FNF Malaysia

FAN Malaysia, an alumni network of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, organized a replication of its Germany based training  “No Education, No Freedom” on 16^th October 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This workshop was conducted by Ms. Ng Cheah Wearn who attended the seminar “No Education: No Opportunity, No Freedom” at the International Academy for Leadership (IAF) in Gummersbach, Germany, in February 2010. Ms. Ng Yeen Seen was invited to co-facilitate since she herself had replicated a similar topic in 2006.

The main objective of IAF replication workshops is to share the knowledge gained at the academy in Germany to a local audience in Malaysia. They also aim to promote an understanding of a liberal concept of education and to provide a platform to discuss the education system in Malaysia.

The replication workshop focused on the following topics:

- The challenges of the 21^st century, which include

- knowledge-based economies

- knowledge-based societies

- intensified global competition

- poverty in developing countries

- collapsing social security systems in rich countries

- different demographic challenges

What makes liberal concepts of education policy liberal?

- individual responsibility (of parents and students)

- choice

- private ownership of schools and universities

- competition

- minimal government interference: general rules

- Choice and Competition

- No monopoly for government-operated schools

- Empowerment for parents (schools) and students (universities) as consumers

- Competition as a discovery procedure

- Framework for competition

- Private organizations for evaluation

- Funding

- Radical perspective: government funding is neither legitimate nor necessary

- Moderate: government funding is necessary, but with special methods

+ Vouchers

+ Loans

+ Grants

The World Café method was used to engage participants to discuss (on) four main topics including:

- Standardised National Examination in Raising Standards

- Who benefit most from taxpayer based education?

- Private education as a viable proposition

- Taxpayer’s money for higher education?

No Education: No Freedom, No Opportunity