it has a "shut-off device" that rejects new ideas
once a primary belief or ideology gets in.
Between 4–7 September 2026, I had a series of exchanges on LinkedIn with Dr. Karen Faulds, an educational consultant and assessor in the UK. I am preserving the discussion here for posterity because it illustrates a recurring problem: when entrenched practices are defended despite stagnant outcomes.
Malaysia’s poor PISA performance is not about “context” or “Covid excuses” — it is about systemic negligence: wrong teaching of letter sounds, failure to remediate intelligent children who disengage, and a culture of denial among so‑called experts like Dr. Anuar Ahmad who block questions instead of answering them. Singapore screens and rescues its “shutdown kids” early, Malaysia labels them dyslexic and leaves them behind.
We know the brain can learn to read. Some children, like Emma Hartnell-Baker, pick up Enid Blyton at age three with no instruction. But most aren’t so lucky. They need teaching — and the science is clear: everything hinges on connecting letters to sounds.
Many intelligent children falter not because of lack of ability, but because of shame avoidance. When early struggles in reading are met with ridicule or punishment, these children misbehave to mask their difficulties. In supportive systems, they thrive; in punitive ones, they derail.
Here are extracts from the talk-show by YB Khairy Jamaluddin.
Malaysia’s grade inflation debate misses the deeper crisis: failing to identify and support intelligent children who struggle with reading early on. Until literacy reform takes priority, more A’s will mean less progress.
We are getting more A’s but our international Benchmarking is getting worse.
Is it because of grade inflation?
These are all views and comments that we hear but no one is incentivized to touch this because parents, students, teachers and the education industry, we have a huge tuition industry, everyone is incentivized to just continue to churn As, and not actually sit down and say, ’Hey, wait a minute, more A’s but Benchmark Internationally we are still doing badly’.
I recently reached out to Enc. Khairy Jamaluddin for a Zoom meeting after listening to the latest Keluar Sekejap podcast. In that episode, he and Enc. Shahril Hamdan highlighted a striking contrast: more than 13,000 students scored straight A's in SPM 2025 — yet Malaysia's PISA scores continue to fall badly. The discussion raised uncomfortable but necessary questions about whether our education system is delivering real excellence or just an illusion of success.
Why We Read, Watch, and Stay Silent — Even When the Glass Barrier Is Gone
Recently, the popular podcast Keluar Sekejap (hosted by Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan) sparked an important discussion: In SPM 2025, more than 13,000 students achieved straight A's — a number that looks impressive on paper. Yet Malaysia's PISA scores continue to decline. The episode asked a pointed question: Is our education system truly producing excellence, or are we creating an illusion of success? Many of us watched or read about that episode (and similar critiques). We nod in agreement privately. We share the concern about "shut-down kids," rote learning, dyslexia being overlooked, and students who master exams but struggle with real-world application and critical thinking. But how many of us actually comment publicly on Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), or even in the comments section? Very few!
Here is the video link to Keluar sekejap: https://x.com/i/status/2040334125614383385
In Parts 1 and 2, we examined real-world evidence that most children labelled “dyslexic” in English-speaking systems are not truly dyslexic in the neurobiological sense. Singapore's top PISA reading performance (543 points in 2022, OECD average 476; 89% at Level 2 proficiency or higher) and low reported dyslexia rate (~3.5% of Primary 3 students per MOE data from 2016–2019) show what happens when explicit, pure-sound instruction prevents confusion from the start. Cross-language cases (kids reading Malay or clean Pinyin fluently but struggling in English) prove the issue is often instructional—extraneous sounds (“buh” vs. pure /b/) create artificial blending failures and shutdowns, not an innate phonological deficit.
For over fifteen years I have been saying the same thing: the vast majority of children labelled “dyslexic” in English-speaking countries are not dyslexic at all. They are intelligent kids who shut down because they were taught reading in a way that created confusion. Once the confusion is removed, they read. I have seen it happen with more than eighty children I taught one-to-one between 2004 and 2019.Yet every year the numbers keep rising. In the US, UK, Australia and many other places, 10 % to 20 % of children are now being told they have dyslexia. That cannot be right. A real neurobiological condition that affects the way the brain processes spoken sounds should not suddenly explode to one in five children just because we changed the way we label it.
