[mukto-mona] Fwd: Release - open letter to leaders of Muslim countries and Muslim organisations

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anwar.ib <anwar.ib@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Dec 29, 2013 at 9:08 PM
Subject: Fwd: Release - open letter to leaders of Muslim countries and Muslim organisations
To: Jamal Al Barzinji <barzinji@iiit.org>, Abdul Hameed Abu Sulayman <aabusulayman@yahoo.com>, Ahmad Totonji <ahmadtotonji@gmail.com>, "Dr. Hisham Al Talib" <haltalib@iiit.org>, "M. Yaqub Mirza" <mym@sterlingmgmt.com>, abubaker <alshing200@msn.com>, "<anas@iiituk.com>" <anas@iiituk.com>

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Anwar I." <anwaraddill@gmail.com>
Date: 30 December 2013 02:03:25 GMT+8
To: Anwar Ibrahim <anwar.ib@gmail.com>, Shukri Saad <shukri@dsaioffice.com>, Ibrahim Yaacob <ibrahim@dsaioffice.com>, Najwan <najwan@gmail.com>, Fahmi Ngah Dr <fahmi@dsaioffice.com>, Fahmi Fadzil <fahmi@keadilanrakyat.org>
Cc: Aasil Ahmad <aasil@discourseanalytics.com>
Subject: Release - open letter to leaders of Muslim countries and Muslim organisations

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PISA results and stark reality of Muslim countries

 

The results for the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that were presented in early December show that of the 10 countries that topped the performance, not one of them is a Muslim country. As a matter of fact, of the final results tabled, not one Muslim country was placed in the top 40.

Half a million pupils in 65 countries and local administrations were tested in the three core areas of mathematics, science and reading. Shanghai scored the best result with 613, followed by Singapore and Japan.

With the exception of Turkey which took the 43rd spot scoring the highestamong the Muslim countries followed by UAE, of the rest of the Muslim countries that took part such as Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Qatar, Jordan, Tunisiaand Indonesia, suffice it to say that they were placed within the bottom 50 and 60 jostling with Columbia, Peru and Albania for the award of worst performer!

Before anyone jumps the gun by blaming this OECD study as essentially biased and Eurocentric, let us be reminded the top three performers are Asian. It is indeed noteworthy that the results for 2012, 2010, and the 2009 Assessment showed that Shanghai students scored the highest in all categories.

According to the OECD, this study considers Shanghai a pioneer of educational reform, having transformed their approach to education. Instead of focusing merely on the elite, it appears they have adopted a more inclusive system. In other words, the democratization of access to quality education is a key factor.

Below is the table for the 2012 results:

Programme for International Student Assessment (2012)  (OECD members as of the time of the study in boldface)
Maths	Sciences	Reading
1  Shanghai, China 613 2  Singapore 573 3  Hong Kong, China 561 4  Taiwan 560 5  South Korea 554 6  Macau, China 538 7  Japan 536 8  Liechtenstein 535 9   Switzerland 531 10  Netherlands 523 11  Estonia 521 12  Finland 519 13  Canada 518 14  Poland 518 15  Belgium 515 16  Germany 514 17  Vietnam 511 18  Austria 506 19  Australia 504 20  Ireland 501 21  Slovenia 501 22  Denmark 500 23  New Zealand 500 24  Czech Republic 499 25  France 495 26  United Kingdom 494 27  Iceland 493 28  Latvia 491 29  Luxembourg 490 30  Norway 489 31  Portugal 487 32  Italy 485 33  Spain 484 34  Russia 482 35  Slovakia 482 36  United States 481 37  Lithuania 479 38  Sweden 478 39  Hungary 477 40  Croatia 471 41  Israel 466 42  Greece 453 43  Serbia 449 44  Turkey 448 45  Romania 445 46  Cyprus 440 47  Bulgaria 439 48  United Arab Emirates 434 49  Kazakhstan 432 50  Thailand 427 51  Chile 423 52  Malaysia 421 53  Mexico 413 54  Montenegro 410 55  Uruguay 409 56  Costa Rica 407 57  Albania 394 58  Brazil 391 59  Argentina 388 60  Tunisia 388 61  Jordan 386 62  Colombia 376 63  Qatar 376 64  Indonesia 375 65  Peru 368	1  Shanghai, China 580 2  Hong Kong, China 555 3  Singapore 551 4  Japan 547 5  Finland 545 6  Estonia 541 7  South Korea 538 8  Vietnam 528 9  Poland 526 10  Liechtenstein 525 11  Canada 525 12  Germany 524 13  Taiwan 523 14  Netherlands 522 15  Ireland 522 16  Macau, China 521 17  Australia 521 18  New Zealand 516 19   Switzerland 515 20  Slovenia 514 21  United Kingdom 514 22  Czech Republic 508 23  Austria 506 24  Belgium 505 25  Latvia 502 26  France 499 27  Denmark 498 28  United States 497 29  Spain 496 30  Lithuania 496 31  Norway 495 32  Italy 494 33  Hungary 494 34  Luxembourg 491 35  Croatia 491 36  Portugal 489 37  Russia 486 38  Sweden 485 39  Iceland 478 40  Slovakia 471 41  Israel 470 42  Greece 467 43  Turkey 463 44  United Arab Emirates 448 45  Bulgaria 446 46  Serbia 445 47  Chile 445 48  Thailand 444 49  Romania 439 50  Cyprus 438 51  Costa Rica 429 52  Kazakhstan 425 53  Malaysia 420 54  Uruguay 416 55  Mexico 415 56  Montenegro 410 57  Jordan 409 58  Argentina 406 59  Brazil 405 60  Colombia 399 61  Tunisia 398 62  Albania 397 63  Qatar 384 64  Indonesia 382 65  Peru 373	1  Shanghai, China 570 2  Hong Kong, China 545 3  Singapore 542 4  Japan 538 5  South Korea 536 6  Finland 524 7  Taiwan 523 8  Canada 523 9  Ireland 523 10  Poland 518 11  Liechtenstein 516 12  Estonia 516 13  Australia 512 14  New Zealand 512 15  Netherlands 511 16  Macau, China 509 17   Switzerland 509 18  Belgium 509 19  Germany 508 20  Vietnam 508 21  France 505 22  Norway 504 23  United Kingdom 499 24  United States 498 25  Denmark 496 26  Czech Republic 493 27  Austria 490 28  Italy 490 29  Latvia 489 30  Luxembourg 488 31  Portugal 488 32  Spain 488 33  Hungary 488 34  Israel 486 35  Croatia 485 36  Iceland 483 37  Sweden 483 38  Slovenia 481 39  Lithuania 477 40  Greece 477 41  Russia 475 42  Turkey 475 43  Slovakia 463 44  Cyprus 449 45  Serbia 446 46  United Arab Emirates 442 47  Thailand 441 48  Chile 441 49  Costa Rica 441 50  Romania 438 51  Bulgaria 436 52  Mexico 424 53  Montenegro 422 54  Uruguay 411 55  Brazil 410 56  Tunisia 404 57  Colombia 403 58  Jordan 399 59  Malaysia 398 60  Argentina 396 61  Indonesia 396 62  Albania 394 63  Kazakhstan 393 64  Qatar 388 65  Peru 384

