Article from UK's Independent newspaper of 1st July 2008:
"Ministers are trying to persuade more youngsters to take up "Stem" subjects - science, technology, engineering and maths.
A-levels in maths and science are far harder than in subjects like media studies, large-scale research commissioned by the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society has found. The findings put a question mark both over the value of A-level grades and the UCAS points system, which determines university places for thousands of students every year. UCAS gives the same point score for every subject.
An analysis of 250,000 A-level results from 2006 by researchers from Durham University reveals that a pupil would be likely to get a pass two grades higher in "soft" subjects – such as general studies, business studies or even English – than in maths and science.
The researchers conclude that "from a moral perspective, it is clear this is unfair". They warn that scores of students may miss out on university because they have chosen a harder subject.
The study follows years in which experts have disagreed over the relative difficulties of subjects. Ministers are trying to persuade more youngsters to take up "Stem" subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – at university level to provide the skills the UK needs.
While some universities take note of subjects studied by applicants and even have a list of "soft" subjects which preclude them from entry, many simply say they are looking for youngsters with a minimum Ucas points score.
The study says claims by the Government and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority that "there is no such thing as an easy or hard A-level are no longer reassuring if they ever were".
The researchers looked at the predicted grades of every pupil for the 2006 age cohort upon their arrival at school, ie a youngster could be predicted as capable of three grade Bs. They then compared that to the grades they achieved in individual subjects and found a pattern emerging of much higher grades in subjects like psychology and media studies than maths and science. The researchers believe their findings explain why fewer pupils take science and maths A-levels than a decade ago – and that schools encourage youngsters to opt for softer subjects so they do well in exam league tables.
Their findings reveal a similar situation at GCSE level.
The researchers say: "Stem subjects are not just more difficult on average than non-science subjects. They are without exception the hardest A-levels."
Professor Michael Reiss, director of education at the Royal Society, said: "The worry is that some students are put off taking maths and science A-levels because it is harder to get a good grade in them. Anything that distracts students from taking these subjects is really bad news."
David Sandford-Smith, head of pre-19 education at the Institute of Physics, called for Ofqual, the new exams regulatory body, to audit A-levels annually to assess differences between subjects.
The hardest - CHEMISTRY 0.96PHYSICS 0.95GENSTUDIES 0.87BIOLOGY 0.81MATHS 0.52FRENCH 0.51GERMAN 0.50HISTORY 0.24"
The easiest - FILM STUDIES -1.79MEDIA -1.00PHOTOGRAPHY -0.82DRAMA -0.70ENG LANG -0.43ENGLISH -0.43ENG LIT -0.30GEOGRAPHY -0.13
29 June 2010
Are Malaysian Universities Creating International World Class Professionals?
Its not only the way a course is taught between local and overseas universities that is different, its the lack of facilities. Way back in the early eighties, I did a mechanical engineering degree in a polytechnic in London. We had unrestricted daily excess to mini computers (Prime computers) with dumb terminals and we were taught how to use CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing) programs for engineering design and manufacturing.
Fast forward to 10 years later in Petaling Jaya, during a careers fair at Malaya University, I went to talk to some students at the Engineering booth and to my shock and horror, found out that they had very little access to or had almost no CAD/CAM experience. In fact, they bitterly told me that they had to pool their money together to buy their own PCs to learn programming (Fortran and the like) because they hardly any access to computers at the university. They didn't know how to use a computer to draw engineering designs or for manufacturing! They were still drawing their designs manually.
10 years previously, we had learned how to draw designs manually but it was supplemented with computers. Our lecturers told us that they could have us use computers totally to draw our designs but they wanted us to have the ability to do both! And not just to rely on one method. Further, we also learn to make tools manually by using old machine tools because they wanted us to know what was physically possible to make and what was not. It was a good blend of the old with the new.
Some time later, during a live radio interview with the secretary of the Malaysian Institute of Engineers, I managed to call in and ask him why was it that engineering students at our so-called premier university did not have the computer access and training that I had 10 years previously in the early eighties in London. His stupid reply was that we are training local engineers for local standards and environment.
So, an admission that our local students were not trained to compete with overseas international engineering standards and quality. When I told some senior engineers about this, they were absolutely pissed because it meant that we were not advancing and improving. The mildest word they used for him was stupid. Mind you, these engineers were all trained overseas, the majority in UK and they confirmed that local engineers were not on par with those trained overseas.
This was in the early 1990s. Has the situation improved almost 20 years later in 2010? Does anybody know? Does anybody care?
