Have a Meaningful Aidilfitri - EDUCATION: Are we being honest with our children?

 

EDUCATION: Are we being honest with our children?

This is an uncomfortable question. Yet it is one we must ask.

While thousands of Malaysian students score A’s every year, our PISA rankings remain around the middle of the global table. Countries with far fewer straight-A students often outperform us. The number of our top performers rises each year, yet our global standing does not.

Are we making examinations easier or inflating grades? This may create a feel-good moment in the short term, where parents are happy, students feel good, teachers feel proud, and politicians point to the results as proof that everything is working.

But if the standards are lower than the world outside our borders, we risk sending our children into a more competitive world less prepared than they think.

That is not kindness. That is not fairness. And most importantly, that is not honesty.

The world our children will enter is global, demanding and competitive. To prepare them well, we must be brave enough to measure ourselves honestly.

This Hari Raya, let us reflect and set azam baharu.

Perhaps one of the most meaningful gifts we can give the next generation is not easier marks, but stronger education and the ability to know where we truly stand. We cannot move forward if we begin without knowing.

Because loving our children also means preparing them for the real world.

Let us add add value,

Have a Meaningful Aidilfitri

 

Peace, anas

 

Photo caption

“The purpose of education in Islam is to produce a good man.” - Royal Professor Tan Sri Dr Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas (1931–2026) was a renowned Malaysian Muslim philosopher and scholar of Islamic thought and education.