Malaysia's 10th MP sets focus on education

Malaysia has an extensive public schooling system, operated under the belief that every child has a right to equal and fair opportunity in the country, a right that is enshrined in the constitution. The government spends around RM 7 billion on public education throughout the country, and in the 10MP, extremely important plans were outlined, aimed at increasing pre-school attendance from 67% of the population currently, to 87% by 2012.

This is important because pre-school is a vital stepping stone to primary and secondary school. It lays the foundations for later learning and helps one socialize and familiarize one’s self with a learning environment from a young age. Because of this, those areas that are on the periphery of government services, rural areas and the urban slums, are populated by children who will have little to no opportunity to attend a preschool, and, consequently, will be at a disadvantage if and when they enroll in primary school.

Studies undertaken in Malaysia and abroad have suggested that children who do not attend preschool before starting at school will be kept back, possibly, their entire lives, for they will struggle to adjust to school, will have less confidence and if they graduate from university, they will, by and large, do so with that same diminished confidence that will keep them back in finding a good job.

It is a matter of capital then, our resources as a nation, our human resources. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth principles of the 10MP are, therefore, relevant in this regard.

Third: Transforming to a high-income nation through specialization.

Fourth: Unleashing productivity-led growth and innovation.

Fifth: Nurturing, attracting and retaining top talent.

Sixth: Ensuring equality of opportunities and safeguarding the vulnerable.

Although specifics were not outlined in parliament, it is, perhaps, logical to assume that the increased spending on pre-schools will take into account those areas where children are currently being left behind and established facilities in these areas for the children to enroll in.

Pre-schools were not the only area of public education to benefit from the 10^th Malaysia Plan though, indeed a total of RM 280 million has been set aside in the budget for the upgrading, constructing and expanding of government-aided schools. This is in addition to the percentage of primary school teachers with a graduate degree being increased from 28% to 60% by 2012.

These further steps are important to ensure that there is no bottle-neck effect from the expanded pre-school coverage, if primary and secondary schools are not expanded as well there will be a shortage of capacity, making the spending on pre-schools an inefficient use of public funds. This is part of another aspect of the 10MP, to make government a more competitive entity, one that could compete with private industry, a ‘value for money’ government.