KL to boost science in schools

KL to boost science in schools

By David Chew

SINGAPORE (JP): Malaysia has the abundant natural resources, the requisite manpower and the good connections to become a developed nation within the next 20 years as envisaged by its Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Despite these advantages, however, top government officials fear that Dr. Mahathir's "Vision 2020" may continue to be an empty agenda so long as Malay secondary students lack interest in science and mathematics.

Unless this major attitudinal problem is tackled effectively, there would be no catalyst to transform the resources and connections into meaningful use as required by "Vision 2020", the officials conclude.

At numerous forums nationwide, Dr. Mahathir has stressed the importance of highly-trained manpower for the success of his "Vision 2020". He stressed the need for more scientists, engineers, doctors, architects and other professionals.

They would form the vanguard of the project 600,000 skilled and semi-skilled people required up to the year 2000 to sustain the momentum of Malaysia's high economic growth rate. A rate that would increasingly be engineered by capital intensive industries.

Schools will provide the source for this trained manpower. To nurture it, the Malaysian government last year spent M$2.023 billion (roughly US$ 792 million), or about 20 percent of the national budget, to install new science laboratories, technical workshops and the latest sophisticated tools and machinery in schools. The amount was increased to M$2.111 billion this year.

So important is science and technology to the Malaysian government, that it wants 60 percent of secondary school students to study science and mathematics.

The government also plans to double the intake of medical students at local universities in a bid to meet the target of 33,500 doctors by the year 2020, according to Education Minister Najib Tun Razak. At the end of last year, official statistics revealed that there were only 9,504 registered doctors in Malaysia.

Top officials are worried that the Malaysian government's efforts to encourage the wider study of science and mathematics in secondary schools, particularly in the fourth and fifth forms, may be futile if Malay students continue to show a lack of interest in these subjects.

Secondary schooling is the middle level in Malaysia's three- tier education system, comprised of six years of primary schooling, five years of secondary schooling and two years of pre-university. Students then proceed to tertiary studies either at the university or college level.

Unless secondary students begin embracing science, there will not be the requisite numbers to take up science and mathematical subjects at the tertiary level.

Deputy Education Minister Dr. Fong Chan Onn earlier this month expressed the government's concern over this matter when he disclosed that only 20 percent of the total number of fourth and fifth form students opted to study pure science. His ideal figure is 60 percent.

He blamed the declining trend, which was first detected in the late 1980s, on the perception among many students that science is more difficult to study than arts subjects.

Top government officials like Dr. Fong believe that the mental block many students face in their approach toward science and mathematics can be overcome. They have warned that unless the students change their negative attitude, Malaysia may not have the highly-trained workforce to man the facilities and resources required to achieve "Vision 2020".

While a change in the students' attitudes may seem a panacea, it is by no means the solution to a problem that inevitably spills over to Malaysia's delicate race-based politics.

Malays and other bumiputra (indigenous peoples) make up 60 percent of Malaysia's multiracial population of 19 million. The Chinese account for 30 percent and Indians the remaining 10 percent.

Ideally, the politically-dominant Malays and bumiputra should respond to the government's study plea. It is this group that Dr. Mahathir has targeted as the driving force to achieve the aims of "Vision 2020" -- the Malaysian government's success in affirmative action is well represented in the nation's wealthy and professional class.

The majority of secondary school students who have no interest in science and mathematics happen to be Malays and bumiputra. They prefer to study the arts, Islamic studies and other social sciences which still offer them jobs, especially within the government, after graduating from university.

By comparison, Chinese students are more inclined to study science. Part of this explanation lies in the fact that urban schools have better science facilities and mathematics teachers than rural schools. The Chinese form the majority of students in urban schools.

Even if many secondary students heed the call to study science and mathematics, the government still faces a problem if more of them are Chinese and fewer of them are Malays.

Since the success of its affirmative action policies, the government has greatly relaxed its pro-bumiputra politics because Dr. Mahathir believes that Malays are now in a position to compete with the other ethnic groups on equal terms.

Other prominent Malay leaders are not so sure, and have warned of the political dangers of the headlong drive into meritocracy. They say this is likely to lead to more Chinese students opting for science and mathematics at university.

Former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam noted in August last year that despite the success of affirmative action, the Malays might still not be psychologically ready to the government recruiting skilled manpower based strictly on merit. He disclosed that between 1983 and 1993, less than half of the Malay students in secondary schools scored good results in science and mathematics.

This was despite Malay students having all the advantages and good educational facilities.

"This situation has been consistent every year -- and obviously something needs to be done to change it," he said in his address to a forum of Malay Students in Shah Alam, the capital of the state of Selangor.

Musa, presently the United Nations Human Rights Panel Chairman, fears that unbridled meritocracy will place the Malays behind the Chinese in science and mathematics, their position before the New Economic Policy was introduced.

"This does not mean that Vision 2020 will not succeed, but its success will be meaningless if there is no place in it for the Malays," he said.

Dr. Mahathir, Anwar and other top UMNO leaders certainly have a delicate balancing act to perform in encouraging more Malay students take up science and mathematics without depriving others of their opportunity to study these subjects.

In encouraging more Malay students to study science and mathematics, the government must ensure that its present high standard is maintained.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Singapore.

Window: The majority of secondary school students who have no interest in science and mathematics happen to be Malays and bumiputra.