It's because RG is a melting pot of cultures that I can ask such a question here.  We have different backgrounds, but many of us are not antagonistic to people who differ.  We know something about the contents of the books of faith of our friends.  We know that each one cannot help but be different. 

 We accept our RG friends.  We don’t downvote when others tell us something in their holy book.  We make it an opportunity to learn.  We ACCEPT our differences.  How can we transmit this tolerance and acceptance to our students who MUST LIVE IN A MULTICULTURAL GLOBAL VILLAGE?

Perhaps start to imagine a unicultural world and its consequences, like in a fairy tale, and then add one more culture and then add one more culture....?

As a simple example one might ask following question:

What cultures invented the ideas/objects/tools... you find at home? Would Mathematics or a widely used tool (e.g. a car) have been invented on a permanently isolated island disconnected from other cultures? Etc.... 

I agree with everyone's school of thought but i feel we can give room for a participatory system then our education will move from where it is now to a greater height

Dear @Eraldo, you are observant.  Multiculturalism has been going on for decades in some places, and for centuries in other countries.  Some people react against this, because of their own mind set.  Can we say they are narrow minded?  Or are they just not hospitable?  My ancestors came here 100s of years ago.  (Later on, Chinese groups came to work at tin mines, and Indians came to work in the rubber industry.  So we have 3 large groups with many smaller groups.)

"Many historians today believe that the Emperor of China bestowed an honourary title to a mere commoner, elevating her to the status of princess, as in the case of Hang Li Po. This is the reasoning surrounding Hang Li Po, to make her more presentable as a consort to the Sultan of Malacca. 

According to Sejarah Melayu, the Malay Annals, Tun Perpatih Putih was sent by Sultan Mansur Shah as his envoy to the Imperial Court of China. Hang Li Poh was sent from China to be the bride of the Sultan of Malacca. She arrived with a 500-strong contingent. She was married to Sultan Mansur Shah after she converted to Islam. Thereafter the Sultan built a palace for Hang Li Poh. It is situated in Bukit Cina, the location of the Chinese cemetery in Malacca today."

http://www.asiaexplorers.com/malaysia/hang-li-po.htm

Dear @Marcel, the example that you give is showing clearly that every culture has contributed to all that we have at this moment, for our use, and for our convenience and enjoyment!  (Ok, what have the French contributed?  French wines, cuisine, Pasteur,Universal Declaration of Human Rights...) 

Dear @Samson, is it possible to give specific example of 'participatory system...in the context of your country?    

http://www.eupedia.com/forum/threads/16869-Greatest-French-contributions-to-the-world

From 2012, Malaysia launched the Education Blueprint, that is set to transform education.  I hope it achieves its aims.  National integration and unity is very important here.  Unity is hard to achieve, but easy to crumble.

"The Malaysian Education Blueprint for Higher Education or PPPM (PT) plays a major role in improving the quality of graduates produced by public tertiary institutions, says Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.

He said it was important to improve the quality of graduates to ensure they could meet the market needs, so as to take the country to a higher level of development.

“With the 10 shifts in the plan, problems and issues (on quality of graduates) can be managed, for instance, with the integrated CGPA (cumulative grade point average) drafted in the plan to make the programme more holistic.�"

http://www.teo-education.com/teo/?cat=14

Dear all,

Good day,

Miranda is quite right,

"We accept our RG friends.  We don’t downvote when others tell us something in their holy book.  We make it an opportunity to learn.  We ACCEPT our differences."

Thank you @ Miranda for these words.

Regards

Thanks Fateh and all.  Please share specific ways on how we can formulate, or modify, education objectives of your community/country to meet the needs of a plural, multicultural, global society.  Attach a link if it helps.  Do not use Quotes that are not helpful.  We are discussing in the present day.  Thanks to all.

