• UPDATED 10.23PM | Added comments by former deputy education minister P Kamalanathan and National Council of Professors chairperson Shamsul Amri.

Following the resignation of Maszlee Malik as the education minister yesterday, several groups and personalities have proposed people who may have what it takes to helm the hot seat.

For former deputy education minister P Kamalanathan, he said the ministry was a difficult one to captain for several reasons including the sheer number of stakeholders involved.

“The two people who have the right combination of talent, drive and experience are current Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and former international trade and industry minister Mustapa Mohamed. They would top the list for me.

“It’s definitely a hard ministry to captain. There are many reasons but just a quick count of stakeholders, parents of schoolgoing children and those in tertiary education, would account for easily 12 to 14 million people,” he said.

This makes it nearly impossible for an education minister to satisfy everyone. In addition, he said education policies were often seen from a racial perspective instead of an academic one.

“This makes a hard job a lot tougher as firefighting becomes the vocation of the leadership instead of governing,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Kamalanathan had served under then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s cabinet, holding office as deputy education minister from 2013 to 2018.

Meanwhile, National Council of Professors chairperson Shamsul Amri Baharuddin noted that the position of education minister had been allocated to a Bersatu MP.

“Since it’s a Bersatu quota, Mustapha is the best (choice). He was minister for higher education before.

“He was also at the International Trade and Industry Ministry, which gives added value to the cabinet and foreign investors since he is an experienced old hand who can stabilise the market sentiment,” he told Malaysiakini.

Mustapa was the higher education minister from 2006 to 2008 and international trade and industry minister from 2009 until 2018.

He defected from Umno following the 14th general election and officially joined Bersatu on Oct 27, 2018.

For the record, Saifuddin, who was deputy higher education minister from 2009 to 2013, has dismissed speculation that he will be appointed as education minister to replace Maszlee.

Meanwhile, academics NGO Gerak argued that the post should be depoliticised by appointing only academics as education minister.

In a media statement today, they said that only economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram and former UKM vice-chancellor Mohd Sham Mohd Sani are fit for the post.

"Gerak believes the depoliticisation of education is necessary, to make us more equipped to face a fast-changing, challenging world.

"Hence, while many are clamouring for the appointment of faded and fake degree politicians as the next education minister, Gerak would propose just two names, KS Jomo and Sham Sani. Both are intellectual giants who have had vast experience in academia.

"Both, we are confident, can remove deadwood and political and religious lackeys and bring forth genuine reform."

Jomo, who is a professor, and Sham, an emeritus professor, are prominent academicians in Malaysia.

Jomo used to be part of the Council of Eminent Persons that advised the Pakatan Harapan ruling government in its early days after winning the 14th general election last year while Sham is now the pro-chancellor for private institution City University.

Sham also used to be a member of the Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel that advised the MACC.

Besides proposing the names, Gerak, its full name being the Malaysian Academic Movement, also called for the government to again split the administration of higher education from the basic academic level.

It said modern formal education should not be under the responsibility of a single ministry.

"First, the formal splitting of the Education Ministry into two ministries, the first a ministry for non-tertiary education to formulate strategies and policies for education from the nursery to the secondary school.

"And a separate ministry for tertiary education. Here a ministerial position for Maszlee could be possible, indeed advantageous, given the initiatives he had begun during his tenure.

"Modern formal education is too complex and complicated to be lumped together under one ministry," said the statement.

The NGO added that positive efforts by Maszlee in improving the country's education system should also be continued by his successor, including the move towards dismantling the University and University Colleges Act (UUCA), the independent committee to select vice-chancellors for public universities and the independent Integrity Committee that investigates cases of fraud and malpractices in universities.

"Under his (Maszlee) tenure a new, independent committee for the selection of public university vice-chancellors was set up in mid-2019.

"This is in line with Gerak’s call for the abolishment of political appointments of top university posts and the implementation of independent selection procedures.

"As expected, this has not gone smoothly, largely due to resistance by the incumbents who have used the old standard practice of garnering the support of powerful individuals and institutions outside academia.

"Nonetheless, the procedures have been put in place to replace these old, politically-linked and feudal ways. It is now up to all parties concerned to make sure the system works for the betterment of Malaysian public universities."

In a sudden decision, Maszlee yesterday held a press conference announcing his resignation as the minister, 20 months of holding the position.