KUALA LUMPUR: Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who is defending his Muar parliamentary seat, has education high on his list of priorities for the 15th General Election.
The former youth and sports minister said he wants to reform and improve the Malaysian education system, having been inspired to do so as he comes from a family of teachers.
"I come from a family of teachers whereby my mother, my sister and my uncle are teachers. All are educators, so teaching is in my blood.
"I would be lying if I were to say that I am not sad with the state of the current education system.
"In Sabah, students have to ride the boat or sampan to reach the schools and cross rickety wooden bridges over rivers with strong currents just to receive education.
"In Kelantan, teachers ride motorcycles on dangerous, muddy trails just to carry out their duties as educators.
"Malaysia has been a proud and an independent nation for many years now, and the rich keep getting richer," he said in a Facebook post uploaded earlier today.
Syed Saddiq also spoke about how elected representatives lived a comfortable life, while there were students and teachers who suffered just to attend school.
"It's 2022 and we are still backwards in terms of learning and teaching. There are many university students who fret about taking too long to complete their tertiary education.
"It is not even on par with the standard of education of many other countries. This has been a subject close to my heart even before I entered politics.
"Since I am in the political arena, I want to bring changes to the Malaysian education system.
"I want to see the development and betterment of the system. I do not want to see an education system where students have to study close to 10 years just to get a certificate," he opined.
Syed Saddiq said he wanted to see a Malaysian education system that could produce youths who are smart, intelligent and critical; who could stamp their marks as capable leaders in the global economy.
"This is all for our future," he stressed.