# data[].attributes.body
Takeaways:
- What's happening in the MoE in general
- Debunking several uninformed perceptions I had regarding the MoE

If I were to be the Minister of Education:
- I would first try to bridge the gap between the proficiency level of English between urban and rural areas. Perhaps, this can be done via sending more experienced English teachers to the rural areas, having extra English classes for them etc. After all, we can only get good results this way if it's indeed a better choice in the long run to implement our education syllabus in English.

- I would also revamp what the teachers have to work on. For instance, it's really hard for them to focus on teaching the students AND preparing a quality lesson plan AND working on all the paperworks required, which often times aren't even useful in the first place. By giving the teachers more time to focus on actually teaching the students, we can hopefully improve the quality of education in Malaysia.

Message to Suet Li
Thank you so much for taking some time off your (very) hectic schedule to come talk to us :) Really appreciate all the knowledge regarding MoE, politics and education in general that you've shared with us. I personally feel that my awareness regarding this field really improved a lot!

# data[].attributes.body
Takeaways:
- To be more informed on government efforts before providing input
- Understanding the limitations of implementing a policy

As an Education Minister, I would:
- Review outdated policies and updating them to suit status quo
- Working on making the Education Ministry more transparent and welcoming of criticism (freedom of speech)
- Developing the Education System to becoming more inclusive. Eg: selection process that are purely based on merits or means-tested, not racial quotas. Removing the race, religion, gender, sexuality, etc. factor completely besides data collection purposes.

A question that I was recently thinking about that I didn't get to ask yesterday was in terms of sexual education in schools and if there is an ongoing effort or a future plan to promote it?

# data[].attributes.body
a) Takeaways
- Process of policy-making in education
- Bureaucracy of MOE
- The importance of being patient

b) If I become the minister in future, Create a education ecosystem which is harmony ( good initiative by the ministry to promote values such as mutual respect, happiness and love)

Reimagine the way we handle discipline cases in schools. Perhaps introduction of mindfulness or meditation instead of detention which could increase hate towards the system.

Introduce skills in schools- farming, coding, maybe can be included as a part of assessment since Ministry aims to create a balanced student,  physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.

Make parents accountable not only teachers- Enact a law where parents are obliged to attend school affairs meeting, PIBG etc, report card meetings to foster the relationship between parents and teachers.

Reduce teacher's burden- Being promised for ages but still yet to happen, ensure teachers focuses only on teaching, clerical work should be handled by respective school office.

Essence of my policy-making would be more towards changing the mindsets of community instead of transforming the system because when community change the way the think, the system transforms itself.

# data[].attributes.body
Takeaways:
Politics sometimes define policy, something that is not always a great thing

Minister Idea:
- Possibly forward a policy that encourages as much research as possible before implementing a policy, and have it to be accompanied by a period of time in which we expect when the results would show. Before that period arrives, unless there are some serious detrimental effects, we shall not take it back. (I'm pretty sure this won't work or too utopian, but I would like to hear why this is not a good idea to be honest)
- The pedagogy of our teaching is still the old banking method, possibly conducting research on how to implement a more diverse or interactive way of teaching. Making the pedagogy more dynamic, to consider the location and/or norms of the students there. This is more towards how we educate teachers, but funding the teachers also got to do with policies. (Right? I'm not sure, correct me if I'm wrong)

Questions
- How much research goes into implementing a policy? Do we use external data also? How does think tanks work into implementing the policy (KRI etc).
- You also mentioned something like looking at data from countries with amazing education (Sweeden, Singapore etc). How much does that affect our policy making in education? Would that research also take into consideration the difference in societal mentality when comparing our nation to those, or what other considerations that have might of been missed but really should be considered (diversity, race etc)?

# data[].attributes.body
Takeaways

# data[].attributes.body
a)Takeaways
-Good politics creates great nation
-Be responsible of what we're entitled for, vote when the time has come.

If I were to be a Education Minister.
I would make sure the effort on educating the students on how to manage the freedom is more than the initiative of giving the freedom to the youth. As we can see, the empowerment of youth is one of the aspect that is seen to be given with much attention, but its crucial for us to make sure that the youth know exactly how to make the best use of the freedom given itself.

# data[].attributes.body
Key Takeaways:
1) Implementing new educational policies is often a politicised process, and we need to combine both politics and education to make the changes we want to see.
2) Politics is "dirty" because people perceive it as dirty.

If I were Education Minister:
- Reinstate English as the main language of communications at schools, and to be used in Science and Math
- Further encourage comparative law to observe what other nations do, and assess what we can implement in Malaysia
- Further develop soft skills, practical skills (e.g. programming) > Exam-based theoretical assessment

# data[].attributes.headline
(a) Policies to introduce (b) Key takeaways

# data[].attributes.subject
(a) Policies to introduce (b) Key takeaways

# data[].attributes.body
(a)
School teachers must attend a self-development course annually so they will be updated with the latest teaching trends, improve their well being.

