IT will be an understatement to say that Dr Maszlee Malik bears the hopes of every Malaysian parent on his slight shoulders.  

He can’t turn on WhatsApp because the number of new messages he gets crashes his phone. He has also given up clearing his inbox.

“I started a google form on my Facebook page to collect ideas and within three days I got 11,000 of them,” said the former Islamic studies and political science lecturer.

Such is the deluge of proposals, suggestions and ideas the 44-year old has received since he was named education minister, less than a fortnight ago. 

Being a father of four and an education professional, he understands the depth of these expectations.

After all, next to the Prime Minister’s Department and the Finance Ministry, education is the one portfolio that gets the most attention from ordinary folk.

Newspapers have regular weekly pullouts dedicated to the education sector.

And for the past two decades it seems schools and universities have been trapped in a quagmire of divisive policies such as the teaching of Science and Math in English, and falling grades.

Classroom sizes have ballooned to an average of 40 pupils, teachers are burdened with non-academic, administrative work and funding to maintain school buildings have been cut.

“People have given up on national schools. So when we were elected it is as if there this sudden resurgence of hope that things can be better,” Maszlee told The Malaysian Insight.  

Being an academic since 2000 and a volunteer for education NGOs have given him insight into the rot in the system and what needs to change.

Even before his appointment, Maszlee has advised education NGOs such as Teach for the Needs (TFTN) and Pusat Pendidikan Down Syndrome Orkids. He was also on the board of governors for IDEAS Autism Centre.

According to IDEAS, a think tank that has written extensively and advised the previous administration on education, Maszlee has campaigned to reduce class sizes in schools and to introduce assistants to reduce teacher workloads.

Instead of focusing on introducing new policies or systems, he wants to change the culture in the sector so that effective policies such as the National Education Blueprint can be fully implemented.

And any new policies he introduces will be towards inculcating happiness, love and mutual recognition which are the core values of that culture.

“I believe these values will bring the community together and release the humanistic spirit that is within every individual.”

These are the values that he has lived by and which have made him a popular and familiar face among academics, educationists and the Pakatan Harapan cohort.  

It is these values that he hopes to meet the high expectations of parents, teachers and children that Malaysia’s schools and universities can be transformed.  

“It will be my responsibility to instil these values in every student, teacher and school during my tenure.” – May 30, 2018.