Fast forward to 10 years later in Petaling Jaya, during a careers fair at Malaya University, I went to talk to some students at the Engineering booth and to my shock and horror, found out that they had very little access to or had almost no CAD/CAM experience. In fact, they bitterly told me that they had to pool their money together to buy their own PCs to learn programming (Fortran and the like) because they hardly any access to computers at the university. They didn't know how to use a computer to draw engineering designs or for manufacturing! They were still drawing their designs manually.
10 years previously, we had learned how to draw designs manually but it was supplemented with computers. Our lecturers told us that they could have us use computers totally to draw our designs but they wanted us to have the ability to do both! And not just to rely on one method. Further, we also learn to make tools manually by using old machine tools because they wanted us to know what was physically possible to make and what was not. It was a good blend of the old with the new.
Some time later, during a live radio interview with the secretary of the Malaysian Institute of Engineers, I managed to call in and ask him why was it that engineering students at our so-called premier university did not have the computer access and training that I had 10 years previously in the early eighties in London. His stupid reply was that we are training local engineers for local standards and environment.
So, an admission that our local students were not trained to compete with overseas international engineering standards and quality. When I told some senior engineers about this, they were absolutely pissed because it meant that we were not advancing and improving. The mildest word they used for him was stupid. Mind you, these engineers were all trained overseas, the majority in UK and they confirmed that local engineers were not on par with those trained overseas.
This was in the early 1990s. Has the situation improved almost 20 years later in 2010? Does anybody know? Does anybody care?
28 June 2010
Malaysia, The Preferred Tourist Destination For Ex-Malaysians
I'm curious to find out how many people replying or reading this blog are Malays or non-Malays. Presumably, I would think that most if not all the replies are non-Malays but it would be useful to know if Malays are also reading this blog and their views on it. An interesting fact is that for some years now, the majority of migrants to Australia before they tightened their rules were Malays, not non-Malays! This from the Australian embassy in KL and which would seem to go against the accepted belief that only non-Malays are leaving Malaysia.
However, if the Brain Drain keeps going on, perhaps in a generation or less, Malaysia would really become a Tanah Melayu only, with the brightest and best non-Malays and Malays leaving for a better fairer less racist life overseas. Well, I suppose Malaysia could always concentrate on becoming a preferred tourist destination for ex-Malaysians seeking to enjoy Malaysian food and shopping!
However, if the Brain Drain keeps going on, perhaps in a generation or less, Malaysia would really become a Tanah Melayu only, with the brightest and best non-Malays and Malays leaving for a better fairer less racist life overseas. Well, I suppose Malaysia could always concentrate on becoming a preferred tourist destination for ex-Malaysians seeking to enjoy Malaysian food and shopping!
Malays in Malaysian Public Universities
Excerpt from The Time Higher Education Supplement (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=407545) dated 30 July 2009. Interesting reading for students in Malaysia.
"In 2000, the country had 16 universities and 15 polytechnics. By 2008, it had 35 universities, 37 polytechnics and 24 university colleges. Over the same period, student numbers rose from 664,000 to 873,000.
However, the report adds that Malaysia's public universities face problems. Positive-discrimination policies instituted in the early 1970s to support the native ethnic-Malay majority have led to race-based admissions quotas in public universities. This has meant that "universities have had to accept some Malay students even if technically they are not of the required standard", the report says.
In addition, "a sense of entitlement has bred complacency among Malay students", affecting their employability - there were 60,000 unemployed public university graduates in 2007.
The report adds that "Malaysia's public university system has been crippled by space constraints, a lack of financing and poor quality".
These problems have encouraged students to seek university courses outside the public sector - either abroad or among the growing ranks of private institutions at home.
The report says: "The UK is ... considered the most prestigious destination for Malaysian students. Much of this is owing to a cherished colonial legacy.
"The UK university 'brands' are more highly regarded than Australia's or even most of those of the US."
"In 2000, the country had 16 universities and 15 polytechnics. By 2008, it had 35 universities, 37 polytechnics and 24 university colleges. Over the same period, student numbers rose from 664,000 to 873,000.
However, the report adds that Malaysia's public universities face problems. Positive-discrimination policies instituted in the early 1970s to support the native ethnic-Malay majority have led to race-based admissions quotas in public universities. This has meant that "universities have had to accept some Malay students even if technically they are not of the required standard", the report says.
In addition, "a sense of entitlement has bred complacency among Malay students", affecting their employability - there were 60,000 unemployed public university graduates in 2007.
The report adds that "Malaysia's public university system has been crippled by space constraints, a lack of financing and poor quality".
These problems have encouraged students to seek university courses outside the public sector - either abroad or among the growing ranks of private institutions at home.
The report says: "The UK is ... considered the most prestigious destination for Malaysian students. Much of this is owing to a cherished colonial legacy.
