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DISTRICT education offices will be given more flexibility in their operations so that they can plan and take action to narrow the gaps in student access to education and achievements more effectively.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the offices would be headed by top-performing leaders to ensure that school management is handled competently.

He said accountability would be based on a standard key performance indicator which would be disseminated to all offices.

Muhyiddin, who is also Educa-tion Minister, said this was in line with the areas of reform identified in the National Education Blueprint which is to empower district education offices, state education departments and schools.

He said the Government’s aim is to provide a high-quality education system. “We have to make sure our resources are being used effectively to build the best schools possible.”

“Good leadership aside, this will also require joint efforts which will involve district education offices, state education departments, parents and local communities,” he said before presenting awards to schools and district education offices at Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Integrasi Gombak recently.

by Tan Ee Loo.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2013/4/21/education/12949690&sec=education

BELURAN: — The education transformation plan for remote schools in Sabah and Sarawak has outlined seven thrusts to raise academic performance.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today the plan was a paradigm shift for comprehensive change by stressing factors that had been identified to be able to contribute to the enhancement of academic excellence, namely teachers, students, parents, community and infrastructure.

“To ensure effective implementation, the plan will be enforced in stages starting this year until 2015,” he said when launching the transformation plan here.

Present were Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said the first thrust was to improve leadership quality and management skills at all levels, especially at the state and district education departments and schools.

The second thrust would concentrate on issues related to curriculum, teaching follow-up and teaching assessment to ensure that students in the remote areas could achieve academic excellence on par with those in the towns.

Two other thrusts were to enhance physical infrastructure development, Internet access and virtual learning environment and to improve the quality of students and pre-schools with the hope that all students would be able to rise to the occasion and study.

Muhyiddin said the fifth thrust was to ensure the quality and welfare of teachers by, among others, ensuring that their existing quarters were upgraded or increased while the sixth was to improve hostel factilities in schools chosen to house students and to build transit houses or guest rooms for parents to spend the night to enable them to interact with their children.

Under the seventh thrust, a learning ecosystem would be formed to build a harmonious network to enhance cooperation between the local community and the schools, he added.

He said that for a start, under the first phase this year, six schools in the Sabah interior and three in the Sarawak inerior had been selected for upgrading or improvement according to actual needs.

The second phase next year would involve two schools in Sarawak and five in Sabah, while the third in 2015 would involve a school in Sarawak and three in Sabah.

BERNAMA.

Read more @ http://education.bernama.com/index.php?sid=news_content&id=943119

PUTRAJAYA: More than 90,000 students are expected to enrol in vocational colleges by 2020 under the Education Ministry’s vocational education transformation programme.

The ministry’s technical and vocational education division director, Ahmad Tajudin Jab said the students would be moulded to become highly-skilled workers in a higher institution environment.

He said the goal is to create workers that are competent and work-ready, and prepare them to face the challenges of the working world.

“It is not like a school, where we produce students. The college is aimed to create a capable workforce for the country,” he said.

Tajudin said the transformation programme is part of the National Education Blueprint 2012 and the 10th Malaysia Plan, which emphasised increasing the number of proficient human resources.

He said the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) will result in nearly one million jobs requiring vocational certificates or diplomas over the next ten years, creating a huge market for students who choose to study in the vocational colleges.

The colleges, which were previously vocational schools, offer the students a chance to experience work in the different industries.

Tajudin said this is done through a number of memoranda of understanding that was established between the colleges and various companies or organisations like the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers.

“The companies can provide, among other things, apprenticeship or on-the-job training for the students while the students themselves can find ways to contribute to the company. We are expecting more than 100 more MoUs this year,” he said.

He said they expected 70 per cent of their students to start working upon graduation, 20 per cent to further their studies, while ten per cent would start their own businesses and become entrepreneurs.

by Aisyah Sulaiman.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/shaping-skilled-and-work-ready-students-1.255000

TAWAU: The focus and attention given by Barisan Nasional (BN) government under the leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on educational development and the general welfare of teachers and lecturers alike, have left them among those inspired and touched beyond words.

According to the distinguished academician in Sabah, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching, the general welfare of teachers had always been taken care of especially with the introduction of attractive incentives, including continuous career development opportunities and critical allowances for vocational, English, Mathematics and Science teachers.

“Besides, teachers also have a good chance of being promoted to the highest level possible without having to leave school or being posted to education offices or ministry,” she told Bernama here.

She said promotion methods allocated only to teaching profession also comprised the time-based promotion and promotion for excellent principals or headmasters and promotion for excellent teachers.

“So, this clearly provides a clear justification that the BN government is a caring government because what truly matters is to ensure that the welfare of teachers is being well taken care of,” she said.

Mary Yap, the former excellent principal of Sekolah Menengah Teknik Tawau, said one of the proofs of BN government being a caring government was when it gave equal attention to mission schools and national-type schools.

