Education in Multicultural Societies
Perspectives on Education in Malaysia
Edited by Abdul Razak Baginda / Peter Schier
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In a multicultural, multireligious country like Malaysia, the role of education as a unifying or divisive force and as an influence on the adaptability of the next generation of Malaysians in the global economy is keenly felt and acknowledged.

After nearly half a century of independence, the challenge of building a truly Malaysian nationhood somehow still eludes the nation, while challenges lurk in every corner of an increasingly borderless economy and world order. The education system was accused of smothering creativity and critical thinking and, more significantly, of engendering racial polarisation and parochialism. How far are these allegations true and how do we go about putting the education system on much firmer ground? Have practices in schools and elsewhere deviated from the original noble objectives professed for the education system? What changes need to be made in the education system to cater to the needs of both present and future generations of Malaysians?

Such concerns about the state of racial polarisation in society and schools have emerged to provoke a renewal of debate about the state of education in Malaysia today. This book brings additional perspectives to this continuing debate of national importance.

Abdul Razak Baginda is the Executive Director of the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre (MSRC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Peter Schier is the Representative to Malaysia of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation