The painful history of education policy shifts tells us that the power of the Ministry of Education must be drastically cut. It's out with the old and in with the new every time a crisis engulfs the country's leadership – and all at the expense of our children's education.
Every political crisis inevitably claims its share of casualties. Normally, those who fall on the wrong side in the corridors of power will find their careers cut short. It is no different in Malaysia. Time and again, we have seen ministers and high ranking officials dismissed, along with their retinue of retainers and apparatchiks every time a crisis engulfs the country’s leadership.
The impact of such shake-ups is usually most apparent in the economy. Positive changes will of course raise confidence levels, while destabilising manoeuvres usually result in declining investor confidence, capital flight and a general bear effect. Hence, it is no surprise that even Bank Negara has attributed the continuing slide of the ringgit – 40% down on the US dollar and the worst performing currency in Asia this year – to, inter alia, the Prime Minister’s current political misfortunes.
But it is not just the economy that suffers. With polemics that more often than not revolve around the question of language and identity rather than quality and efficiency, our education policies are interminably caught in the sticky web of partisan politics. Consequently, abrupt political changes almost always result in abrupt changes in education policies – especially when the ministerial post changes hands.
