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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

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



Excellent article. I only hope that Muslim countries do listen and act accordingly. But is is a forlorn hope.

- Dr A Rahman

From: Ahmad Totonji <ahmad.m.totonji@gmail.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, 6 January 2014, 17:04
Subject: [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


Page | 3
 
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
573
3
 Hong Kong, China
561
4
560
5
554
6
 Macau, China
538
7
536
8
535
9
531
10
523
11
521
12
519
13
518
14
518
15
515
16
514
17
511
18
506
19
504
20
501
21
501
22
500
23
500
24
499
25
495
26
494
27
493
28
491
29
490
30
489
31
487
32
485
33
484
34
482
35
482
36
481
37
479
38
478
39
477
40
471
41
466
42
453
43
449
44
448
45
445
46
440
47
439
48
434
49
432
50
427
51
423
52
421
53
413
54
410
55
409
56
407
57
394
58
391
59
388
60
388
61
386
62
376
63
376
64
375
65
368
 
1
 Shanghai, China
580
2
 Hong Kong, China
555
3
551
4
547
5
545
6
541
7
538
8
528
9
526
10
525
11
525
12
524
13
523
14
522
15
522
16
 Macau, China
521
17
521
18
516
19
515
20
514
21
514
22
508
23
506
24
505
25
502
26
499
27
498
28
497
29
496
30
496
31
495
32
494
33
494
34
491
35
491
36
489
37
486
38
485
39
478
40
471
41
470
42
467
43
463
44
448
45
446
46
445
47
445
48
444
49
439
50
438
51
429
52
425
53
420
54
416
55
415
56
410
57
409
58
406
59
405
60
399
61
398
62
397
63
384
64
382
65
373
 
1
 Shanghai, China
570
2
 Hong Kong, China
545
3
542
4
538
5
536
6
524
7
523
8
523
9
523
10
518
11
516
12
516
13
512
14
512
15
511
16
 Macau, China
509
17
509
18
509
19
508
20
508
21
505
22
504
23
499
24
498
25
496
26
493
27
490
28
490
29
489
30
488
31
488
32
488
33
488
34
486
35
485
36
483
37
483
38
481
39
477
40
477
41
475
42
475
43
463
44
449
45
446
46
442
47
441
48
441
49
441
50
438
51
436
52
424
53
422
54
411
55
410
56
404
57
403
58
399
59
398
60
396
61
396
62
394
63
393
64
388
65
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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