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Hishammuddin should not be too easily pleased and the Cabinet too easily satisfied by maths and science results of Malaysian students in international survey until we are among the world’s five top performers
Media Statement (2) by Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh, Thursday): Education Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein was very pleased, and the Cabinet satisfied, with the achievement of Malaysian students in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 involving 46 countries, with Malaysia ranking 10 in mathematics and 20 in science.
Hishammuddin
said Malaysian students scored better than those from developed countries
like Australia, United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the
mathematics tests and Norway and Italy in the science tests. I have a vested interests in the performance of Malaysian students in TIMSS, as I had in 1996 emailed the organizers of TIMSS, the Netherlands-based International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), inquiring about Malaysia’s participation in TIMSS, and subsequently meeting the then Education Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to persuade him on Malaysia’s participation in the international study in time for its 1999 survey. Hishammuddin should not however be too easily pleased and the Cabinet too easily satisfied by the maths and science results of Malaysian students in internatilonal study survey until we are among the world’s five top performers. The Education Minister should establish a special committee to analyse the results of the TIMSS 2003 for the eight-grade students (Form Two) to work out a strategy to emplace Malaysia among the top five scorers in future TIMSS surveys, as there is no reason why Malaysia cannot be ranked among the top five scorers whether for mathematics or science. Asian students dominated the maths and science tests in TIMSS, with Singapore leading top performers in both mathematics and science, as illustrated by the following results:
If Malaysia cannot squeeze into the top five, we should at least be world’s No. 6 in both the international maths and science tests. The 2003 TIMSS, which is conducted every four years to measures how well students acquired the mathematics and science knowledge that they have encountered in school, also assesses fourth-graders (i.e. equivalent to Std. IV). Hishammuddin should make public the results he should have received from IEA on the performance of Malaysian Std. IV students in the TIMSS 2003 for science and mathematics for Grade Four students. Singapore students were not only the top performers in both mathematics and science in the world-wide TIMSS 2003 survey for the eighth-grade students, they also top the world in both subjects in the fourth-grade category, as illustrated by the following:
What is Malaysia’s ranking in the TIMSS 2003 for fourth-graders for both mathematics and science? |