The Problem With The Malaysian Education System
A talk with a grab driver
“Change, not be changed.”
From the rearview mirror, I could see the driver’s eyes shooting glances at me through the reflection, a contemplation after, he broke the silence. “What form are you in?” (in secondary level)
“Do I look that young?” I said to tear apart his assumption. Or maybe at that very moment, my slack look, paired with my lazy bag and one water bottle in my hand exuded the school-kid-look. “Going to tuition ah?” said one Grab driver aunty recently, and this exactly aligns with that “What form are you in?” question.
“Oh….” He gave away a quick laugh.
“I’m twenty-two this year, sir.”
“Right. Where do you study?” At this point, I had to fill in the background knowledge to suffice his understanding, which for that matter had exclusively propelled into a deeper conversation merely rooted down that I’m a teacher trainee.
A silence. A pause; which time revealed his seemingly newfound insight. “Teaching is an art, do you know?”
Pfftt… I almost choked on my saliva. I was not ready for any teaching-related conversation or to even talk about education, and there he went correlating teaching and art.
“Yeah, of course. It is. But, sadly, not every teacher realise this,” I forged a reply.
“Do you like it? Teaching? Hahaha,” he shot me another glance through the reflection of the rearview mirror, once more, I felt challenged.
“Teaching… not really,” I replied. Perhaps this is not a frank response, there is more to that, more sensitive depth buried within, rather than the not really.
“So-so lah? Very tough is it?”
“It can be. The truth is that it is not about teaching itself that is hard, but various factors that have to be taken into consideration. As I witnessed, as much as this profession is noble, when a teacher got into the system, they faced the risk of having to get washed down into just a mere teacher — A system teacher,” I elaborated.
Later, I began to confess how when new teachers enter the workplace itself, the eventual working environment, the fire, within their chest, which they religiously hold into like a dear emblem is ladened down by cascades of heavy water.
As per the verdicts from various teachers I had interviewed, the fire is a prevalent symbol alludes to the passion yet the struggle resides gradually dimming it.
As a teacher trainee, my spirit for sure is wavering.
“Pity the teachers. They have to undergo a lot of changes and challenges. The curriculum seems not to be working well,” he said.
“Yeah, there will be more changes. Eventually, it’s non-stopping.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Micro changes here and there. And there will be a new curriculum in 2027. They’re surveying.”
There he began to proceed on how teachers are put on the pedestals yet their treatment is lowly constructed. Teachers are having a hard time miring through new changes, adapting tons of new concepts and learning new curriculum while juggling with concurrent issues and responsibilities.
We mentioned the abolishment of UPSR (National exam for Year 6) followed by the scraping of PT3 (National exam for Form 3), and he proceeded on how this could heavily affect the students especially those now going for SPM (Malaysian Form 5 National exam) with prior national exams cancelled; Malaysian education is marching forward the approach of school-based assessment to reduce exam-centric education system.
Lab rats — he described, signifying students who were and are enrolled in the changes.
Personally speaking, school-based assessment or Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah (PBS) in Malaysia, if we look at the silver lining, it treasures a plenitude of potential, which the Grab driver and I would agree that it is the implementation itself having great thorns pierced in. PBS would be great to strip off the concept of studying just to pass flying colours in the exams; significantly providing pupils opportunities to engage and connect to meaningful learning than just memorising hard-and-fast (if fellow Malaysians still remember how they used to memorise a whole ass essay because the teachers provided the spot questions).
I wouldn’t like my pupils to memorise essays that they understand nothing about, I would like them to harness and enrich their creative writing skills which would lend them enormous power to string words into mellifluous literature pieces.
A lot of dimensions would be neglected with only the focus on papers and pens, and through PBS could skills, performances, knowledge, and dispositions be assessed holistically. But —
The thing is, this shift — is not well-acclaimed as many teachers are not well-acquainted with the approach of school-based assessment. Over the decades, Malaysian schools have undergone the teachings of exam questions, and how to answer the exam questions; given such a change, teachers are pestered to innovate and create their materials, activities, and so on that should be creative, constructive, interesting, relevant, viable, with the objectives set on the standards; deliberately creating more challenge on evaluations and teaching per se.
Also, Malaysians relied on exam scores and grades as metrics of achievements. Pretty much the aunties would love to boast about their sons and daughters’ exam papers with their neighbours; however, such change, is faced with plenty of rebuttals, and the question is: “Are Malaysian pupils/students and teachers ready for such a change?”
Lack of training I would say. Not all teachers know how to implement school-based assessment, and so, some still resort to traditional ways of teaching that are familiar to them.
As we are leaning toward globalisation, are we putting others’ skins on our flesh and bones unsure whether they will fit or not?
“The change seems not like changing, huh?” he smirked.
“It’s not all bad. We have hope. Young and old teachers alike should work together to make better changes.”
“Yeah. Let’s give it some time.”
“Are Malaysian pupils/students and teachers ready for such a change?”
However, I would also like to point out that teachers need great resilience and grit to preserve their passion. The process of sustaining a positive attitude throughout the career will inevitably be set back with assimilation into the environment, either inspiring or thwarting our growth.
“The young teachers (me alike), the newbies, youthful, glowy, have had hopes, visions, and ambitions; however, for the sake of survival, they are slowly forgetting their initial aspirations,” I continued. “As a teacher trainee, I am taught to adapt and create my materials instead of abiding by the textbooks as if they are sacred. Even so, the veterans would still insist on using the textbook.”
Well, new teachers often would have the thought to initiate something new, but most likely the act of taking a risk collides with fear. If something is unusual, the chances of it getting reprimanded are higher. Having to be a follower is so much easier than doing something entirely new. Hence, once again, for survival, we teach ourselves to do what is normal and accepted.
“Something like masuk kandang kambing mengembek, masuk kandang kerbau menguak (Upon entering a goat pen, you bleat; upon entering a buffalo shed, you bellow),” he joked. It means adjusting oneself to the new environment accordingly. If we consume this proverb blindly, connotatively, we are bound to become blind followers, or perhaps a more suitable proverb would be “bagai kerbau dicucuk hidung” (like a buffalo poked in the nose) which means an asinine who only follows orders.
In simpler terms, change is often sudden, repulsed, and awkwardly implemented, exacerbated by a lack of readiness and training to accept and internalise the change.
“Teachers need to become agents rather than objects of change,” said Arnetha Ball.
Think, are we objects or agents? Do we let the change troll us around or do we make profound changes that are significant to us and our community? What change is needed and what change should be improved? Is change even a change at all if it continues to dissolute the satisfaction yet succumbs us to delusions?
“What if we shifted our focus? What if we went from standards, tests, growth measurements, and comparisons across countries to the empowerment of individuals to discover their role in society,” provided by John Patton.
Can school-based assessment procure such a change instead? For empowerment of individuals? If handled with care, chances are that Malaysia can ensure a brighter future for its citizens, getting everyone in a well-fitted role.
“That you are here — that life exists and identity, That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” — Walt Whitman in O Me! O Life!
If you may, then we shall be the change agents. This tapestry vast, are you contributing verses, melodious or cacophonous?
If more people are willing to accept the school-based assessment, if teachers are willing to change than be changed, if training is more inclusive and effective, if passion and grit prevail instead, if survival is not an issue, if teaching is a career of choice instead, Malaysian education could progressively stamp higher achievements.
Let teachers be agents of change, let not them be objects of change.