One of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's avowed priorities was revamping the education system. He was actually openly acknowledging what has long been in the hearts of anxious parents and other concerned parties. Pak Lah's tacit admission of the sad state affairs was an encouraging start.

However, conquering Mt Everest was kacang putih compared to the task of turning over a system that's groaning under the weight of inertia.

One letter to the editor in a local daily provided a disturbing example of the bureaucratic indifference that the PM is up against.

'Working Mom' is a member of the SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, Petaling Jaya's Parent-Teacher Association Board. In the two years on the board she appears to have absorbed enough punishment to be pushed into taking up pen and paper to vent her frustrations.

Her main point is that the school, a premier institute in the district, is being ignored by the state education authorities. It's not far fetched to assume that the situation is being replicated throughout the country, she suggested.

Consider this: That PTA has not only to meet the expenses of repairs and maintenance of the school but also pay the salary of the computer teacher.

According to 'Working Mom', this year the target for the PTA is RM150,000 to provide a new roof for the canteen, which is "in such a deplorable state" that the roof leaks and part of the floor gets flooded whenever it rains.

"We were told that the school administrator approached the district education office countless times, but nothing came out of it.

"I am surprised that this lackadaisical attitude of high ranking government officials still exists despite government effort to improve efficiency."

Her statement exposes a very grave situation - one that can tantamount to dereliction of duty at various levels.

Bureaucracy

Notice that the school's complaints did not go any higher than the district education office, which gives rise to a whole slew of questions.

Why not would be the automatic first response to which the answer would be the real fear of bureaucratic retribution.

So what happened to the supervisory responsibility at the state level? If that failed then the next target for blame should be the ministry itself.

'Working Mom', in itself a term loaded with social significance these days, has this to say about the ministry:

"What then is the role of the Education Ministry in providing safe and sound infrastructure for public schools if the PTA is raise funds every year just so that the school can function properly?"

Her stinging follow-up question was: "Is this really the responsibility of the PTA or have we been tricked into taking over the responsibility by the ministry?"

The next step up this ladder is the bureaucracy's purported masters, the wakil rakyat. They are supposed to keep an ear close to the ground.

There are two Barisan Nasional MPs representing PJ aside from the state assemblymen. So how come the ministry is in the dark on this issue? Is it possible that despite all those frequent family days and gotong royong gatherings, government politicians and the rakyat are not really as close as one is led to believe by the mass media?

Without doubt, an education system devoted to the well-rounded development of the individual is a paramount requirement for building a resilient nation. If the vital area of administration in our education system is faulty, what others are in trouble, is an unsettling question.

Going elsewhere

Is it any wonder then that parents who can afford it are enrolling their children in private schools. Others, including a fair number of bumiputeras are opting for Chinese schools.

The fear is the perceived danger of government's waning influence over future generations, aside from the deepening of the racial divide.

Related to this is the other phenomenon which repeats itself with near metronomic regularity decade after decade: the brain drain. Without fail, there are also regular appeals for these expatriates to return and help develop the homeland.

The main push factor for most emigrating Malaysians is worry over the education of their children. Strengthening their case is the existence of around 50,000 unemployable graduates whose ranks are bound to swell as the years roll by.

There's also another danger to the establishment, born out of the information era which has already invaded the country; but not in a massive scale as yet. Some parents are already augmenting their children's school lessons with tuition software and reporting glowing results.

The next step would be home teaching, totally circumventing public schools. There are ample recognised external examinations which can grade these students. This would force the government to reduce the ministry to a licensing agent.

What remains unpredictable is when this dramatic change in education would sweep across the nation.

For a civil service to rise to the challenges posed by the information age, it demands a high degree of flexibility. To demand of one, marked by indolence and rigidity, to acquire the necessary mental habits is to ask for the impossible.

To hide this deadly vulnerability our politicians and their hangers-on, it would appear, are caught in the embrace of tireless self-congratulations, trapping themselves in a hypnotic trance.

Not a week goes by without someone, who is somebody, insisting that some institute or other is striving for world class status, or the country is aiming to become the hub of this, that or the other.

One can see the smug self-satisfied smile on them as they pour forth those vacuous words quite unwilling to see the ground opening up under them.

Their litany of self-delusion is akin to that infamous emperor who fiddled as Rome burnt. An old adage has it that the chain is as strong as the weakest link; and there are many in this country.