More than half of Malaysian adults believe the country's education system is comparable to that of other countries

I guess we can rejoice with the statement from the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that more than half of Malaysian adults believe the country's education system is comparable to that of other countries. This fact was gleaned from a survey by Introspek Asia which also mentioned that 35% of those surveyed said the education system was better than that of developed countries. What was more interesting was the finding in the survey that a large majority (90%) of Malaysian adults agree that our education system standard are “comparable, better or much better” than the developed countries.

Does the finding have any connection to the sampling and methodology? The sample follows the information given by the Statistics Department, based on the 2010 census. The correspondents who who were below 30 years old made up 32.4% of the sample. The education level of those in the sample who had a secondary education (SPM) and below comprised 85.3%. and those with a household income RM3,000 and below made up 73.2% of the correspondents.

Can I also conclude that those with lower levels of education and income were the majority who agreed that our education system is “comparable, better or much better” than the developed countries. Statistics can be funny sometimes when we see it from a different perspective. All those facts and figures can be added and subtracted according to what we want to present to the public. The conclusion will always fit the pre-conceived notions or view when we do it in such a manner.

It is interesting indeed when we have been regaled recently on how much better our education system is compared to others especially the developed countries. I will take a pinch of salt and believe that it is true but does reality reflect that better education system?

Image from muslim-women-exposed