Why Pm Anwar Rafizi Steven Sim Should Be Worried About World Bank S Report On M Sian Education

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Letter to editor
AT FIRST glance, everyone will wonder why should our Prime Minister (PM), the Economic Minister and also Human Resources Ministers be concerned about a report on declining Malaysian education quality? Afterall, it should be the Education Minister’s problem.

Well, since the Economy Ministry recently made ambitious claims at the KL20 Summit 2024 for wanting “to establish one of the world’s premier startup ecosystems in Malaysia”, I think its minister Rafizi Ramli needs to first understand that having successful start-ups is not just about pouring in money.
You need people with the correct set of skills and mindset to support it from the ground up, especially if we are to compete head-on with rising competition from regional neighbours such as Indonesia and Vietnam.
This is where Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong comes in. The HR Minister should be overseeing the quality of our labour, right?

So, what happens to our labour force’s competitiveness and capacity if the quality of education drops? Will local and foreign investors alike still see Malaysia as a favourable investment destination when they can’t get the right people to add value to their businesses? Obviously, no.
If that is the case, obviously the Education Minister will need to fine-tune the education system and provide the necessary quality and quantity of graduates.
So, if the Ministry has been doing their job since back then, the World Bank report should not have sounded as it did, right? The reality is that a systemic issue of this magnitude is not an overnight issue.
It was a cumulative problem that would have started at least a decade ago. This begs the question, why was this issue not raised or addressed in the past?
And so finally this is where our PM comes into the picture. Aren’t you the top leader of our country?

If so, you really should be able to connect the dots and see the big picture – which if you do – you really need to pull your team so that they get their act together to sustain our economy. Or else, this is not going to bold well for the economy called “Malaysia Inc.”.
Forget about being a start-up hub. If things go on as they are, we need to press the re-start button!
At the end of the day, our ministers are like the top executives of our country with our PM like the CEO of “Malaysia Inc.”. This means everyone has to work together to make the organisation work since the outcomes of one department affects the other.
But when I see all of you busy with your own agendas and moving in multiple directions, I really don’t see how we are heading anywhere. There is no clear direction or destination in sight!
So, to PM a.k.a. CEO Anwar, we voted for you and your team to lead us towards a better future. If you and your team cannot even see the connection of such a critical educational issue on the future of our economy, can we even hope for more?
John Son
Petaling Jaya
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia

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