Dear all,

Education is a well designed purpose driven process to enlighten, equip and empower members of society with knowledge and skills to solve problems and cope and live better in a particular environment, and,  that particular environment is the human society. The human society by virtue of local origins have different  cultures, traditions and belief systems and any educational structure that is designed for the purposes I mentioned above should necessarily include awareness and inclusiveness of others, the learnt power that enables us to welcome and tolerate indifference and others. If the education system of a particular community fails to address those issues then it is mere a technical training facility not an education system.   

We should teach tolerance, cultural diversity, religious differences, ... We must act and raise our voices when something happens which require our attention, like terrorism (Turkey today), racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, islamophobia, ...! 

First of all, we among us, here at ResearcGate must develop tolerance. There were some threads about immigrants and refugees with very xenophobic answers...

As teachers, we should help our community in order to achieve these objectives of plural and multicultural society. 

Dear Miranda:

Thank you for initiating this excellent discussion.

As professors we are in a privileged position in society to create ripples that can expand and interlace, furthering the cause of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. How can we do this? By emphasizing, from the perspective of each of our fields, what human beings have in common; by learning about the various cultural traditions that have emerged in different places and times; by studying and using other languages; through the open-minded experience of the aesthetic creations made by people from all traditions; and by practicing a horizontal gaze, in which otherness is neither inferior nor superior, just something to be understood and respected.

I don't have much hope for education systems as a whole, but programs promoting academic mobility of professors and students can do much to open people's eyes to the reality of global diversity. Nothing counters xenophobia better than forging intercultural bonds of friendship.

Peace,

David

What is much needed is an educational system which is free from political intervention. In such a system, the scholars will have the duty to explain to the young generation that this world is affected by influential powers who try to control others by the policy of (Divide & Rule). There are evil minded persons who try to disseminate hatreds on religious or sectarian or racial or tribal lines in the countries of the "others". These hatreds may escalate to the point of confrontation & when the conflicts arise, these outsiders will have their own tools to manage the crisis & to utilize it in gaining more ground.

If (& only if) the public becomes more aware about this game of pressing the "others" to rule them, then one may count upon a societal push towards cooling down any problem before it gets larger. If there is no awareness, then destruction will come as has been seen in several 3rd world countries. In other words, acceptance has to be planted between the components of the society in order to avoid troubles.

There are a lot of models -Bennet's,Hall's(iceberg,onion, atom)."Culture can be broken down into layers""The roots of culture-based conflicts are invisible"."We should actively participate in their culture to aware culture".Some scientists think,"There is no perfect model that encompasses all aspects of culture".As for me, I learned the iceberg model in American-Russian seminars in Kaluga in 2010, applied it and shared the experience in the Institute. https://equity.spps.org/uploads/iceberg_model_3.pdf  http://www.idrinstitute.org/page.asp?menu1=14&post=1

http://www.homeofbob.com/literature/esl/icebergModelCulture.html

Tolerance is a great idea. However, in real life the "great" intolerance can not be compensated by means of great tolerance. It seems, unfortunately, that tolerance can not be averaged, ultimately decides "the smaller" ("worse"?). And now what?

our education system need major surgery to be effective in present situation. tolerance, giving space to others, have courage to listen others point of view  and ethics, all this come from family education alone will not help students to develop their contained personality   

Thanks for your views.  As Ljubomir says, "We should teach tolerance, cultural diversity, religious differences".  In my community, I make it a point to visit my Indian neighbors during Diwali, and my Muslim friends during Aidil Fitri.  They are very hospitable, and we realize that we have many shared joys and cares.

During Chinese New Year, my neighbors visit me at home.  Many of my students would visit at this time.  We make it an opportunity to visit friends on these days because we are so busy on normal days.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali

Thanks Dejenie.  I agree to this: "The human society by virtue of local origins have different  cultures, traditions and belief systems and any educational structure that is designed for the purposes I mentioned above should necessarily include awareness and inclusiveness of others, the learnt power that enables us to welcome and tolerate indifference and others. If the education system of a particular community fails to address those issues then it is mere a technical training facility not an education system."  

