Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Don’t use students to seek funds

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

IT HAS become the trend these days for schools to seek donations from the public.

They do so by forcing their students to sell tickets and coupons for a variety of activities.

They launch events like Hari Usahawan (Entrepreneur Day) where pupils are supposedly taught the ropes of doing business by collectively setting up business enterprises.

While this may seem impressive, we feel it is a ploy to get students to contribute some capital to initiate a school project.

Teachers are usually entrusted with the money and while some schools run successful ventures like bookshops, there are also failed ones that school authorities are reluctant to talk about.

We believe that schools have no right to force their students to seek funds on their behalf.

In fact, in a recent case at a secondary school in Jinjang, Kuala Lumpur, students were told to collect funds for a project.

Those who failed were told to explain why they could not meet their “target”.

Student Voice.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2010/9/5/education/6953094&sec=education

Helping Rural Students Through Intervention

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

TAWAU, Given a choice, the Orang Asli students prefer to follow their parents to gather rattan, resin and other jungle resources or to hunt wild animals instead of coming to school.

Thus, the Orang Asli schools suffered poor attendance and even when students came to school it was obvious that they lacked personal hygiene.

A study done on six Orang Asli schools in Peninsula two years ago found that intervention strategies implemented by teachers and their coaches under Instructional Coaching Programme helped improve student attendance and hygiene.

The first step that the coaches proposed to the teachers was to get the parents involved in the school and classroom activities including a competition for the best bathing technique and the best dressed child.

After three months, most of the non-attendees came to school voluntarily and regularly on their own without being accompanied by their parents. Besides, there was a vast improvement in their physical appearance as they looked clean and fresh after a morning shower and dressed in their freshly pressed school uniforms.

A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH

This is but just a peek into the success story of the Instructional Coaching Programme introduced by the Teacher Education Division, Ministry of Education.

The programme assists teachers in poor performing schools to solve some learning and related problems through collaboration between the schools and specially trained teachers who play the role of coaches.

Teachers in Sabah were the pioneers of the programme, said the programme’s coordinator Dr Zaida Mustafa adding that about 101 excellent teachers and lecturers currently attached in the various Teacher Education Institutes in the state, have undergone the four-day programme.

They will go to the 144 schools in Sabah identified a low performers (largely due to poor public examination results) to help teachers resolve learning and other problems faced by these schools.

“This is an outreach programme and a smart partnership between excellent teachers and the school community,” Dr Zaida told Bernama.

GIVING NEW IDEAS TO TEACHERS

“Sometimes it happens that there are teachers in certain schools who have run out of ideas. They just need some new innovative ideas or technical support. Thus when these coaches come with a new perspective about classroom problems, these teachers might be able to rethink the right approach to solve the problems.

Therefore, Dr Zaida said the programme module assists teachers upgrade their students’ capabilities and develop their self-potentials apart from identifying and developing the teacher’s potentials and capabilities.

According to Dr Zaida the module comprises six core areas, namely Motivation, Instructional Coaching, Classroom Management Skills, Student Assessment Skills, Instructional Strategy Skills and Understanding Professional Learning Community.

“For me, this programme has been planned and arranged in such a way that we can identify the causes of learning difficulties in primary and secondary schools that result in the students’ poor academic performance,” Dr Zaida said.

Dr Zaida concluded that the smart partnership will build professional learning communities among teachers, schools and coaches. All the concerned parties will team up and look for the best approaches and practices to solve learning problems in schools which are considered obstacles for high learning performance. Solutions are generated collaboratively by the coaches and the school learning community.

BERNAMA.

Read more @ http://education.bernama.com/index.php?sid=exclusive_content&id=523434

Education only way to tackle problems

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

ORANG Asli Senator Muhammad Olian Abdullah said the government takes the needs of indigenous people seriously but faces some obstacles in delivering services to them.

He said apart from the dedicated Orang Asli hospital in Gombak, there were clinics with trained personnel in almost every settlement.

“The only problem is that we have easy access to only some of the remote villages. That is why there isn’t 100 per cent healthcare services for all.”
He said the government’s plan for mobile clinics would supplement this need.

