First of all, Al-Fatihah to Ismail Yaacob, Kelantan ADUN :( Takziah kepada keluarga…
Secondly, Jenice Lee’s two day remand is horrifying. Maybe more on that later.
Right now, I wanted to note that Muhyiddin could probably win an award for stupidest idea ever. The Star:
Students sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination may not be allowed to take as many subjects as they like in future to make the scholarship selection process fairer.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the Government might limit the number of subjects taken by students in the SPM for fairer Public Service Department (PSD) scholarship selection.
So this is his solution to the JPA scholarship crisis? By keeping people from achieving their full potential??
It’s almost like making people dumber to ‘level’ the playing field, which in turn, is about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
Worst of all, it does not solve the problem one teeny, little screwed up bit – except of course, on their damned political front. That problem = qualified students are not getting scholarships.
This way, the government only *looks* like it is solving the problem (since the max number of A’s are reduced), whereas in reality, the more qualified students are still not getting the aid they deserve.
Bullshit!!
The government not doing good job in allocation of scholarship but the students get punished.
They talk more then thinking. The more they talk the more rubbish they utter. This idea of the DPM clearly shows they do not think long term. Everytime they face a issue they just want have a short cut.
How dumb he and his ministry people can be.
I support sending kids to non-vernacular schools. But, with mentality like this leading the ministry, it won’t be surprising if more parents opt for vernacular schools. And to think a DPM would be the next in line to lead the nation …
Yeah, they all get really, really stupid the higher their position is in BN/UMNO!!
If they cannot solve the problem, they get rid of the source. In this case, suppresss smart students who can ahieve a lot more. Young people are not supposed to be smarter than the minister, so keep them down to his standard la… what freaking ridiculous suggestion!! Mayvbe we should just organise a students forum and tell him how it should be done, all the ministers must attend and just shut up and listen for once!
Another stupid idea from UMNO!! Satu lagi ide bodoh dari kerajaan UMNO!!
Muhyiddin is an IDIOT!
Typical BN mentality!
Just look for simple cometic solution instead of looking for the root problem and find a decent solution!
Always looking for the simple way out without thinking!
That’s BN for you!
Just set the minimum qualifying standard for all those applying for JPA scholarship, e.g. 9 1As in core subjects.
Put all those qualified through a test and interview.
At this stage, forget about the SPM results!!!
Simple solution practised in any countries.
I must say I am really surprised at the “wisdom” of our Education Minister!!!
Actually, Muhiyiddin has a point.
There’s a serious grade inflation problem in the SPM today. I don’t believe for a second that allowing students to take 13 or more subjects allows them to “reach their full potential”. Maybe the potential to collect many A’s but it’s meaningless, what do they learn except the skill of collecting apples?
We have an excessive number of A’s but whether these are quality A’s is a big question. We have quantity (many A’s) but no quality.
So I say rollback the number of subjects that a student can take, and make the SPM MUCH HARDER! Then we can see what’s left.
Personally I think students should not get manic-obsessive with how many A’s they can score. In this day and age, a brilliant student is not one who can merely memorise answers by the bookload. A brilliant student is one who can raise intelligent questions and points and who is ready to analyze and question that which she or he does not understand or agree to.
Unfortunately Malaysian children are discouraged from asking questions or debating issues. They are forced to just shutup and learn by heart whatever they are told to.
We need thinking students, not parrots.My apologies to the parrots.
What you expect from a racist aminoputra from a race based amino & be end party.
Malaysians are expected to accept a DPM’s idea as one who sits there is deemed to be wise, brilliant etcetc……..similarly like all govt agencies especially A’bove G’od; PIG[police insp general] just because they sit on that chair they are deemed to be smarter, brilliant and only their word stands…not even textbooks or statutes….God belasah[bless...ooopss] Malaysians.
A racist based party member it is not surprising coming from him.,
Go home and sell his Muar otak-otak.
it is nothing to do with the no of subjects taken.Everything is on the grading system.Do the A’s obtained really reflect the students potential. It is said that the passing marks for some science subjects go as low as 20.The total marks obtained by the students for each subject must be published .Then we can judge who deserves what.
Our smart Ed Minister has just given us a brilliant idea! What’s next? Maybe grading to consist only As…. A1, A2, A3….A9!?
Anyway, it just showed his racist mentality; trying to justify the awards to more bumis by using the quota system. If numbers of subjects allowed is reduced, then the bumis will have more chances getting the awards. Then oppositions will have no ground to shout abuse of system….
Where’s MCA?