Unfortunately, in many places, education is seen as a means to accumulate knowledge and be marketable, as if humans are just like goods.  Even worse, at times it's as if students just want grades, a degree and consider acquiring knowledge as boring.

@David, you have expressed it very nicely: "How can we do this? By emphasizing, from the perspective of each of our fields, what human beings have in common; by learning about the various cultural traditions that have emerged in different places and times; by studying and using other languages; through the open-minded experience of the aesthetic creations made by people from all traditions; and by practicing a horizontal gaze, in which otherness is neither inferior nor superior, just something to be understood and respected."  Thanks for your views.

Dear Dr Nizar, all these many years, the education system has been controlled by politicians who head the ministry of education.  Despite that, I believe that those of us from multicultural backgrounds have a wealth of learning experiences that are unique, whether you live in London or Malaysia.  Actually our TOURISM BENEFITS DIRECTLY FROM THE MULTICULTURALISM.

"Malaysia is a multi-cultural society, heavily influenced by the ancient Malay culture and the cultures of Malaysia's two most prominent trading partners – China and India. Although each of these cultures has retained their religions, customs and way of life, they have also blended together to create Malaysia's diverse heritage, including two cultural UNESCO World Heritage Cities, with Malaysia celebrating their heritage with a large number of public festivals and parades throughout the year. Malaysia entices the culture-vulture and heritage loving visitor".

http://malaysiatourismpromotionuk.blogspot.my/2012/06/malaysias-rich-culture-unique-heritage.html

This is the statement within the Education blueprint that focuses on UNITY.  iT'S VERY BRIEF, BUT AT LEAST IT'S PRESENT ON THE BLUEPRINT.  BUT IT DOES NOT SPECIFY HOW UNITY IS TO BE BUILT UP.

'Similarly, while there is no widely accepted method yet to measure unity, the Ministry is committed to ensuring that enrolment in HLIs reflects the mix of Malaysia’s ethnicities. The aim is to create an education system that Provides students with shared values,shared experiences, and common aspirations by embracing diversity." (page 13)

https://jpt.mohe.gov.my/corporate/PPPM%20(PT)/4.%20Executive%20Summary%20PPPM%202015-2025.pdf

Tolerance and encompassing of the values and customs of other nations and cultures is fundamental to cultural exchange of ideas, advances in technology, knowledge transfer, and a vibrant local and global education system(s).  Tolerance and acceptance of all cultures and belief systems stems from understanding and mutual respect for those differences and more importantly 'commonalities' inherent in being human and the education/ learning environment is a very important forum for embracing diversity. This can be evident in the large scale enrollment and inclusion of international students domestically and the opportunities for cultural exchange that exists through the establishment of overseas campuses of domestic universities and visa versa overseas campuses (e.g. within Australia).  A global community of education is best established by strengthening and expanding these opportunities.

When some one, who has authority, calls for equality in rights & duties then a mechanism for reaching this equality must be specified. No wise person will accept words that are not translated into real actions. When the prevailing environment is not forthcoming, the free intellectuals have to go ahead & fill the vacuum. During my 31 years of teaching in my present university, I gave those students (who differed from me in religion or ethnicity) the best treatment. My students (with  faith & origin similar to me) were envious about that but I wanted them to follow this example. Variety in a certain nation is a source of wealth & ought not be a source of trouble at any cost. Those, who knew me well, have noticed that I always called for ACCEPTANCE (which is higher in value than tolerance).

First, it's a VERY important role teachers and parents to show children that diversity can not be a reason to alienating others; Second, introduction of intercultural communication workshops in classes with childrens/students; We should teach tolerance, cultural diversity, religious differences; Third, create diffrerent-cultural classes of students;  

if they learn together, getting to know each other, they acquire tolerance for other cultures;

Present day system of our education cannot be isolates by keeping certain community or the country in our mind .We all have become the part of our Global society .We cannot afford to be isolated in one or another way as due to the technological & scientific development the world has become smaller place of every human being .

