- 4 months ago
- #considerthis
The 13th Malaysia Plan, which is the Government’s blueprint for national development over the next five years, was unveiled last week. Among its many ambitions are efforts to strengthen the education system and develop a future-ready workforce. But do the policies go far enough to ensure Malaysia’s human capital is fit for 2030 and beyond? On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks with Datuk Satinah Syed Saleh, Advisor to the Malaysian Association for Education, and an Adjunct Professor at University of Cyberjaya’s Faculty of Psychology and Social Sciences.
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00:00Hello and good evening. I'm Melissa Idris. Welcome to Consider This. This is the show
00:15where we want you to consider and then reconsider what you know of the news of the day. The 13th
00:21Malaysian Plan, which is the government's blueprint for the national development over
00:28the next five years, it was unveiled last week and among its many ambitions are efforts to
00:35strengthen the education system and develop a future-ready workforce. But do the policies go
00:41far enough to ensure Malaysia's human capital is fit for 2030 and beyond? Well, joining me on the
00:48show to discuss this further is Datuk Satina Saleh, who is advisor to the Malaysian Association for
00:55Education. She's also an adjunct professor at University of Cyberjaya's Faculty of Psychology
01:01and Social Sciences. Datuk Satina, thank you so much for being on the show. It's good to have you back
01:06on the show with us today. I'm curious to know what some of your initial impressions were of the
01:1213th Malaysia Plan. I mean, does it for you demonstrate a clear vision of what Malaysia's
01:19education system should be in the next five years? Thank you, Melissa, for having me today. And I'm quite
01:27pleased to be around as well. Since the last time we chat, we chatted about education as well. Well, coming
01:35back to your questions, actually, my first impression, I thought there were many good things. It is a lot of
01:43effort put in, in actually drafting the plan, you know, however, education is something that is, is something that you
01:51need to look at it in a slightly broader, broader scheme, you know, I look at it as something very positive,
01:59especially when we are having a 71.6 billion in the education sector, that is a huge amount of money, you
02:08know. And I'm, it is like an affirmation that human capital remains the priority of our country for that
02:16matter. The allocation still reflects in the importance of nurturing talents and in this rapidly evolving
02:24digital world, I suppose. And whatever it is, I think we'll go through later on. It is a very bold,
02:34future oriented vision for Malaysia for education system. It position actually the education as a
02:41driver of national competitiveness and social progress. The clear strength in the plan, but
02:47however, there are a few other things that I would like to mention later on that I feel could have been
02:53not to say improved, it must be emphasized, you know, in terms of implementation so that we'll have the
03:01right ingredients for the transformation. Can I ask you what you liked about it? So you called it a bold,
03:10some of the initiatives were bold in the education sector. Can I ask you which parts or which stood out to
03:16you as positives from the 13th Malaysia Plan? The firstly actually it emphasized for future ready
03:24skills. We talked about STEM, we talked about digital literacy, AI and TVET. TVET is still there even though
03:31it has been there for a long time, you know, but it is mentioned again. To prepare our use for the challenges
03:37of IR 4.0 and also the global disruption. I'm concerned about the global disruption because it is something that
03:46we cannot predict totally. Secondly, it upholds the values of inclusion and equity because we talk about
03:54it with targeted intervention for vulnerable groups like what they call this or asli, rural communities,
04:02as well as disabilities, B40 and those with the neurodivergent children. Those are actually what I like very much.
04:11And lastly, actually, it also highlights the critical importance of teacher quality, which is the utmost
04:17important in any learning, any sort of studying, whatever effort that we do. Teacher is the main concern.
04:24It was proven, Melissa, when we did the education blueprint, we went into looking into the current
04:30system at that time, you know, and the school leadership as well. Yeah. Okay. So some positives
04:35there. Can I delve deeper into some of the things you mentioned? So when you talked about, you know,
04:41the 13th Malaysia Plan highlighting AI, digital literacy, STEM, TVET, multilingualism as well,
04:48I think very forward looking in terms of focusing on that. But when we think about these ambitions,
04:54are they grounded in current capabilities? I mean, Malaysia has long struggled with
05:00the even foundational literacy and numeracy skills. So do we risk putting the cart before the horse with
05:08these ambitions? Definitely. I would actually, that was another question that you were asking,
05:13you know, earlier on. We have to be very careful because we are still actually struggling with numeracy
05:21and literacy. I think it is proven. We look at the results of ISA, for example. Yeah. So whether we are
05:28grounded or not, I think that there is no doubt students to actually, to sort of ingrain it into
05:35the future shape, we need to also look at the, what are the foundation, foundation aspect,
05:41a foundational aspect of our children, whether they are ready, whether the system is ready for them to
05:48take this. And then also at the same time, the facilities that we have, because we look at the,
05:53if this reform, this transformation is for rural school, rural area, it is okay. But if you are looking
06:01at beyond that, you know, those, the isolated areas, those in the interiors, those without the
06:10facilities, even electricity for that matter, then we will have a little bit of issue with that. Yeah.
06:15Okay. Do you think, so when you look at the plan overall, there's a lot that mentions about kind
06:23of technical fixes, very sector specific initiatives. But if you, as you mentioned, you know, sometimes we
06:29have to look at it from a holistic point of view or a bird's eye point of view. Do you think there's
06:35anything missing from the broader vision for Malaysia's human capital?
