EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

1. Our education system is a sound one and of a high standard, with the necessary structures and mechanisms to help every child achieve his potential. These include streaming, and special help for low achievers as well as those in the gifted education programme.
2. In the past decades, Singaporeans of all communities, including the Malay community, have benefited from the Government's emphasis on education and training, and its far-sighted policies. These include:
   1. Allowing every child to develop to his/her maximum potential.
   2. Providing ten years of school education and sufficient places in the ITE, polytechnics and universities for those who can benefit from further education.
   3. Providing a high quality of education with emphasis on instilling the values and skills needed to meet future challenges
   4. Staying at the forefront in innovations in the education field, like the use of IT.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF MALAY PUPILS

1. One of the reasons for the success of the Malay community is the Government's open, transparent system based on competition and meritocracy. This policy encourages high standards of achievement, and has helped Malay pupils to move forward. Credit must also go to the good work done by the community self-help organisations MENDAKI and AMP.
2. Results of Malay pupils at major national examinations have continued to improve:
   1. In the 1997 PSLE, 35% of the Malay pupils from the 1992 Primary One cohort qualified for the 4-year Special/Express course, up from 28% in 1990. (Table 1)
   2. In the GCE 'O' level, 26% of the Malay P1 cohort obtained 5 passes or more in 1996, slightly up from 25% in 1990. But this percentage seems to have reached a plateau. In Mathematics and Science, Malay pupils continue to make improvements. The percentage passing Mathematics has more than tripled in the last 16 years from 10% in 1980 to 35% in 1996, and the pass rate in Science has risen by two and a half times during the same period, from 12% to 30%. (Tables 2-4)
3. The improvement in performance coupled with expansion in provision of post-secondary education opportunities has led to higher Malay participation in post-secondary education.
   1. In 1997, the percentage of Malay pupils who went on to post-secondary education (pre-university, polytechnics or ITE) was 46%, up from 32% in 1986. In other words, of the Malay pupils who entered P1 in 1987, nearly half went on beyond the first 10 years of general education. (Table 5)
   2. This year, 20% of the Malay P1 cohort made it to the polytechnics, up from less than 1% in 1980. At the university level, 3% of Malay pupils made it to NUS and NTU in 1997, up from 0.5% in 1980. (Tables 6-7)
4. In terms of tertiary enrolment ratio (according to UN statistics), defined as the total enrolment in universities, polytechnics and colleges divided by population in the 19-23 age group, Singapore is much higher than its ASEAN neighbours. The enrolment ratio for Malay students is comparable to those in Malaysia and Indonesia. (Table 8)
5. Malay pupils have also done well in the Third International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS). This study compared representative samples of students in 45 countries. A total of half a million students in these 45 countries were tested. About 3,500 of our Malay students took part. If ranked separately as a group, our Malay students would have come up:
   1. 5th or 6th in Maths at the primary 3 and 4 level, doing better than students in countries like the US, Canada, England, New Zealand; and 4th or 5th at the secondary 1 and 2 level, behind only Korea, Japan and Hong Kong; (Table 9a)
   2. 13th or 14th in Science at the primary 3 and 4 level; and 6th or 7th at the secondary 1 and 2 level, almost the same as England. (Table 9b)
6. The good performance of Malay Singaporeans in TIMSS shows that Malay pupils more than held their own in the international comparison, proving that they can succeed in an open, transparent and meritocratic system.

AREAS OF CONCERN

1. While our Malay students have done well, there are four areas of concern. The aim is to raise awareness of these areas and to promote discussion with a view to finding solutions together so that the community can continue to do better.

Not Registering for Primary One

1. Each year, about 500 or 5-6% of the Malay P1 cohort opts out of our conventional school system, compared to 1.5% of the Chinese and 4.5% of the Indians. These children miss out on the quality education that he or she would need to succeed - not just in terms of finding a good job, but more importantly, in integrating successfully into the social and economic system in Singapore, learning to cooperate and compete as part of the Singapore team in this rapidly changing world, in thinking critically, and learning how to be discerning about ideas and people. With a sizeable number of its children not even at the starting line, the Malay community would not be able to maximise the potential of its members, and keep pace with the progress of the other communities. (Table 10)

Dropout Rate

1. Second, the dropout rate among Malay pupils is still high. Their dropout rate at the primary level is 1.1% as compared to 0.2% for the Chinese, and 0.9% for the Indians. At the secondary level, their dropout rate is 7.9%, compared to 3.8% for the Chinese, and 4.9% for the Indians. (Tables 11a &b)