For viewing education objectives we have to observe the gap between 20th & 21th century . For education on any voting,the value of discipline ,character of the young generation to be viewed & in which line our present academic programme has taken a note of this very basic fact .This young generation are going to be the the citizen of our WORLD.

Every part of area & every countries have generally a moral code of thinking in the light which is generally applicable for young generation .The same to be viewed in the light with the moral code,discipline,character & such other principle of values of life & Formation cannot afford to close eye on this basic truth.

This is my personal opinion .

From a spiritual point of view, what would be the opinion of people believing in reincarnation? For instance, would they accept the existence/absence of culture-based frontiers across lives? 

We can create opportunity for the people to learn by living together. Let say something about objectives of education is to provide opportunity realise the potential of a person and bring out the talents.

For any community the goal is to improve the living standards through proper education.

The education must provide chance to improve the skills already he / she has

Provide set of skills that enable them to become " employable". 

The current focus in any community is to increase the "employability" of a person

Therefore, the education should provide skills to a person that make possibility of learning to live [Life skills] and skills for livelihood [employable skills].

Therefore, the objectives shall be to ensure these skills.

Hi there, Iam currently writing a paper on the pedagogy of representation and think that you might consider starting from the immediate  and what students are familiar with and then gradually weave into the bigger picture,  a multicultural, global society. Cultural competency starts with the individual, we cannot respect the bigger picture with out understanding the small ones, us, who we are, what we value and what contextually makes sense to us. 

Teachers, academics and students mobility is the more effective dear Miranda, added to foreign languages education and global geography and history programs who could be more effective with new e.interactive teaching methods if the country is not multicultural basis. i think that the best mean to be tolerant to others is to meet with them, interact with them, listen to them and share with them special duties from cultural and intellectual interests or behavior and make friendships.

In my country dear Miranda despite of a cultural unicity, I've experienced during my education (from the primary school to university) good meeting with many cultural backgrounds from teachers, academics and students international mobility.

Where there is a state of law, there exists a culture of tolerance and acceptance. Where there is dictatorship, there exists the mass exodus.

Dear Fairouz, I would say that you are a very tolerant caring, accepting and responsible lady.  It's an honor to be  networking with you.  I have been doing like you: "tolerant to others is to meet with them, interact with them, listen to them and share with them special duties from cultural and intellectual interests or behavior and make friendships.

http://www.noxenophobia.org/

Dear Vasile, it was you who first brought in the subject about re-incarnation.  I don't believe in that, but I have friends here who do believe that.  I respect their right to uphold their belief system.  The 2 questions you posted are very good ones!  I shall surely let you know what answers I receive from my students.  (I will be back when I can.)

Dear Miranda, 

Can reduce the social and cultural gaps due to the multicultural and global societies?  

When we can't do anything in this matter, one has to accept all the differences as they are.  In INDIA, at least in few institutions, one can find a temple, a church and a mosque.  In many cities and towns you can find a temple and a church next to each other.  So is the case with a temple and a mosque.  People live and learn together.  

Problems start only when they get misguided.  So, EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES should be oriented towards this type of understanding.  

Regards, 

Dr.S.Ravindran

Dear Vasile, Ravindran and all, at last I find good examples of very CHARITABLE AND ACCEPTING AND TOLERANT PERSONS!  How many can come close to these?  Let me place a few links.

"UAE allocates land for Abu Dhabi's first Hindu temple

Indian Prime Minister Modi lauds decision to provide land for temple during landmark two-day visit to UAE.

17 Aug 2015 17:45 GMT | Arts & Culture, Politics, Middle East, India, Asia"

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/uae-allocates-land-abu-dhabi-hindu-temple-150817062426501.html

See some interesting details from that link.

