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KUALA LUMPUR: IN the pursuit of academic excellence for the country as envisaged by the National Key Result Areas, good leadership from principals and school head teachers in national and government-aided schools are pivotal to the improvement of the academic performance of schools and holistic development of pupils.

Recognising this, the Ministry of Education’s New Deals is a performance-based incentive which rewards principals and head teachers nationwide for elevating their school’s academic performance and ranking. It also rewards teachers and support staff  for their contributions to this achievement.

The criteria schools are evaluated on include the composite scores of the school grade point average (GPA) based on performance in public examinations and scores based on Standard Quality Education in Malaysia (SQEM) as well as the leadership of principals and school heads, quality of teaching and development programmes for pupils.

Principals and school heads from all national and government aided schools are eligible for consideration for the New Deals incentive if they have served at their respective schools for at least six months and their schools have obtained public examination results for the year of evaluation.

One of the necessary steps to help expedite the awards of the  new deals was to rank schools into seven bands according to their  composite  scores of their school average score (GPA) and SQEM, said Nadzman Radzaly, principal assistant director, Inspectorate and Quality Assurance, Ministry of Education .

“The ranking of schools is beneficial not only to schools which are able to see how they have performed as compared to other schools on the list, but also present a clearer picture to parents about how their children’s schools rank nationwide,” he said.

by Suzanna Pillay.

SUBANG JAYA: — Many parents believe that teachers are responsible for students’ performance in schools.

However, parents fail to understand that teachers have limitations too.

Hence, it is important for parents to work closely with their children to improve their performance.

Schools:

There are 10,066 schools in Malaysia that include 7,733 primary and 2,333 secondary schools, according to Ministry of Education.

One of them is Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) USJ 12, a secondary school that caters for children of residents in the USJ3, USJ11 and USJ12.

This school received its cluster status in 2011.

A cluster school of excellence is a merit system implemented in Malaysia.

This standing is given to schools with high-performing students, which in turn gives greater autonomy in the area of administration.

Big Classes:

SMK USJ12 headmistress Zaharah Ishak said this year, 503 students have been enrolled in Form One in this cluster school, where 11 classes have been opened to accommodate this high number of students.

“We have big classes now, not less than 45 students to each class for Form One new enrolment. We have about 2,203 students from Form One to Form Five”.

The school has 11 classes each in Forms One, Two and Three and 12 classes each for Form Four and Form Five,” Zaharah explained.

This cluster school has 111 teachers to educate students of all races and from all walks of life.

SMK USJ12 is very popular among parents especially those with children who are on entering secondary school after completing their UPSR examination.

Students in the school are disciplined too, which is an important element of a cluster school.

According to the Selangor Education Department, there are more than 10 cluster schools (both primary and secondary) in the Petaling Perdana district.

Education:

Why do parents choose these cluster schools for their children?

An officer at the Ministry of Education explained that schools of excellence in the cluster schools category are result-oriented.

These schools have sufficient resources and manage their finances well.

There are 153 cluster schools in this country including 46 primary and 107 secondary national schools.

They include boarding and national-type schools in rural and urban areas.

In total, 213 schools nationwide are acknowledged for their academic and co-curriculum excellence, and 60 of them have been categorised as High Achievers.

All these schools have achieved the Band 1 standard with regard to academic programme and co-curriculum activities.

Motivation:

“I am the type who will push students to perform during their exams especially the students in examination years. We still have the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination for our third formers to concentrate on at least for one last time this year.

by Hazlinda Hamzah

BERNAMA.

Read more @ http://education.bernama.com/index.php?sid=exclusive_content&id=930643

PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry has announced another 25 High Performance Schools (HPS), bringing the total number to 91.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin said RM18.7mil had been allocated so far for the schools to enhance their quality of education.

“Based on the success of the 66 HPS before this, the Government has agreed to continue the project from 2013 to 2015 with the target of 10 HPS a year,” he said in his speech yesterday.

