Malaysia Education Policy Review: A Systems-Approach to Education Reform

27.09.2012Following a comprehensive review process, the draft of MalaysiasEducation Blueprint 2013-2025has this month been released with a total of 11 key areas for reform identified. The blueprint aims to produce students with six key attributes over a 13 year period and adopts at its heart, a systems-approach to education reform.With multiple perspectives gathered from government agencies, educationalists, academics, students and select international partners, including UNESCO, the approach has been described by the Malaysian Ministry of Education as ground breaking. The preliminary Blueprint is subject to further feedback from across the community before its finalization in December 2012.The Ministry hasstated that it reviewed the suggestions of all stakeholders involved and has integrated them into the Blueprint to inform a more holistic approach to identifying objectives and key areas for reform. For the transformation of the Malaysian education system to be effective and sustainable, each participant must understand the critical role they each play and the benefits that they will enjoy. It is envisaged that the programme defined in this Blueprint will lead to a collective set of desirable benefits, rights, and responsibilities for each group.For UNESCO, this review reflects a systems-approach to education. A systems-approach views the education sector as a system, which is a connected set of components that moves along in an interactive and interdependent manner to achieve certain results. In other words, as a system, education is part of a wider environment, and in turn is comprised of a myriad of subsystems. Policy interventions at one end of the system can fail if made in isolation and without consideration of other parts of the system.This systems-approach has been well-acknowledged in the establishment of the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025. As stated, The Ministry reviewed suggestions carefully, and integrated them into the Blueprint based on four criteria. Firstly, any action undertaken had to contribute to the system and student aspirations described above. This meant that initiatives that delivered one outcome at the expense of another, or that would lead to a different aspiration, were deprioritized.Each of the 11 key areas for reform identified will address at least one of the five cross-cutting system outcomes of access, quality, equity, unity, and efficiency, with quality as the common underlying focus across all areas. The review process identified the quality dimension to require the most urgent attention.This also reflects the findings of UNESCO during its comprehensiveMalaysia Education Policy Review (M-EPR). The UNESCO policy review identified the key strengths and challenges facing the Malaysian education system and provided recommendations to the Government for further consideration in its reform design. Overall report findings indicate remarkable progress in improving access, equity and quality in its education services.Not only is Malaysia on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education but will also be close to universal schooling in lower secondary education by 2015 a commendable achievement. Given Malaysias ambition to become a developed nation by 2020, the review found that Malaysia is challenged to improve further still and in particular, improve the quality of the education it provides.UNESCO, as the only UN agency with a sector-wide mandate in education, believes in the importance of systems perspective in education to improving access and quality in education and is committed to working with governments as they navigate the complex education sector web in their respective countries.For UNESCO Bangkok Director, Mr Gwang-Jo Kim, The Malaysian Education Policy Review has provided a great learning opportunity, not just in regards to the benefits of a systems-approach to education reform, but in the strengthened appreciation for the uniqueness of the Malaysian education system, for the distinctive strengths and challenges faced and the need for a suitably Malaysian flavour to any reform measure.For more information, please contact Ms Satoko Yano [s.yano(at)unesco.org]orMs. Rachel McCarthy [r.mccarthy(at)unesco.org] at theEducation Policy and Reform Unit.http://www.unescobkk.org/education/news/article/malaysia-education-policy-review-a-systems-approach-to-education-reform/