sector has failed in proving that they are ready for school-based assessment to be implemented in near future. 

The reality is that even the ministry involved are still putting examinations as their core assessment to gauge the students' performance. 

Can we conclude that the school-based assessment has indeed failed, years ago?

The ministry responsible really needs to do a checkup on themselves as we don't see all the policies and works put in place before this, are working at this trying time. 

The education sector has long prepared for the world of the unknown, but when it comes into action-time, they are lost in every direction. 

Why rush into making the decision to open schools for the STPM and SPM candidates? Aren't they also susceptible to the infections of Covid-19? 

And, what will we do if, let say, one or two of the centres for the exam to take place, need to be closed due to infections? Will the exam get postponed again?

I hope there is no more U-turn from this particular ministry. They are just making themselves bad, and unprepared. 

Every planning made is seen as only a short term plan, when indeed we don't see closure to this pandemic soon. 

Policies must bring forward a greater impact, especially when the policies are to bring better change to mankind. 

The writer is an education analyst.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.