The text of his speech was read out by Education Ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Dr Rosli Mohamed.

Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said HPS should show that Malaysia’s education system could improve to be on par with international standards.

“The HPS were also set up to ensure that every child has a chance to build a successful future regardless of socioeconomic background, who their parents are and where they are studying,” he said.

Dr Rosli later handed out certificates and mock cheques of RM700,000 each to principals and school heads.

The 25 new HPS comprised 13 primary and 12 secondary schools.

The primary schools are SK Tengku Ampuan Intan, Terengganu; SK Zainab 1, Kelantan; SK Bertam Indah, Penang; SK Sultanah Asma, Kedah; SK Convent Infant Jesus 2, Malacca; SK Bandar Penawar 2, Johor; SK Seri Gaya, Sabah; SK (P) Methodist 2, Malacca; SK Bandar Maharani, Johor; SRK Seri Indera, Perlis; SJK(C) Ave Maria Convent, Perak; SJK(C) Yok Bin, Malacca; and SJK(C) Union, Penang.

The secondary schools are SM Sains Sultan Mahmud, Terengganu; SM Sains Kepala Batas, Penang; SM Sains Pokok Sena, Kedah; SM Sains Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, Pahang; SM Sains Hulu Selangor, Selangor; SM Sains Labuan, Labuan; Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Integrasi (SBPI) Batu Rakit, Terengganu; SBPI Selandar, Malacca; SBPI Kuantan; SM Imtiaz Kuala Terengganu; SMK Sultan Ismail, Johor; and SMK Infant Jesus Convent, Johor.

Each school will receive an allocation of RM1.5mil over three years RM700,000 in the first year, followed by RM500,000 and RM300,000 in the subsequent years.

Schools were selected based on academic achievements, extra-curricular activities and niche areas.

by Priya Kulasagaran.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/12/28/nation/12511175&sec=nation

Education authorities have decided to crown the schools and teachers who have been instrumental in paving the way for change and better academic results.

WHILE the Education Ministry has recognised the efforts of outstanding students in the past, it has decided this year to award schools, instead of individual students, for outstanding results in last year’s Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).

“This is to inspire the entire school, including its leaders and educators to work harder as a team to move towards excellence,” said Education Director-General Datuk Seri Abd Ghafar Mahmud.

His speech was read by Education deputy director-general (Education Operation Sector) Sufa’at Tumin.

Exemplary teacher: Sharifah Afidah receiving the award from Sufa’at during the ceremony.

Sufa’at later presented awards to the representatives of the respective schools and to outstanding teachers.

He added that teachers are the agents for education transformation.

“That’s why teachers must understand and appreciate the aspirations and new policies such as the Upholding Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening English (MBMMBI), One Student One Sport, School-based Assessment and Vocasional Education Transformation policies,” he said.

“In order for these policies to succeed, teachers must have the initiative, as well as be creative and innovative to explore techniques and approaches for effective teaching.”

This is exactly what the outstanding schools managed to do.

Schools that received the Category One award (schools with a school average grade (GPS) lower than 1.5), had set up various study programmes to ensure that their students performed well in the SPM.

SM Sains Rembau principal Norzila Idris explained that besides the usual extra classes, intensive training and workshops, the school also had in place a Young Tutors Programme.

“Good students are chosen to lead and tutor weaker students at night and on weekends. They can do exercises and learn even when the teachers are not around.

“We have three excellent teachers who set questions and prepared worksheets for the young tutors who will then pass the worksheets on to their friends,” she explained.

by Jeannette Goon.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2012/5/20/education/11312048&sec=education

KUALA LUMPUR: Beginning this year, the education ministry has created the ‘School Excellence Award’ for schools which achieve excellent results in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), based on the School Cumulative Average (GPS) index.

Education director-general Datuk Seri Abd Ghafar Mahmud said the GPS would reflect the school’s overall performance in the examination when the achievement of the candidates in all subjects were taken into consideration.