06:41Yes. And I think that is a very critical question that you asked Melissa, you know,
06:47what is missing in that matter? I think what is missing, yeah. I would say that we need to look,
06:55to step back and look at the bigger picture, because as you said, are we fixing the system or are we also
07:02shaping the soul of our future generation? I think that is important. So the critical aspect, I would say,
07:08while our plan covers the mechanics of skill supply, sector alignment, economic productivity,
07:16but it lacks cohesive, future-based, facing human capital philosophy, and which goes beyond
07:23employability. Actually, it's not about them getting a job from school to go and get a job. It's not about
07:29that. And instead, we should also focus on other aspects of this, like ethical and purpose-driven
07:35Malaysian. And I'd like to highlight, actually, the four critical gaps that we have. First is character,
07:43citizenship, and civic competence. I think these are the things that is very, very important when we are
07:49talking about building our Malaysian, our nation. Human capital isn't just about producing workers,
07:55it is about nation building. And we need young Malaysians who are grounded in ethics, empathy,
08:01resilience, and civic responsibility. I don't see this being mentioned. These values are barely
08:08mentioned, I would say barely mentioned, I wouldn't say they're not mentioned at all. So where is actually
08:13the national agenda for character education, civics, participation, and unity? Those are to me right
08:20now, with all these challenges, it's so fundamental. That's one aspect, yeah.
08:25Right. So beyond the technical skills, beyond the future skills, but also the character skills and
08:33the softer skills, is that what you're highlighting?
08:37Yes, because I think the plan focuses on the schooling to employability, to get a job, you know. But
08:46how about learning beyond school? Beyond school and also beyond work? You know, I think we need to look
08:52into lifelong learning, lifelong learning, not just for economic survival, but for personal growth,
08:59for that matter. I don't know, Melissa, I think we all, at my age, I'm still learning so many things.
09:06And that also for active aging and social cohesion, we are talking about in our country,
09:11many of our population, past certain age, which is very, very, not to say I would say we have young
09:17people, but we need to really groom them. So we need to actually basically encourage learning at all
09:25stages of life. Those are the few things that we need to look at, I think, from early childhood to
09:32retirement. All right. Very holistic, very bigger picture perspective. When you think about the 13th
09:40Malaysia Plan and these types of kind of blueprints, these years long blueprints, we've seen ambitious
09:48plans before. Malaysia is not short of great ideas, but we often struggle with implementation. What do you
09:55think, Dr Satina, is the, what will it take to move from policy intent to real systemic change in education
10:05this time around? I think, yes. Thank you, Melissa. This is a very interesting topic, I would say. You
10:13know, I have always been quite open about certain things, you know. I think setting the context is
10:19very important. You know, Malaysia has never lacked of ambition, as you said. From Vision 2020 to
10:25Malaysian Education Blueprint, which is already finishing and the new one is coming up, you know. And our policies
10:31are all often very visionary and forward looking. I must say that because it has been proven for that matter. But
10:39let's be honest. We need to be honest. Our challenges has never been about having good ideas, good thinking or good
10:47ideas. But it is about executing. You know, how do we execute? So the real question is, what will it take, actually, this
10:56time to move from policy intent to real systemic change? So I have put certain thoughts for that matter,
11:03you know. One, as always been mentioned, political will and policy continuity. I think, first and foremost,
11:13we need political will that outlives politics itself. You know, we should not put politics first and then
11:22political will. You know, it shouldn't be that way. And systemic change takes time. It requires leadership
11:28across governments to stay the course. This, I think, we will look into that. It's not, when we have a new
11:37leaders, it's not about rebranding. It is not about restarting. Every time when there is a change in
11:45administration, consistency is a key for that matter. If we keep changing direction, when are we going to
11:53reach the destination? I think those are very important. I keep mentioning this, Melissa. Yeah, I
12:00remember. Because I think we owe it to our generation. We owe it to our people, the sincerity of executing our
12:08job. It doesn't matter at the level higher one or the lower part. How do we ensure that, the continuity that
12:14you speak of, that, so that with every administration change, with every minister change, that there is
12:20no disruption to the vision for education in Malaysia? Right. First of all, as I mentioned, I think
12:28understanding the policy itself, what has been put, the plan, it is very important. And secondly,
12:35I say this, Melissa, I think any leaders for that matter, they are mostly, they are politicians. I'm not
12:41talking about government officials. You can't put politics above the direct, the, actually the
12:48advantages that can be, can benefit from what you do, we continue to do. If they are good, let us
12:54continue. If you feel there are some amendments to be done, do it by all means, you know. But it is not
12:59about branding yourself to sit there and have your own brand for that matter. I have been in the system for a
13:05long time. I see it from outside now. This sometimes is happening. And, and I think that is one thing that
13:12I feel, to empower and accountability. Yet for a situation, you have to empower them. Also, let them
13:18have that accountability. So no policy, actually, when we talk about education, no policy can, can succeed
13:25if agencies responsible are actually outstretched or under resources. And then we are looking at schools,
13:32we are looking at universities, TVET and so on. They must be given to me, they must be given capacity,
13:40autonomy and clarity to deliver whatever has been given, whether it is curriculum or creativity and so
13:47on. But with autonomy must, must also come accountability for that matter. That is the second
13:53one. I'd like to mention the last one. It's leadership at every level. How do we transform our
13:58education system? You know, in the Malaysia, the 13th Malaysia plan reform, systemic reform
14:05cannot just happen in Putrajaya. It has to move beyond, it happens to go to the classroom, schools,
14:13districts, communities and so on. So we need visionary encourages leadership in every level, every stage of
14:20those places for that matter. You know, so those, those are things I feel and I'm not, there are few
14:27that, two more that I feel, but I think may not, we don't have the time. Well, it's, it's a big topic
14:32and unfortunately we have run out of time. So Dato' Satina, thank you so much for being on the show with
14:37me today. That was educationist Dato' Satina Said Saleh, advisor to the Malaysian Association for Education.
14:44We're going to take a quick break here and consider this. We'll be back with more. Stay tuned.
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