MANY Malaysians are bracing themselves for the worst as Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government tables its first budget in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Despite the gloom, many others, particularly those in the low income group, are hoping for some respite, having suffered the most from the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, and now finding it hard to get back on their feet.

Different sectors of the Malaysian economy are looking for signs of recovery and reform under this budget.

It could be seen as the road map that the government will be using to navigate the country out of the mess the pandemic and two short-lived and ineffective administrations have created for the nation and its numerous sectors.

One of the major sectors is education and, in this regard, Pergerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia (Gerak) proposes a wish list for the sector.

This proposal is based on the awareness that the budget is not just about the government’s plans and projections for the use of the country’s resources for the year to come but also a fairly clear sign where the government plans to take the nation.

First, we propose an increase in allocation for education, for use in various sectors at the different levels.

Second, based on the many ongoing concerns and criticisms of contemporary education in Malaysia, Gerak believes that an allocation for a thorough – and honest – independent study on the state of our education (from playschool to tertiary education) must be made.

Its announcement would be with an eye towards revamping and reforming our education system.

In this regard, a royal commission of inquiry would be ideal, although any thorough and independent study would suffice as an alternative.

Third, the budget should also announce the beginning of a revamp of teacher training and a revision of teachers’ salaries and benefits.

We need to start attracting high-quality candidates into the teaching profession to help address and stop the rot that has set in.

And to do that, we must make teaching the profession of choice rather than something to fall back on as a last resort. Teaching is a noble profession and not the job of those who cannot do anything else.

Fourth, Budget 2023 must address an urgent need to increase funding for special needs education.

We cannot simply and inhumanely treat special children as an “inconvenient” group in mainstream society.

We owe these children the responsibility of providing them with the best education possible, with highly trained teachers.

Fifth, it is evident that while counselling services are more widely available in our schools now, they really need to be improved upon.

Gangsterism, bullying and vandalism in school have sociological and psychological origins. These need to be teased out and assessed.

As part of the community and serving that wider community, schools, through proper funding from the government, must contribute towards playing that role. Professionally trained counsellors must be made available. In this regard, sexual health awareness and safety education must begin from primary school.

Sixth, and certainly crucial given recent developments, funds should be channelled towards the reorganisation of state-run Islamic religious schools.

The government needs to make them more inclusive in substance to counter the alleged hateful, racist narratives of many of the current ones.

What is clear is that in last year’s general election and after, social media were used effectively to put across divisive, hateful, racist and bigoted messages.

This, for many analysts, “worked” because the targeted, mainly youth, population had been fed for a long time a divisive diet of misinformation and dubious “knowledge”, pitting one majority ethnoreligious group (Malay Muslim) against other minority Malaysian ones.

We cannot fight this narrative simply through censorship laws and heavy-handed actions.

We need to put across a higher-level narrative that espouses diversity, love, respect, understanding and inclusion. All based on the teachings of Islam and other loved religions.

This must happen in a planned and concerted manner in formal environments like playschools, schools, colleges and universities.

But it needs to go beyond this to the state-run religious schools, surau and mosques, led by trained preachers working for a civilised Malaysia based on respect and even love.

All, of course, also following the prime minister’s notion of Malaysia Madani.

Hence, there is a need for leaders – in this case, religious – to walk the talk. And funds need to be channelled in that direction.

Finally, Budget 2023 should make it clear that Rancangan Makanan Tambahan (RMT) or universal free school meals will be provided for all primary school children, irrespective of parents’ income level.

In this regard, the government, to be fair, must refund money to children who were under the RMT but allegedly were not fed during the two years of school closure (about 500,000 primary school children). The allocation of almost RM300 million was approved under Budget 2019 and 2020.

It was irresponsible of the government then to conveniently disregard this allocation. Other countries provided cash transfer, food rations and hot meals to children who were on curfew then. We didn’t.

These are our proposals for a reformist and inclusive unity government to seriously consider. – February 24, 2023.

* Dr Andrew Aeria, Prof Wan Manan Wan Muda and Prof Zaharom Nain are Gerak senior executive members.

* 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.