Alliance for a Safe Community hails PM’s acknowledgement of shortcomings in Malaysia’s education system
By Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, Chairman, Alliance for a Safe Community
KOTA KINABALU: The Alliance for a Safe Community welcomes the Prime Minister’s candid acknowledgement of weaknesses in our national education system.
Recognising these shortcomings is the first vital step towards genuine and lasting reform.
As I have said before, one of the main weaknesses lies in the system’s overemphasis on academic achievement while neglecting the inculcation of ethics, moral values, civic responsibility and good mental health development.
This imbalance has contributed to worrying behavioural issues among students, including indiscipline, bullying, violence, and a lack of empathy — problems that have increasingly surfaced in our schools.
Education must not only prepare students to pass examinations but also to become responsible, respectful, and caring citizens. Schools should be nurturing grounds for character formation, integrity, and compassion, not merely centres for academic competition.
To achieve this, our education reform must include:
Greater focus on moral and civic education at all levels;
Training and empowering teachers to serve as role models in values and ethics;
Integrating social and emotional learning into the curriculum; and
Involving parents and the community in shaping students’ behaviour and attitudes.
A long-term, depoliticised national education blueprint that balances academic excellence with moral strength and emotional intelligence is urgently needed.
Only by doing so can we build a future generation that is both intellectually capable and ethically grounded.
