Keep education out of electoral politics

If there is one idea that deserves the backing of both government and opposition supporters, it is that education should be one of our top priorities, if not our foremost. Because it is so important to the future of the country, it should be held sacred, free of the influence of partisan politics.

We argue a lot over the way we should go about educating our young, but we must all acknowledge that our inability to compete on a global scale is a long standing problem. That sobering fact should drive all initiatives towards improving the education system, and none of those initiatives should be made a victim of the political pressure any party experiences in an election season.

There has been quite an outcry over Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s promise of a RM500,000 grant for a school in the Senadin constituency in Sarawak if Barisan Nasional takes the seat in the coming Sarawak election. Zahid’s offer has been met with accusations of electoral bribery, to which the DPM replied that allocations had nothing to do with elections. But he also implied that only BN representatives in the state assembly could get allocations.

We can argue till we’re all blue in the face over the issue, but the Election Commission will have the final say on whether Zahid violated any election rule.

What is truly intolerable in this situation is that it seems like our children’s education is being made a bargaining chip. Whichever way the offer is framed, it does essentially boil down to the idea that even allocations for a school are a legitimate card to put on the table while campaigning.

With all due respect, Mr DPM, education is not and should never be a bargaining chip in electoral fights. We know that not every school will receive new allocations. After all, there is only so much GST money to go around. Nonetheless, attaching victory conditions to the offer makes it sound alarmingly like a bribe despite your protestations.

If we all acknowledge that Malaysian education needs a big helping hand, perhaps we must also acknowledge unequivocally that allocations should be made for schools that need them regardless of whether the parents vote for BN or not. Otherwise, it will be like punishing the children of those who vote for the opposition.

This is not to say that politicians cannot make electoral promises. The business of accruing power and influence hinges upon promises, and no politician worth his salt would go up to the podium come election season with nothing to promise. But we must draw the line somewhere, and education truly should be hallowed ground in the never ending political quarrels that we are seeing in Malaysia.

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