It S Time We Reform The Education System To Produce Critical Thinkers

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Some of our public universities are back in the news again.
With political bosses busy campaigning in the general election, university vice-chancellors apparently decided to throw off the bureaucratic shackles and do….everything they’ve always done before!
The latest drama involves a public university decreeing what kind of clothes are, or are not, appropriate for the graduation ceremony, or convocation. That’s not surprising. Public universities, in spite of what they claim to be, are basically government departments and are run like one.
-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 
Ads by KioskedI once went to a government office for some business in my old shorts, and the sight of my spindly old legs sent the people wild, and the security guard warned me not to dress like that again.
Given that I did not break any laws on decency, I couldn’t see why “public servants” wouldn’t allow me to use “public facilities” paid for by “public money”. If they get excited by the sight of spindly legs on an old man, they shouldn’t be working there.
The same goes with universities. Strict dress codes apply there, too.
Our universities are basically bigger versions of secondary schools. They might have different curriculums but they have the same mindset, outlook, and culture. There might even be as many of such universities as secondary schools, too, though I could be wrong here.
My own kids did well in school, and some went on to study abroad. The youngest two are still in university, having sampled those in Japan, Central Asia, the UK and now the US.
Imagine me turning up in London (or Tokyo, or Astana, or Chicago) and being told I’m not allowed to wear my national dress to my kid’s convocation on account that it is indecent. Though admittedly it’s a nice thought that I (or maybe my clothing) can still arouse such feelings!
Ads by KioskedMy kids’ study abroad was paid by me, and later by them winning tough foreign scholarships and funding. Being smart, and being Bumiputeras, they could easily have won Malaysian government scholarships (you know how this thing works) to study abroad.
But where ‘s the fun in that? I’d probably have to sign an agreement on what I can wear to their convocation – no bare arms, knees and ankles covered etc. Even if that may save me from frostbite, I still hate taking dressing instructions from some sartorial Nazis.
The ideals of higher education – inculcating critical thinking, independence, resilience and the desire for continuous learning (and some specific skills and a few pieces of paper) – are too scary for those who control our society.
They want young people to be moulded into “ideal citizens”, which often means teaching them some functional skills (sometimes not even that) and extinguishing any desire to question things and stray from the paths already chosen for them.
Before we had modern higher education, we had ustazs and sifus and temples where old people regurgitate “knowledge” and “wisdom” to pliable young minds, who in turn regurgitate them down the generations.
That’s OK for teaching religious education and kung-fu, especially in societies which were basically static, and where those on top didn’t want the young to challenge the orthodoxy and their privileges and authority.
Ads by KioskedBut in today’s world, that’s a sure-fire path towards a failed nationhood. The belief that all hell will break loose if controls are loosened means the occasional and inevitable breaches became self-fulfilling prophecies.
Even in the old days, that didn’t work out so well. All the societies of our ancestors were easily conquered and subjugated by other societies more willing to be open and revolutionary. We still have scars from those days.
Yet another public university also made the news, this time with some very high-handed intervention to stop a public forum on topics, and with speakers, that they didn’t like.
We must try to truly understand why such events happen. The proximate causes could be different interpretations of decency and respect and decorum, with the usual religious, racial and political undertones.
But a more likely explanation is these are just the usual instances of power plays – of bureaucrats in public universities inserting their own interpretations, driven by their own prejudices and insecurities, down the throats of people they’re supposed to serve.
Lest others start gloating about how superior they are to these people, please stop. Similar kinds of parochial, feudal behaviours exist in almost all aspects of our society, certainly in politics but also business and even in our own family units.
Ads by KioskedOur universities like to trumpet that they are training tomorrow’s leaders. In reality they are training tomorrow’s followers. They’re not growing minds, but instead force-fitting them into our old feudal moulds.
On a practical level, such “education “ will not produce the next Einstein or Nobel Prize-winner in Literature or the next digital entrepreneur, much less a truly transformational national leader.
It’ll instead just produce a mass of docile young people who are often told, “who asked you to use your brains to think things out for yourselves?”
Most will grow up to be, at best, unrealised potential – thus holding the country back from realising its own full potential. And at worst, they’ll be cannon fodder in the many convenient wars on race, religion, politics or just sheer unbridled greed.
And some will end up running universities, both public and private, which will continue the same sad story all over again. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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