Can we have equal education for all in Malaysia?

I have always wondered why parents (and even many students) in Malaysia are obsessed about getting into the right schools so that their children can get the best education.

They pressure their children to get good grades so they can get into schools like fully-residential schools (SBP) and MRSMs (Mara Junior College).

Some even go to the extent of faking their addresses so their children can get into their choice of non-boarding schools that are not in their living vicinity.

Even my parents did the same for my brothers and I. They didn’t fake our address, but they did make sure we got into the “best” schools – I even had to go to a fully-residential school.

Why I’m raising this issue is not because I think parents shouldn’t want their children to go good schools. Of course they should, and so should their children.

My real intention is to ask why there should even be a difference in the quality of schools all around the country. Shouldn’t public education be equal and standard for all?

Why is it that the best teachers are sent only to certain schools like the bestaris, SBPs and MRSMs instead of being spread throughout the country?

Why are only certain schools given better allocations to develop their infrastructure and resources for the benefit of the students and teachers instead of every single school?

Why is PPSMI (Science and Mathematics in English) stopped in public schools but the IGCSE (Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education) offered in MRSMs?

I completed my Form 5 in an SBP and every single one of us had to take the English 1119 paper (GCE O-level English) and two years of preparation classes for it.

None of my friends who were in the ordinary public secondary schools had the option to take that paper in school (they were, of course, able to take it outside privately).

So why is the education system in Malaysia in such a state that there is a double standard for different schools? Is it because there is a double standard for different Malaysians?

And who actually determines the education policy for the country? Does the Education Ministry do it on its own or is the public given a chance to express itself?

Education is an important element in the development and progression of the country. It is where the youth are enhanced so that the future is determined.

And that responsibility lies on the adults of today and the elected leaders of today. So I say that there should be equal education for all in Malaysia.

People in Ranau, Sabah should have the same quality of education as those in Sarikei, Sarawak and even those in Arau, Perlis and Segamat, Johor. Nobody gets left behind.

Who are we to determine who gets more education than another? But now, yet another questions arises: are we capable of maintaining the same level of education consistently throughout? – January 16, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.