Prime Minister Najib Razak drew the line in the sand today, saying in Parliament that Malaysians who are now struggling with the rising cost of living are only having difficulties because they’re not better educated.
Najib, who had himself served as Minister of Education from 1995 to 2000, said most Malaysians feeling the pressure of the country’s higher cost of living only had a Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) cert to their name, or worse yet, didn’t pass the national Form Five exam.
“One of the biggest reasons for high living costs pressures is because the people still have low education levels,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today, as quoted by The Malay Mail Online‘s Kamles Kumar.
“If we only have SPM qualification and do not have a diploma, degree or skills, we won’t be able to get jobs that pay well.”
Najib stressed on his administration’s intention of bringing up the number of Malaysians with tertiary education credentials.
“We want to increase on the number of Malaysians who have extra qualifications. We must think more than the 11 years of SPM education.
“When people have better qualifications they can earn more.We need to plant this in the people’s mind.”
Najib was answering a question from Bagan Serai MP Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali of UMNO, who asked how the lifestyle choices of Malaysians affected the national cost of living.