Read more @ http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/67514

CHALLENGING: We should not ne complacent, says Muhyiddin.

BANGI: SIX initiatives of the Malaysia Education Blueprint (PPPM)  2013-2025 have been implemented within the first 100 days of its launch.

The initiatives, which were part of the National Key Result Area, was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on July 11, 2009.

“The first 100 days had been challenging and I would like to congratulate the education workforce in realising the human capital agenda,” said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“However, we must not be complacent for we still have a long way to go. The education transformation we adopt today not only affects the 5.5 million students now but also generations to come. This first 100 days should chart our path to provide the best education in the many more years to come.”

He was speaking at the event commemorating the Achievement of the First 100 Days of PPPM 2013-2025 at SM Jalan 4 in Bandar Baru Bangi here yesterday.

Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said the six initiatives were part of the 25 initiatives given priority to be implemented this year. He added that the initiatives implemented were the 1Agenda initiative; Education Performance and Delivery (Padu) unit and Corporation; parents’ toolkit; English proficiency of educators; the district transformation programme; and the e-Guru video library.

The 1Agenda initiative is a combination of four government policies: the PPPM, Government Transformation Plan, Economic Transformation Plan and the 10th Malaysia Plan.

Out of 100 initiatives, 25 will be given focus this year involving efficient and transparent government policies’ implementation.

The Padu unit and Corporation initiative were established to report on the status of the PPPM to the education minister. It will also be tasked with contributing fund to implement the initiatives. Padu will be headed by chief executive officer Datuk Dr Rujhan Mustafa.

To address the English proficiency of teachers, 61,000 English educators sat an English proficiency test, through the Cambridge placement test. This is to increase the quality and standard of teachers in preparation for the implementation of the must-pass requirement in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia beginning 2016.

The PPPM has also come up with a parents’ toolkit to help encourage learning not only in school but also at home and in the community. The initiative, launched on Feb 24, was attended by 5,000 parents, teachers and non-governmental organisations. About 10,000 toolkits were given to schools nationwide.

There are still many problems in our education system yet the reforms needed are moving at a glacial pace, compared with the world our children will grow up in.

A RECENT headline claimed that Malaysia’s education system is fast becoming the world’s best.

I really had to blink several times because it seemed as farfetched a claim as Malaysian women now being equal to our men.

Further down in the article it said that we still had a long way to go before we could “justify” the claim that we are at par with the world’s best.

Once again, we are handed a confusing statement. Are we improving or are we not?

According to our Government Transfor-mation Plan (GTP) report: “The rate of improvement of the system in the last 15 years is among the fastest in the world.”

But that actually says very little because it can mean that while 15 people can now read when previously there were 10, it still means there are only 15 literate people.

I really wish the media would ask tougher questions of pronouncements like this.

One of the GTP targets is to get 92% enrolment in pre-schools.

For a long time, we have been proud of our literacy rates. But it turns out we measure our literacy rates through school enrolment rates, which any schoolchild will tell you is not the same thing. Just because you went to school doesn’t mean you’re literate.

Indeed, just because you pass your school exams, it doesn’t mean you’re literate either, as any frustrated employer can tell you.

So achieving high enrolment should be only part of the goal, the rest is about giving our children quality education.

Undoubtedly, there are supposed to be four key GTP initiatives to improve the quality of education but this does not necessarily translate into a “fast-improving” education system.

Our problems are so numerous yet the reforms needed in our education system are moving at a glacial pace, compared with the world our kids will grow up in.

by Marina Mahathir.

Read more  @ http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=musings&file=/2013/3/28/columnists/musings/12885694&sec=Musings

A new research project aims to amplify the views of the underprivileged on the national education system, so that their needs can be effectively met.

I DON’T want to create a class war here, but those who are better educated and better-off tend to have the loudest voices in matters of public policy,” says Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

“They know how to write to the press, articulate themselves in television interviews, organise demonstrations and so on – and the poor tend to get left out.”

He remembers making a similar observation during several town hall sessions held last year as part of the consultation process for the Malaysia Education Blueprint.

“We noticed that these were mainly attended by teachers, or well-off members of the public who could afford to take time off and travel to the meetings.

“That immediately created a concern that the opinions presented were confined to the urban middle-class, so we decided to start this project to complement the Government’s efforts,” he says.

The project referred to is the Voice of the Poor research initiative, a joint effort by IDEAS and arise Asia Sdn Bhd which aims to articulate the views of the “bottom 40%” on education.

Only the first stage of the project has been completed so far, where seven focus group discussions with low-income parents were held in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Perak, Kelantan and Sabah.

The project defines “low-income” as urban and semi-urban parents with a household income of below RM2,000, and rural parents with a household income of below RM1,500.

by Priya Kulasagaran

Read more @ thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2013/2/17/education/12704875&sec=education

PUTRAJAYA: — One of the transformation efforts to be given attention in implementing the National Education Development Blueprint (2013-2025) is finding a suitable formula to reduce the workload of teachers.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said this was among the matters that had been discussed with Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in implementing the blueprint.

