For the past week, Malaysians have been waiting for comments from the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on the poor results of Malaysian students in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 but he has disappointed Malaysians.
Since the world-wide publication of the TIMSS 2011 results on December 11, Muhyiddin had commented on everything under the sun except on TIMSS 2011 results showing unchecked plunge in the standards of mathematics and science for Malaysian students as compared to other countries – powerful testimony that Muhyiddin is neither committed nor interested in his first duty as Education Minister.
Only eight months ago, Muhyiddin shocked Malaysians claiming that the Malaysian education system is better than advanced nations on the ground that Malaysian youngsters are receiving better education than children in the United States, Britain and Germany.
But Muhyiddin’s claim has been debunked by TIMSS 2011, as in the test for eighth-grade students for mathematics, Malaysia is ranked No. 26 with a score of 440 out of 1,000, as compared to United States which is ranked No. 9 with a score of 509 while England is ranked No. 10 with a score of 507. For science, Malaysia is ranked even lower at No. 32 with a score of 426 as compared to England’s ranking of No. 9 with a score of 533 and United States’ 10th ranking with a score of 525.
Malaysia’s scores for both maths and science are below the international average, while the scores in both subjects for United States and England are above the international average. Continue reading “Quo Vadis Malaysian education system?”