OUR education system seems to prioritise pious morality in the living and heavenly aftermath. Yet when our nation was plunged into international shame because of successive scandals culminating in 1MDB, hardly anyone from the previous regime spoke out.

Morality recognises no affinity to political parties or groups. It is above all. A wrong of such superlative scale has to be condemned by all.

Doing earthly good must precede receiving heavenly abundance. One cannot ignore the grievous wrongs here and ascend straight to the ambit of the Almighty, expecting to be forgiven. These are issues related to education and an educational oversight has to be seriously considered.

It took our Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to jolt all and sundry into their senses that our national school curriculum needed an overhaul.

“They are learning about the religion of Islam and not learning anything else… those who pass in schools are not very conversant with subjects that are useful for them to get jobs, but are very good ulama,” Dr Mahathir said on a few days ago in Kedah.

In the lower secondary, where the early formative years of learning specific subjects begin, the periods allocated for Islamic studies are more than for science, mathematics and English.

Islamic values are good and so are other religious values. But when we hear of exam questions along the lines of caning “disobedient” wives and pupils learning about killing apostates, it gives a peek into how Islamic studies are taught.

It is irresponsible and even dangerous to introduce such thoughts to vulnerable minds.

The word “kafir” has been loosely and indiscriminately used. Such a word connotes a judgmental attitude.

It views others with contempt and a disdain for other’s cultures. In other religions, especially in modern times, the word “infidel” is seldom or no longer in use. In Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, the word remains alien.

In a culture or religion where too much emphasis is put on indoctrinating hell and heaven, satans and angels, the young and vulnerable can be detrimentally affected.

That is why we see mass hysteria predominantly affecting a particular ethnic group, usually in a hostel or in a factory. Girls who binge on junk food, with unhealthy eating habits, at around their menses cycle are vulnerable.

In such an environment, the main reason for mass hysteria is the infrequent autosuggestion with input of negative images. This phenomenon is more a domain of science and health, rather than religion.

The idea of bringing the Islamisation agenda and Islamic values to the education system in the 1980s may be noble.

But the results as can be seen in our society today do not commensurate with the aspired intent. Such agenda was also brought into our military during the same time.

Veterans would unhesitatingly attest to the many declining values and traditions today. The subject matter of which will be in another piece.

The most telling result of our much-left-to-be-desired education system that is skewed towards Islamic Studies is the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) global competence report.

The report is computed from a survey of each country’s education system by measuring 15-year-olds’ scholastic performance on science, mathematics, reading, and problem solving.

The triennial reports ranked Malaysia low among the various countries surveyed. The PISA 2009 placed Malaysia 55 out of 74 countries.

For PISA 2012, it was 52 out of 65. The PISA 2015 report showed slight improvement, but the result was not recognised by OECD because we failed to provide the necessary quota of pupils to participate in the survey.

Even with the slight improvement in score for PISA 2015 computed from the limited participants, Malaysia’s unrecognised score fell way below other regional countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, China, Korea and Vietnam.

Singapore occupied top place, while Vietnam still recovering from its war ruins in the 1970s, managed to occupy an impressive 12th spot.

While Singapore can claim bragging rights for having the brightest pupils based on the PISA score, we have to contend with the fact that perhaps numerous among their pupils were once ours.

There is no denial about the significance of English in a globalised world. There is also no denial of the significance of science, mathematics, and information technology (IT) in a modernised world.

Our prime minister’s quest to reform the educational system through less emphasis on religious studies and more on science, mathematics, and IT deserves full support. – December 26, 2018.

* Captain Dr Wong Ang Peng is a researcher with an interest in economics, politics, and health issues. He has a burning desire to do anything within his means to promote national harmony. Captain Wong is also a member of the National Patriots Association.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.