KUALA LUMPUR: Ministers and deputy ministers, who have no background in the portfolios they are holding, should be open to accepting suggestions from experts in the related fields.
Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan said ministers and deputy ministers did not need to have a background in their respective portfolios to fulfil their obligations.
"The most important thing is that they understand (what needs to be done) and are willing to accept ideas from experts within and outside their respective ministries.
"They (ministers and their deputies) must formulate policies based on the suggestions given by the experts. They don't have to be experts in their portfolios to be good ministers," he told the New Straits Times.
Citing former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Dr Azmi said, he performed well despite not having a health background.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and her deputy, Lim Hui Ying, are first-timers holding cabinet posts and they, too, lack a background in education.
Meanwhile, Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said it might be advantageous to have both the education minister and deputy minister without a background in education.
"Everyone has an opinion of the education system because we all went to school, and thus we have a right to criticise. Therefore, it is of no consequence that the new ministers have no experience.
"In fact, it may even be advantageous that they are able to think objectively and thus not be prejudiced," she said when contacted today.
She said the group urged the ministers to review the recommendations proposed by the previous National Education Advisory Council (NEAC) 2018-2020, which covered specific areas in the teaching of the English language, special education, teacher professionalism, public-private partnership and religious studies.
"These appear to have been overcome by the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, these recommendations hold firm and will help the ministers tremendously in hitting the ground running.
She said having a new NEAC was laudable and should proceed as provided for in the Education Act 1996, but this might see duplications and would take time before it could bear any fruit.
"Nonetheless, it is imperative that the national education policy and national philosophy of education be foremost in their minds as new policies, if any, are to be formulated during their term."