Answer Happy

Organizational Development Question
CASE 1: MANAGING THE STATE OF DECLINE IN MALAYSIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM The Ministry of Education's Preliminary Report on the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 notes that since Independence, the Education Ministry has consistently received one of the highest budget allocations. In 2011, Malaysia spent the equivalent of 3.8 per cent of its gross domestic product on education, or more than twice the average 1.8 per cent within ASEAN nations. There is no doubt that we have had our share of admirable results. In 2011, Malaysia had achieved near universal enrolment at the primary level at 94%. Youth literacy has risen from 88% in 1980 to near- universal literacy of 99% today. Every year we are told the number of students in UPSR, PMR/PT3 and SPM are getting more and more As, yet when we are compared against others within the region a different story emerges. World Bank's assessment of the state of Malaysia's public education system through its December 2014 report - Malaysia Economic Monitor: High Performing Education - revealed that the quality of education does not bode well for achieving high income status by 2020. Perhaps one of the most shocking points is that not only are we trailing behind high- performing education systems in East Asia, we also lagged behind lower- income countries like Vietnam by a significant margin. Among East Asian countries that participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which compares the math, reading and science skills of secondary school students around the world, Malaysian students lagged far behind their peers in Singapore, who placed second behind top-scorers in Shanghai, China, as well as 15-year-olds in Thailand. We continue to slide in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) benchmark. Where Malaysia's results were "above the international average" between 1999 and 2003, it "declined sharply in 2007 and further in 2011."
Examination results are concealed under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) so no one really knows where the discrepancy occurs. As with any health diagnosis, would we tolerate the doctor not showing us our test results so that we know exactly where the problem is and what we need to change? The World Bank noted that Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 contained a progression towards a school-based management system that would encourage greater autonomy, although it noted a "lack of specificity about how such a system would operate." That the specifics are lacking is worrying to parents, educators and employers. While the Blueprint says all the right things and its mission is undoubtedly sincere, are we not going to be given specific action plans and benchmarks to move forward? The reality is that we have an entrenched system of conformity, in which too much of education remains about fitting in, rather than standing out. When we insist on conformity, we breed mediocrity. After about 12 years of conformity between pre-school and the end of secondary school, we've pretty much put the minds of our children in a deep freeze. Apart from these disturbing facts, the discipline level of school students in Malaysia is also alarming with two to three per cent of the more than five million students in the country involved with disciplinary problems in 2015, according to the ministry. In 2015, 111,484 students were caught for indiscipline and they comprised 72,557 or 65.08 per cent from secondary schools and 38,927 or 34.92 per cent from primary schools. This included 17,595 students (0.32 per cent) who were involved in crime, misbehaviour (0.39 per cent or 18,346), truancy (19,545 or 0.36 per cent), pornography (3,031 or 0.06 per cent) and vandalism (5,212 or 0.1 per cent), based on the ministry report. A long list of stories of viral bullying videos emerging from our schools really drove home one fact. We have to stop this problem before a Malaysian boy or girl in our schools winds up dead thanks to bullies (in August 2016, 13 year old Daniel Fitzpatrick from New York, committed suicide by hanging himself after growing tired of being bullied because of his weight and his grades, and was too frustrated that his school simply allowed it to continue and promised him that the bullying will pass after a while). As it is, these viral videos are often forgotten soon after the stories are published, even if they generated 45,325 views and 541 likes when they were posted to Facebook as one such video did earlier in February 2016. Probably parents need to be engaged and empowered to initiate a desperate change in our education system. They have an inalienable right to be at the table to ensure that their children are not only getting the best education the country has to offer but also the one with the safest environment, and the most effective in creating balanced human beings. Educators must also be willing to learn and unlearn the multiple approaches to effective teaching and learning in the 21st century.
This is where you come in. You are a sought-after management consultant being hired by the new Minister of Education to recommend a quick fix that will ensure a complete recovery from our current slump. You have been given a year of unlimited access to all information at the ministry and those related to it. You are expected to come up with a comprehensive presentation to the key personnel at the ministry in 6 months from today's date. You understand that the current financial constraints of the Malaysian economy could limit your proposed plans to improve the education system, so major investments on fixed assets (like the establishment of educational centers or buildings that can act as educational hubs) and expensive international field surveys (benchmark visits to document the educational systems in exemplary countries like South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, the UK, or Canada) are out of the question. In your quest for something viable, you remember reading a report from the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers several years ago, about global spending on education reaching a whopping $3.9 trillion, or 5.6% of planetary GDP. America spends the most-about $1.3 trillion a year-yet the U.S. ranks 25th out of the 34 OECD countries (group of developed nations around the world) in mathematics, 17th in science and 14th in reading. And, as in so many other areas of American life, those averages expose a deeper divide: The U.S. is the only developed country to have high proportions of both top and bottom performers. About a fifth of American 15-year-olds do not have basic competence in science; 23% can't use math in daily life. Your task: Assume that your group (number of members must be indicated by your instructor) has been chosen as OD consultants for the country to prepare a working paper to propose to the minister on ways to effectively and efficiently manage the above mentioned issues in Malaysia. Your paper submission and an oral presentation that will be arranged must contain information about the following (cite your sources):
1. Think of the Malaysian education system and apply the open systems perspective to describe the interplay involved. Describe all FIVE (5) components. (5 marks) 2. As an external OD practitioner, explain any FIVE (5) items that should be specified in your contract with Malaysia's Ministry of Education. (5 marks) 3. Conduct a complete diagnosis to highlight the possible problems of the current national education system. (10 marks) 4. What are possible OD interventions (process, interpersonal and team development) that you may need to suggest to solve the problems in Question 3? (15 marks) 5. Describe the general Malaysian culture. How does it contribute to the current problems indicated in Question 3? How will it affect the interventions suggested in Question 5? (5 marks) 6. Discuss the alignment required to set the Malaysian education system on its path to high performance, success and sustainable growth. (10 marks)