Olian said the government was planning to develop the Orang Asli settlements to ensure they were not deprived of the most basic necessities since many do not favour the idea of resettlement.

“The Orang Asli usually find it hard to agree to the idea of moving out of their comfort zone. So it is better for the government to develop their villages instead.”
He said development plans should include schools, clinics, community halls and land for plantation to help them move forward.

“If resettlement is not done properly, they would be forced to go back to their old life. We must create a new economic model for them if we want to resettle them.”

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/12heo3/Article

Education the key to unity, says Muhyiddin

Sunday, August 1st, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: Raising the quality of education will eliminate conflicts and prejudices in the future, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday.

He said education had been used to address the problem of economic disparity among races, ease ethnic tension and had played an important role in nation building and national unity.

Muhyiddin, who is also the education minister, said children of all races were united under the national school system which not only used Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction but also offered Mandarin and Tamil as elective subjects.
“This, of course, provides greater opportunity for the children of all races to learn these two important languages,” he said in his address at the 4th Malaysian Student Leaders Summit organised by the United Kingdom and Eire Council of Malaysian Students (UKEC).

“We hope that parents of all races will make our national schools as the school of first choice for their children.”

He added that managing a multiracial country needed a lot of wisdom and a fine balance should be achieved between serving the interest of each ethnic community and the interest of the nation.
“Sometimes, excessive demands by one ethnic community invite hostile response from other communities.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/9yin/Article

Muhyiddin: Kids without papers will get access to education

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: Children without valid personal identification papers can still have access to education in Malaysia, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

He said Malaysian, foreign and stateless children should be provided with education as long as they fulfilled the requirement stated in the Education Ministry’s circular dated March 11, 2009.

“The move complied with the Convention on the Rights of Children, which stated that stateless children have a right to basic education,” he told Senator Noriah Mahat at Dewan Negara.

Muhyiddin, who is Education Minister, said the 2009 circular stated that a child without personal documents can register at a government school or a government-aided school if one of his parents is a Malaysian citizen.

However, the request must be approved by a supporting letter from a village head, he added.

For undocumented foreign children, Muhyiddin said the ministry provided an alternative programme on reading, writing and arithmetic, which is beyond the scope of the national education system. The Government, Muhyiddin said, welcomed the initiative by NGOs and private bodies to provide an alternative education programme for stateless children.

“However, the implementation of this programme must be monitored closely so that its objective is in line with the National Education Philosophy. The Edu­cation Ministry should act as a coordinating agency so that the stateless and undocumented children will be inculcated with the spirit of love and loyalty to this country, which has given them shelter,” he said.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/21/nation/6705900&sec=nation

‘Acquiring knowledge is the key’

Friday, July 16th, 2010

Raja Zarith  Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah attending the seminar at the International  Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies  in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. At her right is founding chairman and chief  executive officer of IAIS Malaysia, Prof Mohammad Hashim Kamali.  — NST picture by Mohd Fadli Hamzah

Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah attending the seminar at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. At her right is founding chairman and chief executive officer of IAIS Malaysia, Prof Mohammad Hashim Kamali. — NST picture by Mohd Fadli Hamzah


KUALA LUMPUR: Acquiring knowledge is the key for Muslims to impress the West, said consort of the Sultan of Johor, Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah.

She said Muslims cannot engage others by being militant and while they say that the West does not understand them, Muslims too are not without fault.

Delivering her royal address on “Globalisation: Building bridges between Islam and the West” at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) yesterday, Raja Zarith noted the decline in race relations among Malaysian youths.
“I am concerned about our own young Malaysian Muslims and how they appear to be uncomfortable with mingling with non-Muslims. This was not the case a few years ago. I ask, implore and beg our young Muslims to take as their guide the holy Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.

“If we want to impress the non-Muslims and grab their attention, is it not by it is not by burning flags and acting militantly.

“It is by acquiring knowledge, being true to Islam and having mutual respect for everyone.”
Mutual understanding is also important if Muslims are to rid their stereotypical image as terrorists and extremists.

“Muslims must know that we share a history together with Jews and Christians,” said Raja Zarith, recalling the story of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.

