You know there’s a problem with the education system when you realise that out of the 3R’s, only one begins with an ‘R’ – TV personality Dennis Miller

I used to be pretty good at math in high school although I remember asking Mr Chan Lok Chin, our often-testy additional mathematics teacher, about the utility of calculus. 

Actually, my precise question was: “Why are we learning this, Sir?” His retort was equally precise: “Because I said so.” 

And so I did and, because he was an excellent teacher, I actually enjoyed being able to derive logical solutions out of seeming gobbledygook.  I went on to join the Selangor Club where, not unreasonably, we were all taught never to drink and derive.

But my long-ago question about its utility remains valid. I suspect the American writer and humorist, Fran Lebowitz, reached the same, gloomy conclusion about algebra. “Stand firm in your refusal to remain conscious during algebra; in real life, I assure you there is no such thing as algebra.” 

Education is, I suppose, what remains when you subtract what you’ve forgotten from what you’ve learned. That residual knowledge, built up by reading and experiential living, should equip us sufficiently to enable us, for example, to teach our kids basic math or balance our cheque-books.  It opens the door to opportunity and a way forward, to allow a person to become the best he or she can be. 

That’s the theory but it presupposes an education system that has reasonably good teachers teaching the relevant subject matter in reasonably good environments. The education that my classmates and I received at the hands of people like Mr Chan all those years ago, for example. 

There’s the rub. It’s not clear if it’s happening, if new generations of better educated Malaysians are being constantly, and consistently, produced. 

Going by our latest PISA scores, it’s not. The Programme for Intermediate Student Assessment, or PISA, is a global  evaluation of 15-year-olds that’s standardised so that comparisons can reasonably be made. 

PISA assesses not only whether students can reproduce knowledge, but whether they can extrapolate from what they have learnt and apply their knowledge in new situations. 

Alarm bells should ring: we have declined steadily since the tests began in 2000.  In the latest (2022) PISA rankings, the country dropped on all three metrics — sciences, math and reading literacy.

The latest PISA scores show that Malaysian 15-year-olds scored 409 in math (down from 440 previously), 416 in science (down from 438 in 2018). In reading, Malaysians scored 388, down from 415.

Only 1.2% of the students were excellent at math, and only 0.5% were good at science. Less than half, just 42%, were good at reading.

Needless to say, Singapore topped all three metrics. In the region, Cambodia, Brunei, Singapore and the Philippines all improved their rankings from previously. Only Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia saw their ranking decline with ours truly being the worst, with a 32-point drop. Pressed for an explanation, the Director-General of Education craftily equivocated, “The situation,” harrumphed the worthy, “wasn’t unique to Malaysia.” 

The solutions aren’t rocket science either. There is a lack of qualified teachers. Indeed, there is a serious lack of math, science and English teachers. 

It can’t be for the lack of money.  Education received the lion’s share of the 2023 budget: almost 20%, or RM75 billion out of RM390 billion, all told.  

It’s nonsensical. There is a preference to build new schools instead of maintaining and repairing old ones. There is a proliferation of religious and rewritten history texts without good reason. Dr Mahathir has repeatedly  alluded to the former but he did nothing about it. 

Anwar Ibrahim has talked ceaselessly about reform. He should begin with the Pisa scores and insist on solutions.  

And he should  start now.

ENDS