Introduce an IT club that will teach or enhance students' computer skills (programming, graphic design, Excel) - not just to ICT students. If IT clubs have already existed, then they should be given more attention in schools by revising the activities in clubs.

Mental health awareness week or day nationwide so students will be more exposed of mental health and ways to deal with it

(b)
Politics is not all that bad, must be able to look at the good side of it in order to make a better sense of what is being advocated. Diversity in the Malaysian government is very crucial.

# data[].attributes.body
a)
I would like to change the way lessons are conducted in schools. Teaching methods and syllabus that promote engagement, self-growth and social skills should be deemed necessary for all subjects. Other than that, I would also like to place more importance on co-curriculum activities.

Speaking from my own experience, other than the small group of bright, proactive students who naturally receive more attention in school and and also opportunities to develop themselves through co-curriculum activities, many Malaysian students have limited exposure and chances to enhance their social skills, out-of-school knowledge and explore non-traditional career pathways.

I believe that all kinds of talents should be valued, and the current education system is missing them out because of the lack of awareness and respect for occupations out of the "traditional, high pay" scope. Besides,  as I feel like education should not be all about academic performance, holistic education is significant for one's life long learning, personal growth and also to produce more future leaders for the nation .

b)
Before this session , I'm actually one of those who view Malaysia' political situation as a pool or stagnant water (which is not wrong in some ways). The current education is flawed in many ways, and that is why all of us should be aware of how much differences we could make (even in small steps) if we start doing something instead of just sitting there and complain.

# data[].attributes.body
a) Key takeaway
- Current government efforts/attempts
- Reality of the process to make law - not just the theory

b) If I become the minister, I would prioritise the efforts to amend the disparity of access to education between the B40 and the urban students. I would also mainly focus on uniting the students and eliminate segregation based on religion and race. I believe if we take proactive actions towards this, not only naturally the students will grow up feeling more patriotic, ultimately this will contribute and ingrain nation building interest (as everyone truly feels belonged and accountable to the nation's progress), this will also be an indirect alternative way to solve the civics issue.

Education system is one of the earliest system that a children is accustomed with. Hence, if a child is more familiar to being surrounded with one race only, it is only natural and inevitable that they will be more comfortable being surrounded to that particular race when they grow up. Might be a bold move, and an unpopular move even. But I dream of a day where in a room, there will be no apparent groups of race sitting together and everyone just sits together as Malaysians. This can be seen not only in private institutions (uni, golf clubs, events), but also public institutions. More representation and diversity is needed.

I would also focus on making more opportunities for the students in rural area and FELDA students as I believe they deserve more and they are more vulnerable. This includes urban B40 youths as well. More opportunities to fill their time with, ie getting them into sports and leadership programmes.

There should be a policy making it compulsory for the teachers to organise more out of class activities such as more trips out of school, not only science (the planetarium, bird park etc) and art places (national art museum) but also religious buildings (mosque, temple etc) to expose them to our immense diversity in race and religions that will create more sense of nation unity and subsequently spark interest to learn, search and read beyond than the syllabus in the books. Also, a curricular that encourages volunteering, could be as simple as a trip to a pet rescue centre as this will overall teach invaluable values within the kids and encourage growth overall.

c) Message to Suet Li - Thank you for spending your time with us! It was interesting to hear the government's current efforts and perspective from the lense within the system.

# data[].attributes.body
Key Takeaways:
- Be politically active and understand why certain policies are implemented rather than judging without knowing the actual facts.
- Diversity should be practiced in the system.

If I was the Education Minister,  I would abolish the examination system. Personally, I think exams are  meant to test our memory. A child's ability can't be judged by the score of a test. A child who has the ability to memorize the topics has the probability of scoring well at the exam and it doesn't define if he/she understands the topics. That demonstrates that examinations are futile. In return , I would reduce the number of students in a classroom and coach the teachers to prepare and provide effective and purposeful material for students to enhance their understanding.
I would insist more hours of hands on activity and they would be provided with every possible knowledge and materials. Teachers would be trained by the expertise for this purpose as this will lead to better and quality education in Malaysia. Although I know that putting this into reality is hard and it might cost in a lot, If I become a minister , I would put this into consideration and evaluate the costing and subtract the unnecessary.

# data[].attributes.body
(marissa)

- The importance of being politically active, government/ public policy is a viable way of creating change.
(I guess this criticised existing assumptions I had and increased the sense of accountability I have)
- Bureaucracy etc. associated with working in the civil service can be frustrating but there are wins
- Diversity needs to be increased
- The public needs to be more patient with policies

If I was the education minister
(all these are easier said than done haha)

- I would allow proper freedom of speech, no suppression of opinions (e.g. palm oil play)

- I would try to implement classes to increase a sense of national unity, increase understanding of different cultures, help with nationbuilding etc. (e.g. perhaps the Mosaic schools and their classes could be championed by the government

- I would try to decrease the focus on exams by instilling/ training/ hiring teachers who see the value in teaching values and other life skills

- I would revamp the assessment system such that it is less theory based and more grounded in context