WEEK 9 (Topic 8)

Cultural Plurality, National Unity & Education: A Case of Malaysia

In this topic, I have learned that before the establishment of National Philosophy Education, there is a number of reports had been drawn up by a few commissions and had become education policies and frameworks. Malaysia's education policies have always underlined the need to foster peace, harmony, respect and solidarity among societies. Malaysia is a multicultural society which consists of different types of ethnic groups such as Malays, Chinese, Indian and the Native. That is why National Philosophy Education was introduced to have one philosophy that can inculcate unity among parties. There are three main objectives of public education which are to promote national unity, to produce human resources that are needed for national development and to develop a progressive and disciplined Malaysian society. Then, these objectives have been translated which specifies that all students should receive integrated education in order to develop their full potential in the intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical aspects. Thus, this philosophy is formed based on the Five National Principles that aimed at creating a world-class quality education system that will realize the full potential of the individual and fulfil the aspirations of the nations of Malaysia.