“This change will be effected to lessen teachers’ tasks that are not related to their prime responsibility as educators,” he said when speaking at Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah’s Golden Jubilee celebration, here, Thursday.

BERNAMA.

Read more @ http://education.bernama.com/index.php?sid=news_content&id=926956

Ahead of the unveiling of the National Education Blueprint on Tuesday, our columnist shares why an education steeped in the humanities is needed to produce open-minded and competitive citizens.

I attended the UiTM School of Mass Communications 40th anniversary last weekend. I was among the pioneer batch of students, blazing the trail for the country’s first batch of academically trained journalists, advertising, public relations and broadcasting professionals.

As hundreds of us gathered amidst hugs and shrieks of joy, what many of us most reminisced about was the incredible education we got in a nurturing environment that enabled us to learn, think, imagine and rebel. For us among the first few batches of students, much was owed to Tan Sri Arshad Ayub, the pioneering educationist who led ITM’s exponential growth, who provided us the space and the opportunity to realise our full potential.

Long before private-public sectors partnerships and twinning programmes were de rigueur, Arshad was already thinking out of the box, passionate in ensuring his young charges got the best education.

He brought top Malaysian professionals from the private and public sectors to teach us and university professors, local and abroad, to provide us additional academic rigour.

This was 1972, long before all kinds of insecurities, imagined fears and threats against our identities as Malays, as Muslims, got the better of us. We were pioneers, hungry for knowledge from anywhere, anyone, hungry to be the best.

And it was education leaders like Arshad and our first Head of School, Marina Samad, who stopped at nothing to give us the best in order to bring out the best in us.

In those early days of educating Malays to enter the professions, there seemed to be a clear vision and philosophy that only an education steeped in the arts and humanities would produce the open-minded Malays needed to be productive and competitive citizens, able to embrace change and bring about change to their community and society. What more to produce communications specialists.

It was a time when lecturers were totally dedicated to opening up our minds to new ideas and new experiences.

There was my English and Literature lecturer, Pritam Singh Sekhon, who brought his portable record player to class to get us to listen to classical music. He introduced us to Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Chopin.

He brought us by bus to see every single play at the Experimental Theatre in Universiti Malaya. We hung out with the directors and student actors and actresses before and after the play, whetting our appetite to do our own productions – which we did.

by Zainab Anwar.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=sharingthenation&file=/2012/9/9/columnists/sharingthenation/11988731&sec=Sharing%20The%20Nation

PUTRAJAYA: — The Education Ministry will focus on four initiatives under the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025 in the first 100 days of this year, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin Thursday.

The first initiative will be introducing the School Improvement Partners (SI Partners) Plus and School Improvement Specialist Coaches (SISC) Plus in Kedah and Sabah in the effort to guide teachers in the subjects of Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mathematics, especially at schools in Band five, six and seven.

“The two programmes will benefit the school heads, principals and teachers. For example, through the SISC Plus, teachers have the opportunity for in situ training directly, according to their needs,” he said in the ministry’s New Year message delivered here.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said the second initiative was to evaluate the 70,000 English language option teachers through the Cambridge Placement Test (CPT), after which the teachers would be divided into three categories based on their test results.

“Part-time training will be given to teachers who do not meet the proficiency level set. Within these first 100 days, the ministry is ready to train 5,000 English language teachers,” he said.

While regarding the early part of 2013 as a critical period, Muhyiddin said the Parents Engagement initiative in 10,000 schools to build awareness, support and cooperation among parents would also be implemented.

The fourth initiative is launching the e-Guru video to be watched at all schools and this will be introduced this month through the new professionalism development programme by creating an e-Guru video library that provides a collection of the best teaching examples.

“Through the e-Guru video, each teacher will get the practical image of the best teaching methods employed by excellent teachers in the classroom, and we hope they will benefit from this to see to the success of the policy on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics,” Muhyiddin said.

He said while the ministry focused on the four initiatives, the other initiatives under the blueprint would not be sidelined and should be achieved during the first wave of 2013, including efforts in building high order thinking skills (HOTS) among students.

In this regard, he said, the ministry would carry out HOTS training for 31,000 Forms One, Two and Three science and mathematics teachers and through this, hopefully 20 per cent of questions for the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examinations would be questions of high-thinking level.

Muhyiddin said the i-Think programme, meanwhile, would focus more on learning, mastering skills and raising capacity to answer high-level questions, and for this purpose, 2,500 teachers and students from 500 schools would be trained.

He said raising students’ leadership capability at school and the quality pf teachers would also be given attention through Linus 2.0 encompassing English language literacy, standards and teachers’ package, as well as the implementation of the new Continuing Professional Development Plan.

BERNAMA.

Read more @ http://education.bernama.com/index.php?sid=news_content&id=920722