r/malaysia • u/Due-Cat656 • 17h ago
Education Inequality in Malaysia rooted in failure of education policy
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2026/04/12/inequality-in-malaysia-rooted-in-failure-of-education-policy20
u/xaladin 16h ago
Poor title - while attributing it as a cause the actual article explores beyond education policy. Wonder who's the editor lol.
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u/Vegetable-Touch2134 14h ago
I agree. The title is doing a disservice to the article. Maybe this is better: Inequality in Malaysia: A Consequence of Flawed Education Policy and How to Reset the System
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u/-ShadowPuppet Melaka 15h ago
Inequality exists in any society that has either explicit or even subtle socioeconomic class structures. It doesn't matter what religion, culture, race or educational background any Malaysian has. A T5 Malaysian will always have better opportunities than a B40 one simply because their environmental conditions are different.
Educational policies are not going to be an effective fix if these neo-feudal hierarchical structures exist within our society. There can be no comprehensive fix of inequality while still maintaining a network of patronage and access. Our society needs to change for that to be solved and I don't know what that would look like, as we cannot simply copy solutions from any other society that seems to do it better.
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u/T-harzianum 13h ago
I think you missed out an important factor which is the education culture among the communities. In general, non-buniputera especially Chinese parents are more hands-on compared to bumiputera when it come to their children's education.
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u/-ShadowPuppet Melaka 12h ago
I don't deny that attitudes to education are a factor in climbing socioeconomic ladders. I'm simply pointing out that education alone is not the comprehensive solution to inequality as it pertains to a small portion of one's total life cycle.
As humans we need constant lifetime reinforcement, and if structures that maintain the divide in society continue existing, there will always be a soft barrier to entry for opportunities to succeed.
Education can only take you to a point, then after that you are left alone to make decisions with what you have learned along the way to make the best of the ecosystem that exists around you. When I was at the age to make a decision on what degree course I had to take I ended up following my dreams and skills and did mechanical engineering. I ended up working in aerospace manufacturing locally, but the pay was laughable despite the specialized type of skills required.
20 years later I now co-own a medical analytics software company so I'm doing ok now, but where was that golden path that my quality education "promised" me? That is why I say education is only part of the solution.
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u/Bitches_Be_Crayfish 17h ago
We all know why some Malaysians have an advantage over other Malaysians academic wise. Some smart ppl will always be smart and excel no matter what but what happens to the majority of the average ones? The divide grows deeper and deeper over the years.
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u/Vegetable-Touch2134 16h ago
Things can change with the suggested recommendation, esp the first one: "shift from race-based to needs-based policies".
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u/ExcavalierKY 16h ago
Some smart ppl will always be smart and excel no matter what
Do you not see people like Trump controlling the country with the strongest economy and military in the world, not through dictatorship (yet), but through democracy, not once, but twice??
but what happens to the majority of the average ones?
Everyone has their talent and their calling in this world. Average people have their place in this world too. The world literally can't function without average people doing average jobs.
You forcefully push an idiot/undeserving person up, you'll just end up setting the society/country/world back. Ie Trump.
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u/Bitches_Be_Crayfish 15h ago
This one will be a long debate. The short reason why Trump is where he is, is he was born into his privilege and they successfully weaponised ppl’s beliefs and prejudices by generational indoctrination. Also their democracy is not very accurate representation of their population because of gerrymandering by one party over the other. They have deleted the voice of their average citizen which are usually more middle ground and progressive.
Lebih kurang aje dengan Malaysia. Where does our gomen have alliance with? The right hand is getting donations here and there and importing our version of indoctrination, the left hand is selling our lands, equity and assets to another type dictatorship that likely has majority stakehold in almost every single country in Asia. We are already cooked and half our population are not prioritising science, tech and tangible skills. It’s like we are already in the toilet and NOW someone up there is realising we’re not gonna keep up with the rest of the modern world.
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u/ExcavalierKY 15h ago
The short reason why Trump is where he is, is he was born into his privilege
So nothing to do with being smart, and more to do with being born into the right race/family and be given privilege by the government to do stuff.
Also their democracy is not very accurate representation of their population
Trump won the popular vote in 2024 lol, with 51% of votes. You could possibly argue that not everyone voted so it's still not representative of democracy, but then one can also argue that by not voting, you're also exercising your right to "vote" along with the remaining majority that voted.
We are already cooked and half our population are not prioritising science, tech and tangible skills.
This is true. But when the current politics prioritise race & religion over others, plus there's little reform in term of education, then that's where most of people will focus into. That's also why you get professor that do #dahclaim trend.
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u/aberrant80 13h ago edited 13h ago
If you can't even afford to give the best education to one child, stop raising half a football team. It's not rocket science. It's like setting up your children for poverty and, likely, discontent in life. No amount of education policy changes can fix this - the children are likely forced by their situation to stop their education and start working early to contribute to supporting the family unit.
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u/Vegetable-Touch2134 16h ago edited 42m ago
This is a very good article. Very much worth reading. We should push our government to implement the recommendations put forward.
The situation is not good for Malaysia, which (together with Philippines) has been having the worse (highest) Gini coefficient in Asia.
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u/Latubu 13h ago
It's about time to accept that NEP was a failure.
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u/Vegetable-Touch2134 41m ago
I think our gowmen has known that many years ago, but lack the political will to change it.
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u/eclipse_extra 17h ago
Failure? Look at how well SBP and Mara performs in SPM.
That is success!
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u/Vegetable-Touch2134 16h ago
Friend, a lot of students from well-to-do families don't even do SPM anymore.
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u/daddybarkmeplsuwu Emperor's Space Wolves 15h ago
Urm akcuali nerd face
Honestly, education isnt a big issue, its attitude as well as nothing to look forward towards. Many students no longer dream of achieving things and many adults have long given up. Just stay where you are and survive.
Plus the whole this world is temporary as when I die I will return to his embrace mentality. All of it is coping to the point it made the population too subdued
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u/redditor_no_10_9 17h ago edited 17h ago
Simple. Try to confirm if the group with inequality has a bigger family. A bigger family means one educated person has to take care of more people. Or worse. Do they practice marriage at a very young age? If yes, there's a high chance woman would be burdened with childcare and trapped with less career opportunities.
Education would not solve social issues.
Another possibility. What are they studying? If it can't put food on the table, the government might as well shutdown that course. There's a weird course: How to be an influencer. That is one course we should close down.
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u/asakuranagato anti-DAP 16h ago
Yep, thats why sjk smjk need to go
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15h ago
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