What a stupid education minister !
else he does not deserve to be there, he should be with his cows right away, the worst education minister we ever got since 1957, what a moron bloddy fool ! go back to your kampong eat grass with your cows ! KAMPUNGAN EDUCATION MINISTER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks like another ‘Changing of goal-post” strategy.
Head I Win, Tail You Lose.
sang kancil,
ya. make SPM harder if too many ppl pass. do it like the professional body papers, raise the passing bar higher should there be too many students passing it.
on the second hand, why limit the number of subjects again? if the subject is already that hard to pass, naturally many students would want to take less papers. why stop those few students (remaining) who are really up to the challenge to take more subjects?
harder to pass and limit subjects, i dont see the relation.
What diference is there if JPA today and right now just select a few core or subjects and use them as qualifier? Not a damn difference because those students are getting A1s in those subjects anyway? So, how is limiting the number of subjects going to solve the problem? If students are so good as to get 18 A1s,what more limiting the no. to say 8? Muhi’s stupid solution is going to cause more problems than sovlving it. Look into the quality, not quantity, mr. education minister.
Trust Muhyiddin for stupid remarks, man. Since the day he assumed the office, I am astounded by his brainless comments. Amazing. Just amazing.
Educ Minister :These smart students are causing us a lot of problems every year. Must try to make them more stupid and see whether they dare to ask scholarships from again from next year onwards.
Muhiyiddin is right. Everybody should be subjected to a standardized exam. Only then we can know how good academically each of the students are.
In the current system, a student can take exams for up to 21 subjects in some school, while other students can only take exams for a limited number of subject in some other schools.
Muhyiddin indeed cannot be trusted to change UMNO. By saying that SPM students may not take more than a certain number of subjects, what he is doing in effect is changing the goal posts. His comments are aimed at the Chinese Malaysians in particular. He does not want non Malays to get PSD scholarships. Bloody f*ck! (excuse me).
Even the 30% equity removal are for foreign investors. Chinese Malaysians were never in their thoughts. May I ask, what the f*cked is MCA and Gerakan are doing about these continual slaps in their face? If they can get UMNO to change, maintain your ethnic dignity at least and get the hell out of that so-called Barisan.
This racially discriminating apartheidic UMNO will NEVER change. (You reaers really have to excuse my language)
I don’t understand why people like to use animal to describe people they disagree with . Why call someone a pig, does it help the situation.
I believe it makes it worse. Why call some one of a religion that deems pigs as dirty and unhygienic and haram a pig it is so rude. and it does not help the situation.
Please engage people in a civil manner.
I believe i free speech but to incite anger in internet smacks of irresposible behaviour.
Like our political leaders like LIM KIT SIANG ,
don’t call people a pig please it is so rude and it does not help solve the problem.
Why don’t average out marks for the subjects taken? If 18, divide by 18. If 10, divide by 10. Reward scholarship to those with higher average mark. We need students with “good As’ (high marks), rather than ‘As cukup makan’.
Students with 10As with the average mark of 97 are better than students with 20As with the average of 83.
he cut his feet so dat the feet can fit into the shoes. logical thinking.
[...] Read more at: http://jelas.info/2009/05/22/muhyiddins-moronic-solution-to-jpa-scholarship-crisis-make-everyone-dum... [...]
Some of you are rational in agreeing that it is a sound decision to cap number of subjects, and that quantity isn’t quality. As it is, I feel, our education system is self-deluding since our so-called straight As scorers may turn out to be so-so achievers should they go overseas, or just next door, to Singapore.
As for the rest, many sure hate the present regime. Given that many are upset over the mockery in Perak and the spate of arrests of those attending candlelight virgils, whatever good the government does, will simply not go down well with most people who will simply lash out.
At this rate, we are heading for more storms ahead.
How to compete in the world…? Lebeh baik balek kampung lah
He is right at some points,students that study at boarding school should be given an advantage,they are more responsible to be given scholarship.chinese should be brave enough to go to boarding school
Yes,this is simply a moronic idea from the DPM,its getting spooky to know this umnoputra will be PM next.! Its really dumb to curtail the students who wish to excel in their studies by taking the challenge to sit for more papers..if they are capable enough ..why stop them.?.the more brains the better for the progress of the country…but trying to bar this…the DPM is only making it easy for bumiputera to flood the JPA scholarship with their passes…and he will tell that the Malays are actually losing their seats to other races! Come on DPM.!!!..be more sensible ..and don’t be a clown..see the real situation now and solve it rather then making it more worst!!! We must move forward not backward!!!
Typical Malaysian “smart” solution. Past actions that have worked very well includes lowering the exam grades so that many more mediocre students can easily obtain 9As, and of course qualify for PSD scholarships!
