Malaysian Students Losing Interest In Science? The Horror! — Well, Not Really
This is an edited version of a letter I wrote to the Editor of The Star (Malaysia). As far as I can tell they haven’t published it yet.
On September 23rd 2015 Malaysian news daily The Star published “‘Lack of interest a bleak sign for Malaysia’” about the Malaysian Government’s worry of low enrollments in science subjects.
My first reaction?
Seriously, though — I would like to provide some insight on why that is, and provide suggestions for tweaking the Malaysian school system so that interdisciplinary interests can be encouraged.
I spent 11 years in premier primary and secondary schools in Johor Bahru, completing my Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (Malaysian Education Certificate, equivalent to O-Levels) in 2002. I was always a passionate writer, and I had dreamed about taking English Literature in my upper secondary years. I was also a very good student, and scored high enough in my PMR exam to qualify for the Science stream.
My school did not offer English Literature, and the closest — Malay Literature — was only offered to the “last class”; those who scored the lowest in the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (Lower Secondary Assessment, now defunct) the year before. I caused a huge controversy when I opted out of Science to go to this so-called “last” Humanities class; teachers often told me that I was “wasting my grades”, some even thought I had showed up at the wrong classroom. The teachers didn’t really care for my class, with some even “forgetting” to show up to teach (a reminder, this was in a PREMIER school).
The achievement gap between my class and the rest of the school stayed the same, if not wider, because the school had effectively given up on us — even the teaching of Arts/Humanities subjects was subpar. The attitude permeated to the students too — when Literature components started being incorporated into the regular English and Malay subjects, almost everyone I knew grumbled about how “pointless” it was. (I was probably the only student who was gleeful.)
This is the first problem: the often arbitrary requirements to “qualify” for a stream, and the assumption that if you don’t “qualify” or you personally desire not to study Science, you are stupid or a waste or time. Frankly, it is hard for me to sympathize with the fear of low interest in Science because I had spent my entire school career being told that my passions and interests are only reserved for those too stupid to make it in Science. Nobody ever stated that you could do both, or that it was worthwhile to explore the Humanities: if this was the case, I probably would have taken both Science and Literature subjects in my SPM.
And yet, if you allow students to explore their own interests, regardless of test results, their passion and dedication can create wonders. For instance, the brother of one of my best friends in Australia was seen as a “troublemaker” in school, not as interested or successful in academics as my friend. He was very interested in cooking and fitness, which he parlayed to a degree in Sports Science, requiring strong knowledge of physiology and anatomy. His evident passion for sports made him very successful in his degree, and he is now working in the field full-time. Yet, had he been in the Malaysian school system, he would have been written off from Form 4 onwards and never would have been allowed to pursue his dream career because he would be deemed “not smart enough for science”.
Yet our school system does not really allow for flexibility and diversity of interests. While the modern-day SPM is set up to be flexible, schools have not caught up — for instance, the sheer existence of the stream system, a holdover from older days when the SPM exams were not nearly as modular.
Also, the way classes are structured in Malaysia does not allow for flexible schedules. Unlike places like the US, where you don’t always have the same classmates for every class, everybody in your class is taking almost the same classes at the same schedule, and you don’t really leave your classroom unless you need to head to the field or the lab. You wouldn’t really be able to take any classes outside of your assigned schedule because it would conflict with another mandatory class. Going outside your stream is almost impossible.
The half-day splits — some years having classes from 8am to 1pm, others from noon to 5pm — also doesn’t allow enough time to extend class time or hold multiple sessions — especially with the expectation that students would spend their after-school time in additional tuition classes, whether on campus or off campus, or on clubs and societies.
Making the school system more like college or university, at least in Forms 4 and 5, would mitigate this problem. Offer multiple sessions of the same class (with the same or different teachers) that are open to all students. Support students in building their own schedule to accommodate all the classes they need and want. Extend upper secondary hours so that students have the time and space for their schedules, while allowing for gaps in the schedule. Eliminate the idea of “stupid students” by having students work with their classmates of varying skill levels. Collaborate with other schools who can provide teaching in subjects your school does not offer. Doing this would make the streaming system redundant, provide opportunity to students that were disadvantaged or written off in the current system, and gives permission for students to take a variety of subjects now that they don’t have to worry about scheduling.
We also need to redefine and reimagine Science and Art in the context of Malaysian education. Right now the definitions seem to be more akin to Biology/Physics/Chemistry/Additional Mathematics vs Everything Else. Business-oriented subjects such as Economics, Commerce, and Accounting are lumped into “Art” yet they are often very Math-heavy (statistics, accounting). While researching for the Medium version of this article, I found that, confusingly, Sports Science is listed under Arts. Information Technology is a very recent subject, and a lot of it is art as well as science. Entire fields, such as Astronomy or Media Studies, get very little (if any) attention.
Redefining categories, or even doing away with categories altogether, would give students more freedom to choose their subjects without feeling like they have to conform to a type. There should also be interdisciplinary subjects or sessions, such as specialized projects, where students across skill levels and subjects can work together and learn from each other while working on a bigger goal.
Lastly, we need to consider the pressure on students to shape their energy around what can make money. Growing up, my generation was told that the only acceptable career paths are doctor/engineer/accountant/lawyer; everything else would not earn enough money and is therefore useless. (Therefore contributing to the stigma against the Humanities). I have met many students who are studying Medicine despite being so unhappy to the point of depression or suicidality because they’d rather pursue something else, but could not escape the expectation of Medicine. Every year there are news reports of students being frustrated that they weren’t accepted into medical programs despite having straight As simply because there just wasn’t enough space.
It is understandable, then, that many current students are opting out of the Science-Is-Best mentality to find success elsewhere. Business, for instance, is seen as being a more lucrative career path, and since it’s technically under Arts business students are thus Arts students (even if they don’t have a lot in common with Humanities students). I know that some of my school juniors were inspired enough by my decision to pursue Literature that some of them have followed in my footsteps. In contrast, my sister did the typical Science stream thing all the way up to a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Imperial College — but eventually found it an unfulfilling vocation financially and otherwise.
If we want more students to study Science for career enrichment, we need to be honest about how it’s harder for Science graduates worldwide to be paid well, especially since grants and funding for research is drying up. We also need to be supportive of the many ways to pursue Science, and expand the Science curricula (whether in the same subject or by creating more subjects). On a larger societal scale, we also need to support the scientists we already have, so that we can show that it’s a viable career path just like any other.
Larger still, we need to divorce from the mentality that the only subjects worth studying are ones that make you money — there are a variety of careers, many of them interdisciplinary, and most of them viable.
The low enrollment of upper secondary students in Science is not really a problem — it’s an indicator, and an opportunity to rethink the values of our current education system.
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