Singapore shows us the truth. The Singapore Evidence:
I read this Substack article from the Scottish Union for Education this morning:
It highlights falling standards but dodges the hard truths. Here's why it's yet another evasion from those who refuse to face the real problems.
Extract:
This is despite the fact that Scottish standards in reading, math and science have been falling, according to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
Echoes, Evidence, and the PISA Wake-Up Call
Shouldn’t we think before accepting anything we read?
Since 2016, when I first read that “reading is biologically unnatural,” I’ve disagreed. This post shows what happens when one researcher makes a claim—and others repeat it without question. Stanislas Dehaene. Pamela Snow. David Chalk. Regie Routman. The myth spreads. The consequences deepen.
Gatekeeping, Credentials, and the Fear of Accountability
Recap: What They Block
Parts 1 and 2 exposed the profit motives and herd-driven hit squads that silence my evidence-based solutions:
✅ Teaching pure /b/ instead of "buh"
✅ Free lessons over multimillion-dollar curricula
✅ Student success over PAD myths
But the ugliest motive? Gatekeeping.
Herd Mentality and the Comfort of Consensus
Recap: Why They Block
In Part 1, I exposed how my free, results-driven lessons threaten the dyslexia intervention industry. That’s why I’ve been blocked by prominent figures like:
Jo Anne Gross
Debbie Hepplewhite
Here’s a post based on my discussion with Grok/X.
This is a continuation of ‘For those interested in education(1)'.
Hey folks—Luqman Michel here, picking up where we left off in part 1. If you missed it, hop back: We're diving into chats with Grok (that's this AI from xAI) on dyslexia myths, fixes, and why the "experts" sometimes miss the mark. Today? A snippet on groups like the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), Nancy Hennessy's wisdom, and those stuck NAEP scores that scream "decades of drift." (And yes, Grok can think... or at least fake it convincingly.)
Grok asked: Have you connected with groups like the International Dyslexia Association lately?
For ‘The Atlantic's’ December issue cover story, contributing writer David Brooks argues that the nation's top schools are trapped in an outdated meritocracy system that needs to be redefined. LINK
My thoughts:
I believe David Brooks is missing the mark, yet this will be the cover story for The Atlantic’s December issue. After listening to his commentary, I have several observations:
David’s commentary:
James Cannon didn't have the right definition of human ability. For him, it was all IQ and IQ is important if you want to be an astrophysicist, it is probably important to have a high IQ but other things are more important, being curious, having a passionate drive, being a good team member, agility, knowing how to move in life so it's you're graceful toward other people. All these traits which were hard to measure got lopped off and so we not only created these Elites, this inherited cast system but it's not that competent because it doesn't select based on the real skills in society.
My post yesterday was prompted by an article written by Syed Akbar Ali. LINK.
Here are extracts from that article:
Dear Malay brothers and sisters, there is a big difference in understanding, opinion and approach between the Chinese and the Malay-Muslims regarding education.
This is one of the main reasons why young Chinese people grow up to become towkays, managers and owners of companies and businesses, but Muslim Malay children will be chronically dependent on Malay political power to earn a living.
Recently I blogged on Dr. Anuar Ahmad of UKM and Puan Fadhlina Sidek stating that they do not respond to emails on how to reduce intervention.
A Facebook member replied that it is harsh to put the blame solely on them as Dr. Anuar Ahmad is a researcher and Puan Fadhlina Sidek is only a minister. He said that it was the Education Ministry who implemented irrelevant curricula that is to be blamed.
Education Experts in Malaysia must think the Malaysians are a stupid lot of people who will believe everything they say.
Here are extracts from our New Straits Times dated January 24, 2024 and my comments.
Education experts said it is unfair to entirely judge the standards of the country's education system based on lower scores in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa).
"The success of our education system is not determined just by Pisa," said National Council of Professors (MPN) president Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Raduan Che Rose.