"The UAE, a federation of seven emirates, is home to about 2.6 million Indian expatriates who comprise a third of the total population and outnumber the local Emirati population. Annual Indian remittances from the UAE are estimated at $14bn."

 Do we not wish and pray that this will happen in all places beneath the clear blue sky?

"Religious tolerance in the UAE has been hailed by the US, with a report highlighting diversity and the efforts to welcome all faiths.  The 2012 International Religious Freedom Report by the US state department said religions practiced freely and the Government had worked hard to prevent extremism and warn people about its dangers.

"The Government followed a policy of tolerance towards non-Muslim religious groups," the report states. "The constitution stipulates that all citizens are equal before the law, without discrimination between citizens on grounds of religious belief."

The report also notes the Rulers donated land for houses of worship for non-Muslim faiths."

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/religious-tolerance-in-uae-hailed-by-us

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid at the word tolerance will respond only those which are tolerant. Tolerance must be embedded into society through the family. The later education for tolerance begins, the less will be successful. Now what with this matter?

Thank you Miranda for your kind thoughts , it's a honor to be networking with you too. I think that people should be educated from the youth to be open minded, we should say to children that the world created by God is full of differences and it is usually fantastic to discover how it is beautiful. We should give them possibilities to interact with children from other countries and cultures though cultural exchanges and help them to make distant friends, the new tool of IT are there to broke distances, not only virtual friends but real exchanges of things, postal cards, souvenirs, books, etc..

Religious tolerance should be a fact, God has  created the word like this, how one could be intolerant against others believes, what he/she could change with his/her intolerance. Only stupid people do not understood it, so when societies have good  intellectual level, they are able to brace differences and learn from them and from each other

Thanks Fairouz.  How very right that only stupid childish and selfish people are intolerant.  But alas, some people are grabbers.  My family friend has moved to work with Emirates in Dubai, and his wife and 5 children are moving there soon.

For 3 days, I did not receive any email from RG.  Then suddenly they sent 2 emails to my college email that has a small inbox and a snail pace.  Do you all use your institution email address for RG interactions?  I prefer to keep my teaching and other duties separate from RG, if possible.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/I_wonder_is_there_a_problem_in_RG_system_that_I_stopped_receiving_emails_over_the_past_3_days_What_could_have_caused_this?_tpcectx=profile_questions

Hi Vasile,

we need not read our thoughts, it seems we just see reality - I am afraid, as all realistic people.

Tsunami of intolerance gallops through the world, and we must hope

that our civilization does not sink that our civilization will not be swept under the level of hatred.

Hello to all.  I have just received an email that causes me to have more hope concerning mutual tolerance and acceptance.

"UAE: "A Huge Leap from Medieval Ways"

by Sara Al Nuaimi  •  October 14, 2015 at 5:00 am

The remarkable crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, donated land for the Hindu temple, to foster cultural and religious tolerance, and bring diversity to Abu Dhabi. The temple also fit newly passed UAE legislation establishing religious freedom.

As the prince explained, a "civilized, advanced" Abu Dhabi with sustainable development requires "concerted efforts from all sectors of the community" -- Hindus included.

"This is a huge leap from medieval ways of thinking. Humanity is against aggression and stopping others from practicing their faith." — Saleh Al Turigee of Saudi Arabia, who has 143,000 Twitter followers.

Positive voices from the UAE and elsewhere in the Middle East, especially Egypt, supported the temple. It shows that the non-extremist segment not only exists, but is ready to take on the extremists.

"Religion is for Allah only. All Imams agree that building temples for idol worshipping is a blasphemy." — Waseem Yousef, imam of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. He quickly found his television show canceled."

The objective of Education could be modified to : teach and train students to meet the developmental needs of the local community and to be able to contribute significantly to the global economical and technological growth.

Dear Vasile, that is a good question, but to that I do not have all the answers.  What I can guess is that to be welcome UAE, you must have marketable skills that are required by the country: engineering, medical, education etc.  But those refugees want to enter Germany, hoping to receive some financial aid without need to possess the knowledge and skills.  (Now it's just a guess...)

