Learning to live together

Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
My View - The Sun Daily
October 13, 2015

FOLLOWING recent incidents that took a heavy toll on "sehati, sejiwa", one is compelled to ask how much of it is embedded in the education system to be imbibed by all Malaysians, especially the younger generation?

I was looking for answers as I listened to the Soal Jawab programme on RTM1 last week discussing the topic of "Sekolah Satu Aliran". Among the discussants were Prof Datuk Teo Kok Seng, a Senior Fellow at Institut Kajian Etnik (Kita), who is well-versed on the issues of education, ethnicity and socio-culture, and Prof Madya Sarjit Singh, who is the secretary to the Majlis Professor Negara's cluster on national unity.

The hour-long discussion was intellectually stimulating and grounded in clear academic arguments articulating why after almost 60 years of Merdeka unity among Malaysians is still wanting, blowing hot and cold. The sad implications on "sehati, sejiwa" was clear.

It was pointed out that there are at least seven streams of education in Malaysia raising the vital question at what point do pupils in each stream interact and mingle, let alone cultivate "sehati, sejiwa" collectively as part of the natural process of education.

To add to the complexity, each of these streams seems to attract a different cohort of students lacking the diversity that reflects the Malaysian demography. In short, as far as education is concerned even at an early stage of the primary and secondary levels the situation can metaphorically be described as seven "hati" or "jiwa"!

It is as though they are schooling in seven countries, which are so distant from each other, that there is hardly any meaningful interaction on a regular basis. This invariably will affect the development of "sehati, sejiwa", thus the national identity as Malaysians.

While admittedly diversity is a boon to education it is only so if social cohesion is not jeopardised or compromised in any way since the latter is an all too important foundation for the nation to prosper and survive, even in homogeneous settings. It is for this reason there is no country in the Asean region or even Asia that harbours multiple streams of education like Malaysia which clearly is not the "best practice". Moreover diversity could well be built within a single stream and more meaningfully so because it is easier to align it with one of the four pillars of learning as advocated by Unesco for 21st century education, namely "learning to be together".

To date the pillars of "learning to live together" has been very poorly attempted in earnest putting social cohesion and national unity in a state of limbo due to myopic interests in the long run.

So it is not surprising to see that "sehati, sejiwa" is struggling to survive when challenged as it is not organically nurtured in the national education ecosystem.

As argued last week, "sehati, sejiwa" in the hands of politicians has been demonstrated to be short-lived due to the lack of political will to walk the talk. Some are even treating "education" as political bait to be popular instead of translating it into education for "sehati, sejiwa" for all Malaysians.

Politicking has mostly been a bane to education. It must stay on the sidelines and eventually be taken out of education. Politics and education just do not mix.

It is for this reason that education for "sehati, sejiwa" must be led by scholars, researchers and academics who are non-partisan and apolitical in the true spirit of "sehati, sejiwa".

We have had a rich experience of how this could be undertaken from the two Education Blueprints that were successfully launched recently. Ultimately, however, the role and significance of the National Education Philosophy (NEP) is crucial to be laid out as the common platform to integrate the various streams of education into one interactive ecosystem.

In essence the NEP calls for the nurturing of balanced students with various competencies to enable them to be responsible citizens with societal and global outreach. It is framed on the four dimensions of physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual that must be also equally balanced. Therein, the notion of "sehati, sejiwa" is amply embedded and embraced such that all students are well rounded to contribute as Malaysians to the community and country.

We need to distance ourselves from the confusing jargon and behaviour that run counter purpose to "sehati, sejiwa" which in recent times have come to pollute the ethos of education intentionally or otherwise.