In the 1970′s, I was the top MCE student in Pahang with “only” 7As. It looks like SPM students nowadays are much smarter with 9 0r even 21As !!!
I ,being not as smart as students nowadays, did managed to obtain a First Class Honours degree from a British University on MFO ( My Father’s Own ) scholarship.
I actually agree that the number of subjects should be capped. The fact that someone is capable of excellign in 16 subjects points less to his brilliance and more to the “watered-down” state of each subject. That being said, capping the number of solutions is obviously a poor excuse of a solution to the sorry mess that the JPA system is in.
Grade inflation is an obvious problem. How else are we capable of reporting increases in percentage of passes and high scorers YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR? Obviously, it serves only to pander to the notion that the government is doing “something right.” I really do think that the quality of an A1 today is much lower than that of an A1 scored in the 1980s.
It goes without saying that our education system rewards rote memorization and regurgitation, without teaching students independent thought and critical analysis.
In short, the entire system needs to be revamped. Not happening anytime in the next four years though …
Malaysia’s profile on the New York Times:
“Malaysia continues to build world-class highways and other physical infrastructure. But the quality of its universities and education system remains middling to poor.”
The only way to get rid of morons managing the country is a change of government in the next GE.
Mizan,
Chinese are NOT ALLOWED to go to these boarding school. It is by invitation only. The places are allocated to Malays only. Did you not know that???
Some of you have already pointed out about the low passing grades. It has been rumoured that there are different grading system for different districts since 30 years ago. Now, if that is indeed true, then it’s time to face the truth and standardise the grading system. It’s also time to evaluate the exam questions, are they also so often repeated in 3 years cycle that it’s so terribly easy to spot the questions? If so, then time to look at the syllabus and set more intelligent questions. Once the standards are set higher, only the real smart ones wil be able to score. And only they will be able to meet the challenge of taking multiple subjects.
Next, let’s look at the awarding of scholarships. My understanding is that scholarships are awarded based on merits to students from poor families. THis should be adhered to. The idea is to help those from poor background so that they in time, will be able to alleviate the economic status of their family. We need to spread that fund for those whose parents earn Rm800 or Rm1800 a month, not give to those whose father makes RM80,000 a month. I know for a fact that people in the last category also shamelessly fight for a scholarship.
We also have different type of scholarship given by the govt. How do we motivate all-round achievers and make role models to the other kids? Here’s where these special King’s or Queen’s or Petronas scholarship come in. Award them based on good grades + sports + co-curricular achievements + leadership qualities. We have a few of these brainiacs who deserves to go to Harward, Oxford and other top uni. They wil do Malaysia very proud. Just give them to these special kids. They don need to compete with the poor for JPA scholarship. IF they come from very rich families and turn down the scholarship, then they are truly the gems and will make great leaders. The govt should stil keep track of them and rope them in for jobs when they graduate.
I cannot understand why the cabinet all put together cannot solve this simple issue. It’s not that difficult, it’s only whether they are sincere to find a solution.
Nat,
maybe you can compile all the points and ideas given by your commentators and give the solution to our very confused Education Minister!
when you are prejudice, you become blind.
when students score 17As, 19As, 21As, you ridicule them and question their abilities.
when DPM wants to limit the no. of subjects to be taken, you call him names.
what the f… do you want?
From today’s The Star (my fav(!) newspaper):
British Council education director Peter Clack said some British universities were “put off” by the number of A’s which Malaysian students boasted about. “It is worrying to see that the academic side is seen as more important than the mental and emotional sides of education. Hence, parents put a lot of emphasis on the exam results. This should be discouraged in any way possible.”
Jerry Tan, general manager of education advisory body Studylink Sdn Bhd, agreed with Clack. “Foreign universities are sceptical about the number of A’s Malaysian students are achieving. The admission depends a lot on interviews,” he said.
I personally believe that the quality of our education has toppled over these past few years. the number of A’s that one scored on paper doesnt say much about the level of intelligence one has. so a student is able to memorize and reproduce the facts on paper, the real question is does the student really understand and able to grasp the very foundation of the fact that he/she just recited oh so cleverly? spm is getting easier and our children are encouraged to echo and resonate the facts delivered to them by the teachers. and when they enroll in universities, they’re suddenly expected to lose the parrots ensemble and be outspoken and inquisitive, something that have never really been practised in school. our education system has got to be revised, pronto.
[...] Once again, this subject cap gimmick not only prevents people from learning as much as they can and want too, it also is merely to save the government the embarrassment of not funding the real top scorers (and God alone knows why they haven’t, all these years). [...]