Quoting acclaimed author Akbar Ahmed, Raja Zarith said from the year 627-647, Muslims and Christians were praying together in the mosque until the Christians decided to build a church.

by Anis Ibrahim.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/28zzri/Article/

Non-formal edu system for Indonesian young

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

Kota Kinabalu: The Indonesian Government hopes to educate more of its citizens, including those in Sabah, by introducing a non-formal education system.

Indonesian Consul in Kota Kinabalu, Abas Basori, said this new system would help provide education for families who are living in interior areas where there are no schools nearby. It can also benefit adults who failed to attain education during their childhood.

“The Indonesian Republic’s National Education Ministry has introduced a new non-formal education system which will be additional to the existing regular education, so that all our citizens, whether at home or abroad, will get the opportunity to learn and be educated,” he said.

The system provides education for various levels including Packet A (primary), Packet B (lower secondary) and Packet C (upper secondary).

According to Abas, there are roughly 50,000 Indonesian children throughout Sabah who can benefit from this new system.

Read more @ http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=73324

Formal education for five-year olds expected by end of 10MP.

Monday, June 14th, 2010

HULU TERENGGANU: The plan to lower the entry age for formal schooling from six years to five is expected to be fully implemented by the end of the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP).
Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said the plan would be implemented in stages as the ministry must provide the necessary infrastructures and facilities.

“This is a massive plan and should not be implemented in a hurry. At the initial stage of the 10MP, we will see the construction of basic infrastructures like classrooms and also appointment of qualified teachers.

“This is part of the government’s efforts to improve the quality of national education to be on par with developed countries. It is also aimed at preventing dropouts at the early stage,” he said today.

The plan to start formal education for children from the age of five is part of a plan underlined in the 10MP (2011-2015) which was tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Dewan Rakyat last Thursday.

Mohd Puad said the ministry was currently focused on efforts to develop basic infrastructures at schools nationwide, besides ensuring that all pre-school teachers comprised those with degrees.

“In rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak, where no pre-schools are available, children are being separated from their families to get early education.

“Some of the parents sent these children to live with their brothers and sisters at rural hostels.

“So, in the 10MP, the government will build pre-school facilities in longhouses in the two states,” he said, adding that the government targeted 70 per cent of children to enter pre-school nationwide by 2012.

Source: BERNAMA.
http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Formaleducationforfive-yearoldsexpectedbyendof10MP/Article/

The best investment

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

DEVELOPING human capital is the most important investment a country makes and without a talented and creative work force, any country would find it difficult to move forward.

It is no surprise then that Malaysia is taking education seriously and has devoted a whole chapter towards it in the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Parliament on Thursday.

The chapter on education in the five-year development plan sets out clearly what it hopes to achieve so that the people will “be able to rapidly respond creatively to economic changes’’. The plan is also “centred on developing and utilising knowledge”.

Najib shaking hands with Muhyiddin after tabling the 10th Malaysia plan in Parliament on Thursday.

In his speech when tabling the report, Najib said a skilled and knowledgeable workforce is the cutting edge of a nation’s competitiveness.

“In this regard, the Government will implement holistic measures to strengthen education and training systems, starting from early childhood to tertiary education,” he said.

Highlights for education include major changes to the teaching profession, such as making teaching the profession of choice; faster career progression for teachers; a new teacher evaluation and assessment system; a “Teach for Malaysia” programme; a proposed lowering of entry age for schooling; a new curriculum for primary and secondary schools; and having sports as a subject from next year.

Others include reducing the overall burden of pre-school education on household spending by providing low income families with student fee assistance of RM150 per month to enrol students in private pre-schools.

Lower schooling age

Under the 10MP, the Government is considering lowering the formal schooling age from six plus to five years plus as this will extend the access to structured education for children during their formative years.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the lowering of the entry age to school had been discussed for some time.

“The age of children beginning school in many other countries is lower compared to ours.

“They start school at six plus here but in most other countries it is five plus,” he said.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said children were now more mature as they attended pre-school so this meant they should be able to enter formal schooling much earlier.

