PROBLEMS CONFRONTING MALAY FAMILIES AND STUDENTS

Mr Zulkifli bin Baharudin asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider carrying out a comprehensive survey to determine the various problems confronting Malay families and students and to determine appropriate programmes to help the community cope with these problems.

RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Malay Students Have Done Well Educationally

Malay students have made considerable progress in academic achievement over the years. This is evidenced by their results in major national examinations, the higher Malay participation in post-secondary education, and their performance in international studies:

(a) In terms of national examinations - The percentage of the Malay P1 cohort passing Mathematics at `O' level, has increased almost three-fold in the last 18 years, from 10% in 1980 to 39% in 1997, while the pass rate in Science has risen by three times in the same period, from 12% to 36%;

(b) In terms of participation rate in post-secondary education - The percentage of Malay students who have gone on to post-secondary education - ie, either pre-university, polytechnics or ITE - has risen from 42% in 1988 to 75% in 1998.

(c) In terms of international comparisons - Our Malay students fared better in Mathematics at the P3, P4, Secondary 1 and Secondary 2 levels, than students in countries such as the US, Canada, England, New Zealand in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study.

The academic indicators show that our Malay students have made significant strides. These improvements show that the efforts made by MOE, the Malay/Muslim self-help groups and other community-based organisations have achieved a measure of success in addressing the educational issues facing the Malay/Muslim community. Of course, there is always room for improvement.

The Malay/Muslim self-help groups have been very pro-active in studying such issues. Indeed, on 29th January 1999, the Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs, Mr Abdullah Tarmugi announced an initiative to study how the Malay/Muslim community should respond to the challenges of a knowledge-based economy. MOE will certainly assist in such studies if we are requested to do so.