In Malaysia, I am considered a minority.  Minorities work very hard, and many have emigrated to Singapore, NZ, Australia, UK.  Many of my family members are not here anymore.

Vasile Surducan, 

Happy living conditions and conflicts vary from place to place with in country.  They can't be taken to be equal to each other.  

Dear Vasile, I have no answer to what you have stated.  Like most people, I can only pray for peace in my country, and for world peace.  Each of us can only act for increasing goodwill to a small measure, beginning with our own little community.  

How much can one insignificant teacher do to promote peace and unity?  As I have said I belong to a minority ethnic group, and in terms of religion, also a minority. But I care for my students, my friends of other faiths and cultures, and I accept them. I work hard and try my best to teach them, and I find that old students still come back to visit me at college.

If I have the opportunity, I would modify the education objectives of the nation.  But I am not in that position.  In this class that I teach, there is one Indian girl, one Chinese girl, but the rest are Malays. But the history of our nation has caused us all to be together, so I work to promote unity. But there are many who can easily destroy that unity with harsh words and actions.

Dear Miranda Yeoh, 

I totally agree with you. 

I support you. I respect you very much.

I sincerely wish you success!

Yours,

Pavel Zabrodskii (Zabrodsky) 

Vasile, you are an idealist and a dreamer. But sometimes it's necessary. And sometimes it comes as a miracle.

If only !

Josef

Hi Miranda,

I am not sure if you have had any responses from South Africa.

Our setting is multicultural and fortunately we have policies in place to assist with objectives/outcomes that speak to tolerance, diversity and global citizenship (known as critical cross-field outcomes - CCFOs). It is expected that educators incorporate these outcomes into their teaching either through content or teaching and learning activities, e.g. for "Work effectively with others as a member of a team, group, organisation, community" group-work is encouraged and in some instances taught (for example a topic of what makes an effective team can be explored). Other CCFOs include aspects of communicating effectively, awareness of and responsibility towards others, citizenship, and cultural and aesthetic sensitivity.

These changes in policy were encouraged by a need for change in our South African society, with an apartheid history of intolerance, racism, etc. You may be able to find something published related to a South African context that can assist you?

Good luck! This is a relevant and interesting research area.

Regards,

Genevieve

Dear @Miranda, here is fine paper about the issue. Unity through Diversity. Education for a New Europe: The Multicultural Heritage between Romania and Serbia and its Benefits for a Common Educational Policy!

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814002778

Article Unity through Diversity. Education for a New Europe: The Mul...

Wonderful dear Ljubomir!  I will get through it and learn many things from it to share with you soon.  Let me improve my own paper first :)

Dear Miranda Yeoh,

In order to solve the problems required a great deal. Hard work, intelligence, dedication. Discipline, deep faith, fortitude. All of this inner qualities. which in varying degrees have the people. But for maximum benefit, you need to create some external structure to direct the efforts of people in the right direction. You need to organize them.

This guide describes the basic steps in organizing campaigns to solving problems. Do you want to do something to reduce crime and improve the school where your child is learning, the process basically the same. It includes a definition of the problem and creation of a plan to resolve it. Consider the stages of this work:

1. Formulate a question

 2. Develop a strategy

3. Identify the right people who are responsible for decision-making (government officials), allies and enemies.

4. Identify the main idea.

5. Work together with other interested groups.

6. Use the volunteers.

7. Develop effective tactics.

8. Assess.

Best regards, Shafagat

Thanks for your ideas, and fruitful thinking dear@Shafagat.  I will be back, when I can.

Thanks for your question and sharing, Miranda. I appreciated the input from Vasile, Genevieve, Ljubomir, and Shafagat.

If we were the Director/Secretary of Education in our country, we'd have more clout, but we'd still need wisdom and good planning to tackle such a vast and deep-rooted issue.

