Saturday, December 20, 2008

How Malaysia Ranks in Education

Malaysia ranks no. 4 among ASEAN + 3 countries in the Education for All Development Index (EDI), behind Japan, South Korea and Brunei.

The EDI score was based on the improvement of the scores in four evaluated objectives, namely primary net enrolment rate, adult literacy rate, Gender EFA Index and Survival Rate to Grade Five.

Compared to other Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries, Malaysia ranked fifth out of the 33 OIC countries that participated in the survey. Among 20 Commonwealth countries, Malaysia is no. 4.

Of the the 20 Commonwealth countries that participated in the survey, Malaysia was among the top five and among the ASEAN + 3 countries, Malaysia was ranked 4th, behind Japan, South Korea and Brunei.

Malaysia’s position in the Education For All Development Index (EDI) has improved - from 56th placed to 45th out of the 129 countries surveyed.

The Global Monitoring Report 2009 (GMR 2009) survey annual report is Unesco’s mechanism to monitor education development in member countries.

The United States, Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are not included in the GMR 2009 survey, which ranked Kazakhstan as first, followed by Japan, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom.

The report on the GMR 2009 was tabled at the High Level Group Meeting on EFA in Oslo, Norway on Dec 17. Malaysia was represented by Hishammuddin at the meeting which was held from Dec 16 to 18.

Source: The Star Online.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Settling Penans into misery



Remember when natives were resettled for the building of hydro electric dams in Sarawak? What happened later? Did the natives actually thrive and prosper? Or were they introduced into the cycle of the ills associated with modernization - stressful life, debts, poor healthcare and poverty?

How does the Barisan Nasional government think that resettling the Penans would give them better life? Are the Penans not happy and contented with their nomadic lives? Lets not force unto others what we think is good for us. Have a deep understanding of the Penans first. Most important of all, have respect for them.

The Barisan Nasional people are forever thinking that they know better and smarter than others. What does Alfred Jabu know about improving the livelihood of the Penans when he hasn't had any impact on his own people? But then, what can we expect from someone who has been serving as the Chief Photographer for Taib Mahmud. They're forever arrogant creatures.