5 'O' Level Passes

1. Third, the percentage of Malay pupils with 5 or more 'O' level passes had risen rapidly then reached a plateau in the last 10 years whereas performance of the other ethnic groups continued to improve. A good 'O' level certificate is important so that many more Malay school leavers will be able to proceed to the next higher level of education, and take full advantage of the expansion in tertiary places in Singapore. This would strengthen the community's ability to produce future community and national leaders. (Table 2)

Mathematics and Science

1. Fourth, despite having done better in Mathematics and Science at 'O' level, the gap in pass rates between our Malay students and the other ethnic groups remains. As the two subjects become more important in the world of IT in the next millennium, the young in the Malay community must have a strong foundation in Science and Mathematics in order to be well prepared for the jobs of the future. (Tables 3-4)

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE

1. Rising to the challenge is a shared responsibility of the community and the Government. The Government can create the conditions to help, but in ways and at a pace which the community itself has to be comfortable with.

Support of Home Environment

1. Support of the home environment is absolutely critical. The Community itself will need to increase its outreach to families to stress the importance of education for the future of their children. The self help groups MENDAKI and AMP have a major role to play in this. Studies, both local and overseas, show that close parental supervision and high parental expectation are the keys to academic success in schools.
   1. The San Diego County Office of Education reported that the research findings were overwhelmingly clear: when parents play a positive role in their children's education, children do better in schools. This is true whether parents are college-educated or grade school graduates and regardless of the family income, race, or ethnic background. What counts is that parents have a positive attitude about the importance of a good education and that they express confidence their children will succeed.
   2. Another study of the children of Indochinese refugees in inner city areas in the US reported that the key factor for their success in education was homework. The Indochinese children spent on average twice the time given to the task than non-Asian children. Homework was found to dominate household activities on school nights. Parents see to the chores after dinner, and remain on hand to watch and motivate, although, since they lack English skills and education, often do not participate directly.
   3. In 1994, the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) released the findings of a survey which showed that pupils from homes with higher parental involvement and greater availability of reading materials did better, after controlling for intrinsic ability. The greater availability of reading materials was in itself a reflection of the parents' attitude in providing for their children's educational development.
   4. Nur Dianah Jailani, the top Malay pupil in the 1997 PSLE had this to say about the role of parental support: "Arwah ayah saya selalu berpesan supaya berusaha dengan baik dalam apa jua perkara dan bersyukur dengan apa yang ada". ("My late father had always advised us to do the best we can in whatever we are doing and to be thankful for what is available")
2. More Malay parents should encourage their children to aim high and give their children the support and supervision that they need to attain those goals. This should apply to both boys and girls. In Japan for example, many girls go on to college after completing high school. Even though they may stop work after getting married to raise a family, their strong educational foundation enables them to provide better guidance and support to their children, thus strengthening the next generation.

Greater Integration with Other Communities

1. Malay students also need to be more closely integrated with students from the other communities. This will raise standards of achievement through greater peer pressure and competition, and by providing a more stimulating environment.

CONCLUSION

1. Malay SIngaporeans like all Singaporeans have done well educationally. This is evidenced by the significant improvement in academic results at major national examinations and the fact that half of the Malay pupils went on to post-secondary education. In international comparisons, Malay pupils rank well in Mathematics and Science.
2. This progress is due to the good education system in Singapore, and the efforts of self-help organisations and Malay parents in helping and encouraging Malay pupils to excel.
3. However, there are four areas of concern. These must be overcome to allow the Malay community to make greater progress and generate more community and national leaders for the future.
4. I am confident that with continued effort from the community working hand in hand with the Government and other Singaporeans, Malay students will be able to take full advantage of the excellent educational opportunities available, and be well prepared for the challenges of the 21st Century.

APPENDIX

Table 1: Percentage of P1 Cohort Eligible for Special/Express Course

Table 2: Percentage of P1 Cohort with at least 5 'O' Level Passes

Table 3: Percentage of P1 Cohort Passing Mathematics at 'O' Level

Table 4: Percentage of P1 Cohort Passing Science at 'O' Level

Table 5: Percentage of P1 Cohort in Post-Secondary Education

(Pre-university, Polytechnic and ITE)

Table 6: Percentage of P1 Cohort Admitted to Polytechnics

Table 7: Percentage of P1 Cohort Admitted to NUS/NTU

Source: Ministry of Education