"The UK university 'brands' are more highly regarded than Australia's or even most of those of the US."
A Malaysian in the National University of Singapore
From the Education in Malaysia blog, an excerpt which was itself taken from an American education journal:
"After graduating from medical school in Canada in the 1970s, Eng Hin Lee was eager to return home. The young Malaysian doctor wanted to be closer to his family, and he was tired of the harsh Canadian winters that never seemed to end. He also missed the simple pleasures of home, such as eating Chinese dim sum, which means "to touch the heart."
Dr. Lee knew that Malaysia, a young country hobbled by poverty, could not match the opportunities and salaries paid abroad. But he felt strongly that there was a place for him there. So the young doctor packed his bags and moved home.
I wanted to go back to help," says Dr. Lee. Yet when he returned it became obvious it would be difficult to pursue his research goals. Biomedical science in Malaysia was in its nascent stage. Labs were pitifully equipped. There was no significant scientific environment in which to grow or contribute.
After two frustrating years, he packed his bags again. But it wasn't because of the money. It wasn't because of the labs. Dr. Lee, who is ethnically Chinese, did not feel welcome in his own country. Racial policies that had been put in place while he was away made it clear to him that he would never advance.
It was obvious you wouldn't get very far if you weren't the right race," says Dr. Lee. Today he works at the National University of Singapore, where he is in charge of a huge lab that is conducting cutting-edge research in stem-cell biology. Dr. Lee, an orthopedic surgeon, leads a team of top scientists culled from all over the world.
Having come here I think I made the right choice," says Dr. Lee, referring to Singapore's premier teaching hospital. In Malaysia, "I probably would not have become a head of department and dean of the Faculty of Medicine."
"After graduating from medical school in Canada in the 1970s, Eng Hin Lee was eager to return home. The young Malaysian doctor wanted to be closer to his family, and he was tired of the harsh Canadian winters that never seemed to end. He also missed the simple pleasures of home, such as eating Chinese dim sum, which means "to touch the heart."
Dr. Lee knew that Malaysia, a young country hobbled by poverty, could not match the opportunities and salaries paid abroad. But he felt strongly that there was a place for him there. So the young doctor packed his bags and moved home.
I wanted to go back to help," says Dr. Lee. Yet when he returned it became obvious it would be difficult to pursue his research goals. Biomedical science in Malaysia was in its nascent stage. Labs were pitifully equipped. There was no significant scientific environment in which to grow or contribute.
After two frustrating years, he packed his bags again. But it wasn't because of the money. It wasn't because of the labs. Dr. Lee, who is ethnically Chinese, did not feel welcome in his own country. Racial policies that had been put in place while he was away made it clear to him that he would never advance.
It was obvious you wouldn't get very far if you weren't the right race," says Dr. Lee. Today he works at the National University of Singapore, where he is in charge of a huge lab that is conducting cutting-edge research in stem-cell biology. Dr. Lee, an orthopedic surgeon, leads a team of top scientists culled from all over the world.
Having come here I think I made the right choice," says Dr. Lee, referring to Singapore's premier teaching hospital. In Malaysia, "I probably would not have become a head of department and dean of the Faculty of Medicine."
Brain Drain or Brain Gain for Malaysia
What do YOU think of Prime Minister's Najib current proposal and efforts for a Brain Gain for Malaysia?
Do you think Malaysia will manage to attract back those who migrated or are working overseas, and who have the skills, qualifications or talents that Malaysia desperately needs to become a developed country? Would it succeed where other past efforts fail? I don't think so! Only those who are not doing well overseas would want to return to Malaysia. Those who are successful would not want to return to Malaysia for lower pay, lower position, lower status, and most of all, to be discriminated at if they are non-Malay, non-Bumiputera or non-Muslim.
A few years ago, during Pak Lah's efforts to attract brain gain, the Human Resource Minister was asked how many Malaysians had returned under the then Brain Gain programme and how many had stayed on. The reply was that 300 returned to Malaysia under the programme but 299 subsequently returned overseas! Proves my point.
Do you think Malaysia will manage to attract back those who migrated or are working overseas, and who have the skills, qualifications or talents that Malaysia desperately needs to become a developed country? Would it succeed where other past efforts fail? I don't think so! Only those who are not doing well overseas would want to return to Malaysia. Those who are successful would not want to return to Malaysia for lower pay, lower position, lower status, and most of all, to be discriminated at if they are non-Malay, non-Bumiputera or non-Muslim.
A few years ago, during Pak Lah's efforts to attract brain gain, the Human Resource Minister was asked how many Malaysians had returned under the then Brain Gain programme and how many had stayed on. The reply was that 300 returned to Malaysia under the programme but 299 subsequently returned overseas! Proves my point.
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