“Excellence is also proved by the ability of the schools to produce excellent students who get A+ in all subjects,” he said in his speech.

Abd Ghafar hoped the new initiative would boost the spirit of the school staff, including its management and teachers, to work hard as one team to achieve schools of excellence.

BERNAMA.

Read more @ http://education.bernama.com/index.php?sid=news_content&id=666991

PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry has announced another nine High Performance Schools (HPS) for the year, bringing the total number to 52.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the status upgrade meant 32 schools made the cut this year, exceeding the ministry’s 2011 target of 30 HPS.

“The quality of existing education provisions must be upgraded to be on par with advanced nations on the international stage,” he said in his speech which was read by his deputy Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong.

“A number of HPS have already been visited by representatives from Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan and Finland for benchmarking purposes.

“This shows that these schools have succeeded in attracting foreign interest in holding collaborative efforts for the improvement of overall student outcomes,” he added.

Muhyiddin said the Education National Key Results Area (NKRA) unit had worked with the HPS unit under the School Management Division (Residential and Excellent Schools) to ensure the 30-school target was met.

The nine new HPS comprised seven secondary and two primary schools.

The secondary schools were SM Sains Sabah, SM Agama Persekutuan Labu, Negri Sembilan, SMS Tuanku Munawir, Negri Sembilan, SMK Lembah Bidong, Terengganu, SMS Kuala Selangor, Selangor, SMK Agama Naim Lilbanat, Kelantan, and SMS Kuching, Sarawak.

SK Seksyen 9, Selangor, and SJKC Tung Hua, Sarawak, were the two primary schools.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/26/nation/8759524&sec=nation

PUTRAJAYA:  The Education Ministry is targeting to create 300 cluster excellent schools (SKK) by the year 2015, Education director-general Datuk Abd Ghafar Mahmud said.

He said to date, 124 schools had been upgraded to SKK level, including 30 schools today while 26 others had already been recognised as high performance schools (SBT) earlier.

According to him, 16 SKK schools had already been moved to SBT cohort 1 schools in 2010, while 10 other SKK schools had become SBT cohort 2 schools, last February.

“I hope those in the SKK category will become the role models to guide other nearby schools and be examples of excellent schools at the national and international levels,” he said.

Abd Ghafar said this when announcing 30 schools which had been upgraded to SKK level at the SKK Phase 4 recognition ceremony here.

Johor emerged as the leading state in the SKK list with four schools while Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Kelantan followed with three schools each, Melaka, Sabah, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang (two each) and Penang, Kedah, Sarawak, Federal territory of Labuan, Kedah and Terengganu (one each).

Abd Ghafar said the success of several schools had to be used as models like SMK Sultan Ismail Johor Bahru which had won a gold and a bronze in the 2nd Apec Future Scientist Conference, in Thailand while SMS Selangor, SMS Hulu Selangor and the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Islamic College (KISAS)won a gold, a silver and two bronze at the Korea Science Academy, in Busan under the Student’s Camp for Gifted in Science Programme.

BERNAMA.

Read more @ http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=581226

JASIN: Over 15,000 headmasters, teachers and support staff from 586 primary schools nationwide have been rewarded with RM18mil in cash by the Education Ministry for improving their schools’ overall performances.

A total of 586 headmasters received RM7,500 each while 5% of teachers in their school who achieved excellent performance will get RM1,800 each.

The remaining 12,141 teachers in the schools concerned would each receive RM900 while the amount for the estimated 2,500 support staff is yet to be fixed by the ministry.

Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the Govern­ment was fulfilling the promise it made to teachers last year.

This is in addition to the existing incentive scheme and forms part of the National Key Results Area (NKRA) introduced for the 2010 schooling term.

“Under the ministry’s NKRA, we targeted 2% of primary school headmasters would achieve the standard but 7.7% managed to do it,” he told reporters after presenting the headmasters with their reward at a ceremony in SM Tun Syed Zahiruddin in Merlimau yesterday.