I agree with Miranda and Vasile that we'd begin on a micro level modeling and teaching respect and acceptance in the classroom and in our  faculty/university/community meetings.

I concur with Shafagat that on a more macro level, we'd formulate goals, plans and strategies. I think having like-minded colleagues to form a team would help. Then articulating the needs and benefits to people of influence strategically to have their buy-in would be essential!

Influential powerful countries ought to be asked to reformulate & to modify their objectives of education so as they give examples for other countries/communities on how to accept (more than tolerate) the different "others".

Marginal weak countries have done their home works & changed the curricula according to the requests that came from abroad. In some 3rd world countries, all school books "concerning religion, history, geography , language, sociology…" were turned upside down to please strong countries & organizations.

When a minister in an influential country was asked about if there are plans to change curricula in his country,his blatant answer was a big NO & he added: No one on earth will force us to change our history & cultural books. Well, the educational system in that country has planted racism among the young & intolerance towards specific colors & creeds. Many generations in that country were misled by the educational system (which portrayed a false enemy but was not brave enough to reveal the true enemy of that country). 

Thanks for your views dear @ Stephen and Dr Nizar.

Dr Nizar, thanks for a brave and honest answer.  Actually I see many things that could be improved.  Most of us do not favor an educational system that divides a country along racial lines, and emphasizes the superiority of one particular race.  I think that such a system will lead to a sad failure, where many are forced to leave the country, unless they have strong reasons to stay.

Dear @Nizar, I share your point of view. We have felt the influence of strong and powerful EU in Serbia, when the Bologna model of education was adopted blindly and fast, it was imposed! The consequences of such approach we do face even now. Our old model of Higher Education was ruined with no reason. There are many countries in EU and rest of Europe that have not adopted Bologna model!

Thanks for such sincere answer. 

Dear friends, concerning changes in educational policies here, we had ETeMS or PPSMI, the acronym for English in Teaching Math and Science, introduced in 2002 by Dr Mahathir the 4th prime minister, so that our country will be strong in STEM, and able to communicate effectively in ENGLISH, the LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE. But schools reverted back to Malay around 2012.  When students came into our college in 2014 from a school system that did not help them to be reasonably good at English, many performed very badly.

Harshvardhan, you have said it.  There must be EQUALITY, EQUITY, THE QUALITY OF BEING FAIR AND IMPARTIAL.  Otherwise, whatever good achieved will not stand the test of time.

Dear @Miranda, I find this might be productive contribution to this thread.

Special Issue of EuroScientist on: The Common Good Economy !

"This issue shares the perspectives from scientists and economics, as well as various actors involved in resolving societal challenges and changing the current economic order from a top-down hierarchy to a more distributed and horizontal governance, to favour localisation and greater equity between all involved...

There is a clear emerging trend, at the age of networked living: we are all citizens of the world, as Bono, the U2 front man, pointed out at his first concert in Dublin on 23rd November 2015. Today, rock stars are not the only ones who can express themselves and be heard. We all have a role to play and chip in to define what we expect from the world of tomorrow..."

An excellent collection of papers follow!

Read more: http://www.euroscientist.com/common-good-economy/#ixzz3u0LBY3MZ

Follow us: @euroscientist on Twitter | Euroscientist on Facebook

Malaysian academics say the country’s higher education system is ripe for an overhaul amid a pervasive “culture of mediocrity” and heavy pressure on universities to satisfy market demands...

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/malaysian-universities-dire-need-ofreform-say-scholars?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial-daily

Teachers must be given the status of public officials instead of the status of service personnel.“I had a terrible education. I attended a school for emotionally disturbed teachers.”

― Woody Allen https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/86237-i-had-a-terrible-education-i-attended-a-school-for?fbclid=IwAR2D7dEqCaI2fn_I1A6uzITCWjU9iKgEbjSmFb5D1AhifZCelv6Poawa5Nw