 

 

Take-home lessons

 

If we take ourselves off the intellectual pedestal, let us ask what lessons we can take home from this study, apart from other indicators in different studies.

Firstly, there is no basis for the conventional argument that because Muslim students have to attend extra classes for religious studies over and above the routine academic lessons in the schools they have less time to study and prepare for exams and hence perform not as well as non-Muslim students. In Malaysia, for example, Chinese students who also attend extra classes for Chinese-based subjects over and above the national-type syllabus do just as well in both.

Pedagogy and quality of teaching

 

Finland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland were among the best of the European nations. Studies have shown that students from Finland produced very good results in various subjects when compared to students from the United States and other countries. This was attributed mainly to the fact that in Finland, the very best graduates are recruited to become teachers.

Also important is the question of content and curriculum, including pedagogy. The quality of teachers is a matter of concern. The teaching profession needs to be given greater priority by the state.  A proper incentive scheme must be introduced and to restore the profession to its earlier recognition. As it stands,apart from infrastructure constraints, Muslim countries suffer from a shortage of good teachers. But the issues should be more than that just a question ofmaterial resources.

Spending on education

 

The conventional belief that greater spending on education would yield better performance was also shown to be not always true. Thus, the analysis of the 2003 results showed that Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Japan and South Korea, which had spent less on education than the United States actually didbetter. While this should not be taken as an excuse to spend less on education,allocation of such funds for Muslim countries must be beefed up with the rider that the resources are to be spent effectively.

Governance

 

The issue of governance remains a serious problem in Muslim countries. For example, cases of misappropriation of funds allocated for poorer studentscontinue to be a source of embarrassment. Poor governance also breeds corruption which then leads to wastages and leakages. Where financial resources get mis-channelled or misused, schools suffer and students become victims.

Bad governance in the running of schools also impacts on the quality of teaching when for example school authorities haphazardly transfer teachers to other areas without considering the effect on both the teaching and the teachers themselves.

Confucian ethic

 

Yet another lesson is probably the obvious one considering that the top three performances are connected one way or the other to the Confucian model of learning. Surely, Muslim countries should be able to draw some lessons from this phenomenon. Muslim intellectuals worth their salt must get off their high horse and study the Confucian model, adapt it according to Muslim requirements, if need be, and start preaching a culture of diligence in the pursuit of knowledge. The defensive response about reminding people of Islam's glorious history of learning and advancements in science serves no purpose if all it does is encourage us to rest on past laurels.

Conclusion

 

While it is known that Muslim countries are facing a crisis in higher education, this study is significant in showing that even in the formative mid-secondary school stage, we are seeing a crisis of alarming proportions. The fact of the matter is that Muslim countries are occupying the bottom rungs in higher education and advancement in science and technology. The PISA results are therefore a precursor to worse things to come.

Failure to take immediate remedial action may lead to a deeper crisis. In this regard, we call on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take the lead in addressing this problem.

 

Anwar Ibrahim, 27th December, 2013

Sent from my iPad

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