Child psychologist Datuk Dr Chiam Heng Keng agreed with the move to lower the school entry age.

“Nowadays, with exposure to television and the Internet, children are maturing faster,” she said.

She added that studies have shown that the language areas of the brain are already developed by 10 years of age.

However, Muhyiddin said there was a big implication in terms of supply of teachers and classes.

“The issue is being studied at the ministry level and on principle, it’s not a problem but we need to work on the preparation,” he said.

If the age is lowered, he said this meant about 1.5mil would enter the system, which was more than one million from the current figures of between 500,000 to 600,000 who start school annually.

“It is a question of preparation so perhaps we can start in phases.”

The ministry, he added, would decide and could perhaps implement it before the end of the 10MP period.

Parent Action Group for Education (Page) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim was worried that not all pre-schools were sufficiently preparing children for primary school.

“I think before this happens, they have to look very hard at pre-schools around the country and ensure that they are preparing children adequately for Year One,” she added.

Concurring with this, National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng said the Government must ensure all children had been given access to pre-school education before entering Year One.

Under the plan, a new curriculum for primary and secondary schools will be introduced, and sports will be a subject from 2011 onwards. Primary students will have 60 minutes and secondary students 90 minutes a week to play a game of their choice.

The Government will also take measures to improve both the quality of the new teacher intake and upgrade the quality and professionalism of all existing teachers in the system. It is critical to get more of the best and brightest graduates in Malaysia to be attracted to the profession.

More graduate teachers

NUTP president Hashim Adnan said that aiming for 60% graduate teachers in primary schools by 2015 from a current 28% was “not an easy thing to accomplish”.

“It is very high. It can be achieved, but I’m afraid with the short period of time, we cannot produce that many quality teachers,” he said.

Although the 10MP report proposes that graduate training for teachers be extended an additional six months to one-and-a-half years, the length of training is not the only issue at hand.

Said Sarawak Teachers’ Union president William Ghani Bina: “The quality of teachers’ training programmes should be improved.”

The Government also plans to introduce a “Teach for Malaysia” programme.

Similar to the Teach for America initiative, the programme will attempt to attract the best and brightest Malaysian graduates to teach for two years at underperforming or rural schools.

Currently completing her studies at Babson College in the United States, Wendy Chen (not her real name) is familiar with the programme in America and believes that it is timely to launch a Malaysian version.

An aspiring teacher, Chen said the initiatives to upgrade the profession should not be rushed.

“It’s good that the Government wants to upgrade the profession but the downside is that you might get people who are in it just for the money.

“At the end of the day, the best teachers must have passion,” she shared.

by Karen Chapman, Tan Shiow Chin, Richard Lim, Nycia Lim and Priya Kulasagaran.

http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2010/6/13/education/6453448&sec=education

Kids may start Year One at five

Friday, June 11th, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is mulling over plans for children to start school at the age of five instead of six.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the change would ensure that children received formal education at an earlier age, thereby contributing to their early mental growth.

He said in many countries, children began their formal education at five.
“In this day and age, five-year-olds are already intelligent, as many go to preschool.

“If that is the case, they should be old enough to begin formal primary education at five,” he said in the Parliament lobby yesterday.

If the proposal goes ahead, the government hopes to introduce it in stages by the end of the 10th Malaysia Plan, or in 2015.
“This won’t be a problem in principle, but preparation is needed beforehand. If the idea is implemented, there will be an influx of 1.5 million schoolchildren in Year One compared with 600,000 at present.

“We will need to ensure that we have enough schools, teachers and facilities. Preparing ourselves for this plan is the issue now.”

Muhyiddin was elaborating on one of the proposals under the 10th Malaysia Plan, which was tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak earlier.
Another addition is the introduction of “trust schools”, or national schools to be adopted by the private sector as part of their corporate social responsibility.

Ten schools will be identified for this purpose. Five will be classified as low-performing schools, three will be average schools while two will be high-performing schools.

Muhyiddin said the ministry would work together with the corporate sector in the programme which would begin soon.

“There will be some flexibility on the steps to improve the school’s performance and on the assistance which the companies can give.”

Source:

http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/4xde/Article