W AHMAD NOR FARIHAN BIN W ROZALI G1815195

MUHAMMAD FARID ARIFFIN BIN WAHAB G1815095

EDU 6003

ARTICLE REVIEW

DATIN NOOR AZIMAH ABDUL RAHMAN

Chairman
Parent action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE)

The article chosen is about mastering English proficiency which had been written down by Datin
Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim. She is the Chairman of Parent Action Group for Education
Malaysia (PAGE). She had response about our Prime Minister article which said that current
education policy makers should need to pay attention through it. This article was published in
newspaper (The Sun, Nov 19), which said that the rich people can get a better education compare
to ordinary people.

As we all know, education is one of the most important thing that comes to people’s life, this is
because the education will put them according to their level of education. No wonder, some
parents will sacrifice their precious sleeping time wake up at 4.30 a.m. to send their children to
school across the border in order to get better education especially English for their kids. This is
of the factors lead to the increasing numbers of local student learn across the causeway.

In 2009, the abolishment of English in Science and Mathematics by the Ministry of Education
because of a small numbers of people that could not afford private education somehow and this
is one of the alternative to get the partial English education. The assumption of the writers about
the Razak Report 1956 which is about the equality in learning process which this refers to every
government school were allowed to have their own language and not stick to one language only.
The school can be taught in three languages and not only focusing in English. This is because, to
ensure that all student can have their right to learn and get a good job for their future. In my
opinion, the report was done in order to make sure that all the children in the country can get
their proper education and they will be no one that left behind because of the language problem.

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Nevertheless, the writer also responded about the political issues in the education system which
there are gap between rich people and poor people in their educational level. The rich will
always get better education compare to the poor people or ordinary people. That’s why the Razak
Report came to save the ordinary people in order to get equal level of education and if the
situation happen oppositely, this will bring a big problem which lead to detrimental effects.
Besides, we need to suppressed and overcome the problem in order to have better student in the
future.

Throughout the bigger view of the Razak Report which in education, there should not be a
double standard status which is can lead to a problem in the future. In this point of view, we can
say that, education must be equal in all aspects of life. Hence, this will bring fairness among all
the students in every school including the urban and rural schools. Besides, the government also
must be transparent and come out clean in order to have a harmony society and education
cultures.

Therefore, all schools that existed should have the same education way through an exemption
order by the education minister and give a fair chance to the masses to keep up with the
privileged. At this point, reinstate Science and Mathematics in English in all level of school
should be done in order to have a good student in all aspects. Besides, a bolder decision should
be made in education so that all students will have their rights to learn in more cohesive social
integration. Equal opportunity of English- medium in national school. It means that pupils in
national and international school should use English as medium of instruction. Using English as
a medium in school will improve the confidence to the student. It also can boost career in future
and we have to remember that English subject only couldn’t cater their speaking skills.
Furthermore abolish class stature in education; there shouldn’t be class gaps where the rich
receive different opportunities than the poor. Forming a commission to address education system
is highly important especially in education as it is the pillar of developing human capital.
Therefore, the system must not be easily changed or disturbed by outer forces when it deems fit
unless a thorough analysis has been made. Education system should not be influenced by
political agenda as it is ever-changing.

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Reconstruct of The Education Act 1996 will prevent the minister to politicalize the education
matters which this may bring a lot of problems to the educational system. Like UK-based
OFSTED (Standard in Education, Children’s Services and Skills), it had been discussed in the
parliament that the education should not be as a political agenda instead of aiming to the
collective decisions to develop the education in the country.

In conclusion, education is an important issue which every people should take part and involve in
order to have a good education system and perhaps can lead the young generation to have their
own space to success not only following the books or the instructions from the teachers. They
had to think out of the box so that the students of the young generations will open their eyes to
create their own achievement and be their own self. This article may give the readers to get the
point of view regarding the problems in the educational system nowadays and all together trying
to solve the issues and give a better outcome or input which can we use in the future. Hopefully
the education systems in the country were always emphasizing the goodness of the education in
all level and status.

Education in Malaysia should be prioritized and need to be improved from time to time.
According to The National Education Philosophy "Education in Malaysia is an on-going
efforts towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated
manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and
physically balanced and harmonic, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort
is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who
possess high moral standards and who are responsible and capable of achieving high level of
personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the
family, the society and the nation at large." Therefore, as a developing country, our education
system must be constantly monitored to ensure that we become a country that has our own
identity. Therefore, I believe that our education system need to be attended by non-government
influenced as proposed by UK – based OFSTED. This will ensure that our education is not
constantly changing when the government changes.