Education policies should be made by students, teachers and parents

I HAVE had 11 years of schooling. The government has no doubt invested hundreds of thousands of ringgit in me and my friends to educate us until secondary level. "Was all that investment worth it?" I will try providing the reader with a simple breakdown of the experience and knowledge that I have gained in 11 years of schooling.
There is no doubt that I have gained knowledge of each of my subjects, from Chemistry to History. It has helped me in my daily life and allowed me to make a career choice. However, I have noticed that in Mathematics and Science we are far behind Singapore and other European countries. I sat for the Asean Scholarship entry exam and was dumbfounded by the level of difficulty of the questions.
My simple conclusion is that Malaysia's science and mathematics curriculum is still lacking. In the matter of History, I find that although it is useful and interesting, it is overly Malay and Islam-centric.
History taught in Malaysian schools lacks a comprehensive worldview. The language subjects such as Malay and English are overly exam centred and fail to provide students with a fun and in-depth learning experience of languages.
If a student is fluent or well-versed with a language it is more probably because of family background and personal interest than good schooling. Moral studies is a joke and a gimmick with no true educational value.
In the matter of 21st century skills, Malaysian education has succeeded partially in my opinion. We are indeed taught about teamwork and collaboration through group presentations and projects. I understand however that the idea of group presentation is new and my teachers often grumble that it is a waste of time.
As for communication, I find that it depends on the students inclination. If they are prepared to be more open then they find that the school environment is perfect for honing communication skills especially through public speaking and debate. If students are shy and introverted then they will have a hard time learning to communicate as teachers rarely push students to be more vocal.
Critical thinking and creativity is severely lacking with students only being creative about their excuses when they fail to pass up homework. Our education system still encourages rote memorisation and stifles fresh ideas and honest opinions. Students are often told to "just follow orders" without good reason.
The over-emphasis on exams puts unreasonable pressure on students to produce good results at whatever cost.
Schools are not pressure cookers and students are not machines who churn out good grades.
The government should once and for all abolish the "Four Exams a Year" system.
We should instead just have one final exam at the end of the year.
Exams during the beginning and middle of the year are unproductive as they waste precious teaching time and are not comprehensive.
Education policies should be made by students, teachers and parents not politicians.
Students are not scapegoats for some harebrained politician to prove a political point. Is our education system a success or failure?
You be the judge. I do hope that my comment is critical and fair. It is not my intention to be biased or hurt anyone. I merely wish to give readers a perspective of our education system from a student's point of view.
Student
Senai