Speaking in a closed-door session, former finance minister Daim Zainuddin expressed concerns about rot in the system and said kids were growing up unaware that corruption is wrong.
“He said we needed to fix the education system as it was an investment in the country,” another participant – who chose to remain anonymous – told The Malaysian Insight.
The event was organised with pressure group Malaysia Baru which was founded by Afif Bahardin, deputy youth chief of Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
Daim – who was finance minister from 1984 to 1991 and again from 1999 to 2001 – also pointed to Singapore as a shining example of a good education system, saying the nation has the best teachers and the best facilities.
Just days ago, a global study of 131 countries found Singapore performs the best in the world when it comes to pre-university education while Malaysia ranks a disappointing 38th.
However, the study wasn’t all bad news for Malaysia as the country came in 8th place when ranked on its education enabling environment and 15th place when ranked on school environment.
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