Enhancing The Role of Private Sector in Education - Part 2

Enhancing The Role of Private Sector in Education
M. Bakri Musa

[Second of Six Parts]

[In Part One, I emphasized the importance of getting the widest possible
input in formulating a policy. Then when the policy is adopted , to
start with small and manageable pilot projects to iron out the inevitable
kinks, get feed back from the participants, and strengthen the weaknesses,
and make the needed modifications. In this second part I discussed the
rationale for private sector participation in education. MBM].
The Rationale For Private Sector Participation
Education, specifically the language of instruction in its institutions,
is a highly politically-charged issue in Malaysia, as with any plural
society. America for example still grapples with how best to integrate
through its schools the children of minorities. Until recently Canada had
to contend with its own English-French language rivalry.
While education can be a divisive issue in a plural society, ironically
when creatively handled it could serve as an important instrument for
social integration. For Malaysia, it is critical that educational
institutions should serve this important function and not be satisfied
merely with their traditional role American public schools have been
remarkably successful, at least until recently, in integrating its
various immigrants into the mainstream. Perversely, Malaysian schools
during colonial rule, specifically the English language ones, were more
successful in this integrating role than our current national schools.
Failure in this crucial role would result in a society that is highly
educated but deeply divided; another Northern Ireland. The increasing
polarization along racial lines that we see in Malaysia today is
attributed in part to the failure of our schools and universities to play
this important role of social integration.
Education in Malaysia has the added burden of being an important cultural
symbol. The emotional and political significance of that cannot be
lightly dismissed, for both can be overriding and at times overwhelming.
The consequence is that Malaysian education has, since independence, been
under the tight control of the central government, with the private
sector playing only a peripheral role. Recent moves towards
liberalization may have altered the details of the landscape, but the
underlying theme remains. As a result the full potential of the
contributions of the private sector has yet to be realized.
The move to co-opt the private sector in helping the nation become an
"educational hub" has less to do with educational objectives but more
with economics: the earning and preserving of valuable foreign exchange.
Consequently the ensuing discussions rarely if ever focused on first
elevating the quality of education.
If we concentrate on enhancing the quality of our education, foreigners
would pay premium dollars to attend our institutions, thus contributing
to our foreign exchange. At the same time our students would make our
colleges and universities their first choice instead of looking abroad,
thus preserving valuable foreign exchange. The economic objectives would
thus have been met.
As I see no major policy shift in the near future, Malaysian public
universities will continue to be under heavy government control, making
them unlikely to shine. They will continue to suffer the same sorry
decline afflicting all our public institutions. So do not expect our
public schools and universities to lead us to greatness. Recent angst on
the state of our public universities supports my contention.
Consequently private universities, colleges and schools, freed as they are
from governmental micromanagement, would be our only salvation. Hence the
need to nurture them! For them to make their proper contributions
however, they must be freed from governmentally-imposed barriers. Private
institutions do not necessarily need government support – although that
would help – rather we need to rationalize their role so they could play
a more positive part.
A major stumbling block is to overcome the current mindset that views the
private sector as an unwelcome competitor instead of accepting its
legitimate role of complementing public institutions. Our officials still
have that old "zero-sum" mentality, viewing the private and public sectors
as two candles, one trying to outshine the other. They expend their
efforts not on making their own candle shine brighter but on snuffing out
the other. As a result what we have today are two dim candles. The
challenge is on making both candles shine brightly so together they would
brighten the nation.
I liken the private and public sectors to the Petronas Twin Towers, each
block enhancing the appearance as well as capacity of the complex as a
whole. Unlike the Twin Towers however, we should have not one but many
levels of interconnecting bridges between our public and private
educational institutions so students could seamlessly move from one to
the other.
Rationalizing the role of the private sector is not merely to increase the
number of private institutions rather in having quality ones that would
meet the needs and aspirations of a modern Malaysia.
The increase in the number of private educational institutions that we see
today may not necessarily reflect a healthy development. On the contrary,
that may be the consequence of the sorry state of our public
institutions. Singapore does not have many private schools and colleges
simply because their public ones are so superior. The National University
of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University are such quality
institutions that mediocre private universities would not have a chance
competing against the two; likewise with its schools. Even international
schools there do not have a waiting list.
Similarly in oil-rich Alberta, Canada; there are few private schools for,
as the Economist rightly noted, even rich Albertans send their children
to public schools. Their public schools are that good!
Malaysia is ahead of many developing countries in recognizing that the
government is not the only entity capable of providing basic public goods
and services. However it is only recently that this realization is being
applied to the education sector.
The advantages to private sector participation are obvious. With the
private sector partially bearing the load, the demand on the public
sector would thus be lighter, enabling the government to provide even
better services. This is especially true for a developing nation where
resources are scarce and the demand heavy. In a developed country where
the citizens are sophisticated and likewise their educational needs,
there is no way the government could meet them. In this situation, the
nimbleness and flexibility of the private sector come in handy.
Malaysia is in between, with a sizable population clearly demanding a
First World level of sophistication in the educational needs of their
children but with the vast majority still needing the basics. There is no
conceivable way for the government to meet these varying needs and
expectations even if it has unlimited resources. Nor can these varied
needs be satisfied through a rigid single-school system, as advocated by
some misguided souls. Instead what we need is to enlist the private
sector with its flexibility and responsiveness to add to the diversity of
services and offerings.
Regardless, whether in a developed or still developing country, the entry
of the private sector would provide much-needed competition. Properly
harnessed, like all competitive situations, that would only improve
services all around, including alleviating the urban-rural as well as
rich-poor divide.
What we do not want and have to be vigilant in order to avoid, is for the
entry of the private sector to result in increasing the social divide and
greater polarization of the nation.
We should not expect the entry of the private sector to be welcomed
especially where the public sector has been entrenched and acquired
powerful constituencies. The teachers' unions for one would be rightly
concerned about loss of job security, among others. Powerful political
entities would equate the entry of the private sector to a loss of
control. Sometimes under such circumstances it would be best not to
confront those entities directly but to start afresh somewhere else, as
with new schools and colleges.
This is an opportune time to examine and rationalize the role of the
private sector in education. In the Tenth Malaysia Plan the government
will commit itself to re-emphasizing the development of human capital. A
critical examination of the roles and contributions of the private sector
should be a major part of that planning.
Next: Part Three - The Current Situation

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