I Wanted Education Portfolio In Cabinet Says Rafizi

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 The former economy minister says education is the foundation for lasting national change and that institutional reforms alone fall short.
Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said children must be taught to be honest and civic-minded rather than be a minister who steals from every direction.PETALING JAYA: Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli says he would have preferred to be the education minister, calling it the most important portfolio for reforming the country
“If I could, I would want to be education minister, but I don’t think people would like it,” he said on the latest episode of the Yang Berhenti Menteri podcast yesterday.
The Pandan MP said education is the foundation for long-term change, particularly in dismantling a culture of corruption, and that institutional reforms alone are not enough.
“Yes, this culture can be changed. Everything starts with education. That’s why I always criticised Fadhlina Sidek (education minister),” he said.
“Everything begins from school. We need to teach children that there are different models of success. It’s better to live an honest, ordinary life, take care of others, and be civic-minded than to become a minister who steals from every direction.”
Rafizi also joked that if he took up the portfolio, he hoped people would not remember him only for the government’s black shoes policy.
He was referring to Pakatan Harapan’s first administration in 2020 when then education minister Maszlee Malik announced a switch from white to black school shoes, saying black shoes were easier to keep clean.
The move drew much criticism and ridicule amid concerns over declining education standards.
Rafizi said he accepted the economy portfolio out of necessity, following the 2022 general election (GE15) that resulted in a hung Parliament and the formation of a unity government.
He said there was an urgent need to stabilise markets and restore public confidence in the government’s economic management.
“But you can’t fix the economy if you don’t fix the education system,” he said. - FMT

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