DEAR Dr Maszlee Malik,

With all due respect, sir, while I welcome your 12-point plan to improve the education system, I believe there are bigger issues that need radical changes.

Before I proceed further, let me say that I am a great proponent of the national school system. Unlike many parents, I believe that all children should attend national schools. I feel that private, international and even vernacular schools are detrimental to the aspirations of our nation.

I believe that national schools – and the caveat here is, if they are done right – are the key to promoting unity and nurturing our children to be the future of this country of ours.

Allow me to be blunt, sir.

Many have lost faith in our education system. The wealthy choose to send their children to private or international schools. Even those who are not wealthy will scrimp and save to give their children what they think is the best.

The Chinese have more or less left national schools. This is evident when you look at the national school intake.

To me, as controversial as it may be, I believe that we should have only one school system.

That means getting rid of private, international, religious, fully boarding, vernacular and all other different systems we now have in place.

Different school systems are not only detrimental to national unity, but also cause inequality by creating different playing fields. There is a need to focus on improving the national school system and make it excellent. One excellent school system for the nation. Equal opportunity for everyone.

Then, there is the syllabus. While I admit that children these days seem to be learning more at an earlier age, especially in terms of science and math, and also other subjects like “reka bentuk teknologi”, there is a serious lack in other subjects.

History seems to focus too much on local and Islamic history. World history seems to have been forgotten. Even local history that was taught 30 years ago seems to have been edited and changed.

How does one change historical facts, and more importantly, why? How are our future leaders supposed to function effectively when they are taught a myopic view of the world?

And, we all know that our English has gone to the dogs, with many students simply unable to string together a coherent sentence.

Bring back holistic education. One that encompasses equal focus on sports, extracurricular activities and academic excellence. Make it mandatory for students to participate in all three parts. The lessons you learn from sports, clubs and societies will prove invaluable. In today’s ever-evolving world, pure academic excellence is not enough.

Speaking of sports, in my time, we had dedicated and trained teachers in charge of sports.

Teachers who could actually coach football, rugby, hockey, and yes, even swimming. Today, however, most teachers are no longer equipped to coach sports. Schools that have swimming pools do not have skilled coaches.

So, while your idea of introducing swimming lessons may hold water, you first need to find swim coaches, as well as build enough pools nationwide.

Another thing that needs to be looked as is a change in the grading system. We are churning out too many students with a multitude of As in public examinations. So much so, that the grades seem meaningless. In the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia grading system, you can get an A with a score of 70.

This gives students a false sense of achievement, and makes them think they are better than they actually are.

Schools should also impart holistic life skills like financial planning, embrace technology where possible, and leverage, or perhaps, encourage technology-centric companies to aid learning institutions in the use of technology as part of these firms’ corporate social responsibility.

Religious studies should not focus only on one religion, but encompass all the world’s religions. This can only serve to foster a greater understanding and acceptance between everyone.

What I have touched on is probably just the tip of the iceberg, but this in itself shows that there is enough that needs to be looked at. There are other issues, like the quality of teachers, discipline in schools, interference by parents and so on. Indeed, many things to look at.

I thank you, sir, for taking these ideas into consideration. Or not. As the case may be. – October 17, 2018.

* Dharm Navaratnam reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.