SHAH ALAM, 22 Aug: The issue of poverty being faced by Malaysians to this day is difficult to overcome if the country does not have a quality education system, said the Vice President of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Nurul Izzah Anwar.
He said that the quality of education in Malaysia has deteriorated and is far behind neighbouring countries like Vietnam, not to mention South Korea, China and Singapore.
She said that based on statistics, Malaysian students are about 2.5 years behind students in Vietnam in Mathematics and 2.8 years behind in Science.
“And compared to students in Singapore, Korea and China, Malaysian students are behind by four years.
“The World Bank economist for Malaysia, Frederico Gil Sander, said that the situation of education in Malaysia is far behind poor countries like Vietnam, and it is more terrifying than the ratio of household debt.
“I am also a mother, a former government school student and it is sad when I witness the decline in the quality of education received by our children, including my own children,” she said.
She was speaking at the PKR Women Annual National Congress 2014 at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam today.
Izzah said that the report from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is also shocking with the performance of Malaysian students deteriorating.
She said that the report also mentioned that Form Three student in Malaysia are on par with Standard Five students from Singapore and South Korea.
“We need to recognise that without a good education system, it is unlikely for the poorest Malaysians to leave the clutches of poverty without a miracle.
“In this regard, we will continue to demand for the establishment of a National Education Consultative Council that allows all parties to sit down at the same table,” she said.
Elaborating, she also suggested for a pre-school to be established as an alternative to the existing pre-schools.
She said that this is appropriate with George Land’s study in 1968 which gave NASA creativity tests to 1,600 children who are five years of age where 98 percent of the students tested showed the creativity level of geniuses.
“The PKR branches can also set up their own tuition centres like in Lembah Pantai. I have an English tuition at the office and I am working to open another class to help local students receive additional education outside of school at a minimal cost,” she said.
NS