The ministry decided to extend the incentive to school support staff last week.

Muhyiddin said an announcement would be made on the reward for principals of secondary schools in the middle of this year based on the Sijil Pelajaran Malay­sia results later this month.

A total of 924 primary schools out of 7,635 qualified for assessment by the ministry. Of these, 586 headmasters were deemed to have fulfilled the criteria under the reward scheme.

Among the factors they were judged on were improving their school’s overall grade performance, education quality, and scoring above 90% on the annual performance assessment.

by Martin Carval Ho.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/1/nation/8161919&sec=nation

PUTRAJAYA: The Government has successfully identified 924 school heads who are eligible to be rewarded with the New Deals performance-based monetary incentive under the Education NKRA of the GTP.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said school heads who have exceeded expectations in the improvement of schools under their charge would be rewarded with RM7,500 each.

In addition, the 5% of top teachers from chosen schools would also receive RM1,800 with the remaining teachers each receiving RM900.

Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister said it was initially forecasted that only 2% of school heads would be able to achieve the target set for 2010.

He said the list of school heads and teachers who are eligible to receive the incentives of the New Deals would be finalised by the middle of this year.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/2/21/nation/8083790&sec=nation

BY any measure, Sekolah Kebangsaan Ulu Lubai near Limbang in Sarawak is as interior as you can get. The term “interior” is very common in this state, which features vast areas of both lowland and highland rainforests.

Due to its physical landscape, you will find human settlements in the interior and this is part of the intriguing aspect of Sarawak to outsiders and visitors.

SK Ulu Lubai is located deep in the Sarawak interior. That is not the same as saying it is deep in one of the states in the peninsula, where rural schools are not so remote that they are inaccessible by vehicles.
If you want to visit SK Ulu Lubai, you have to first go to Limbang. From there, be prepared for a two-hour drive on rough terrain, including a logging road, to an Iban settlement, and then a 50-minute boat ride which, during the dry season, can stretch to four hours.

Then you will appreciate its achievement in making history by being named a “high performance school” — 43 nationwide.

Incredible is an understatement. Who would expect this “interior school” to make it into the top category? The first one to make it, too.

Not to sound condescending or patronising but anyone would be surprised and, of course, impressed.

The first question would be: “How did they do it?”

Of course, being so far in the interior without any form of entertainment or distraction, you’d think the kids would have nothing else to do but study, right? Now, that is simplistic, besides being an assessment that lacks sound judgment and an understanding of culture and the human mind. But frankly, such a setting is ideal for scholastic and academic pursuits.

Undoubtedly, the school’s achievement reflects a high level of resolve among not just the pupils, but the teaching staff as well.

Without encouragement and drive from the teachers, the pupils would not care to reach for the stars and the school would have just remained like the many others.

Personally, all this “high performance school” ratings took quite a while for me to digest. Not that I find it against my belief that schools in the 21st century should not be graded or rated but that it can itself go against the very essence of what education is all about.

But that is a story for another day.

For now, we’ll focus on SK Ulu Lubai. Certainly, it is no ordinary school, even by urban standards. It is in the limelight for its outstanding achievement.

You now speak of the school in the same breath as you do Johor’s SK Convent Muar, Pahang’s SK Seri Biram, Kedah’s SK Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin, Kuala Lumpur’s SK Setiawangsa, Pahang’s SK (Perempuan) Methodist Kuantan, Terengganu’s SK Sultan Ismail, Selangor’s SK Jalan Tiga, Penang’s SJK (C) Perempuan China and Selangor’s SJK (C) Lick Hung.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also education minister, visited the school on Thursday.

It is a gesture of recognition on the part of the government of the school’s remarkable success.

“I must extend my appreciation and gratitude to the committed, dedicated and hardworking staff who have turned this modest school, which lacks many amenities, into one of the best in the country,” Muhyiddin was quoted as saying.

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