An eventful year for education
Sunday, December 31st, 2017Idris (sixth from right) posing for a ‘Soaring Upwards’ group photo with representatives from various private higher learning institutions. With him are Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Mary Yap (fifth from right), director-general Dr Siti Hamisah (third from right) and secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur (eighth from right).
TODAY is the last day of 2017. While this is the time to make New Year resolutions, it is also the time to reflect on happenings that affected both young students and their parents.
The year started off with 435,882 pupils nationwide starting Year One on Jan 1 for states with Friday weekends, and on Jan 3 for the rest.
Another 441,569 students entered Form One, according to figures from the Education Ministry.
January ..
This came after the Chinese press raised concerns that the schools had not received the RM50mil allocation from the 2016 Budget.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid announced there was a slight shortage in the allocation of budget for the schools.
However, the ministry managed to sort out the issue with the help of MCA before the end of January.
Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon had on Jan 20 said the RM50mil was ready to be disbursed to all Chinese schools, and that the ministry had already set the amount that each of the 834 schools would get.
The allocation has since been distributed to schools state-by-state.
Meanwhile, Datin Paduka Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir was appointed Higher Education Ministry director-general effective Jan 16 taking over from Prof Datuk Dr Asma Ismail who was appointed vice-chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh congratulated Dr Siti Hamisah on her appointment, saying he was confident her 30-year experience in higher education as well as leadership will carry Malaysian higher education into the future as the ministry embarks on its “Redesigning Higher Education” agenda.
February …
Mahdzir announced that all schools must provide a complaint box for tip-offs on student misconduct and criminal activity.
In partnership with the ministry, the police wanted to improve its monitoring in all 1,187 schools statewide with school liaison officers (PPS) conducting visits twice a month through the Jom Ke Sekolah programme.
Separately, the Education Ministry started drafting laws on cyberbullying and was also looking at similar laws in other countries to see how best it could be applied here, according to Chong who said it is a must for cyber bullying to stop.
In an attempt to strengthen the usage of English in the country, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) and the Cambridge Malaysian Education And Development Trust (CMEDT) signed a letter of intent to launch a pilot project called Cambridge Accessible Tests (CATs).
The issuing of visas to foreign students within the new 14-day target will no longer be a problem with the increase of immigration officers in the Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) – a one-stop centre for foreign student enrolment that was set up by the Higher Education Ministry.
March …
The Health Ministry published the results of Tobacco and E-cigarette Survey among Malaysian Adolescents 2016 (Tecma), a first-of-its-kind study, which revealed the shocking truth that one in every five boys below 18, smokes.
The study conducted on 14,833 students from 138 schools in 15 states showed that four in five knew that smoking below the age of 18 was an offence under the law.
More than half said they weren’t prevented from buying tobacco products, which they easily obtained from supermarkets, grocery stores and roadside stalls.
On e-cigs and vape, the survey found that most students have heard about it, and one in five has tried it.
Chong said the ministry would intensify anti-smoking campaigns in schools, while relevant authorities must step up their enforcement efforts to curb the sale of cigarettes to students.
Separately, Road Transport Department (JPJ) officers visited nearly 40 schools nationwide to advise teenage motorcyclists on the importance of adhering to the law, as it emerged that many below the age of 16 – the legal age to apply for a motorcycle license – were riding without a licence.
Meanwhile, RM18mil was secured to build the 528th Tamil school in the country – SJK(T) Taman Keladi – located in Sungai Petani. MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, who broke the news, said the Education Ministry at the time already issued the letter of approval for the new school which will have room for 200 pupils along with other facilities.
Meanwhile, Universiti Malaya (UM) retained its position as the best performing Malaysian institution in the latest edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject – ranking 23rd for electrical engineering, moving up 14 positions from the previous year.
UM also rose from the 51-100 band for mechanical engineering (now 33rd), chemical engineering (now 38th), and education (now 41st). In total, it ranks in the top 50 for five subjects, compared with two last year.
April ...
After a round of budget cuts, public universities were in need to find ways to secure some much needed funds.
Fortunately, the institutions were allowed to bank on foreign students pursuing medicine, dentistry and pharmacy at public universities to bring in additional income after the Higher Education Ministry announced they were allowed to take advantage of the five per cent placement offer to foreign students.
Idris said foreign students who study medicine, dentistry and pharmacy at public universities would be charged the full fees of between RM400,000 and RM500,000, while local students pursuing the same courses at these universities could enjoy subsidised fees of between RM15,000 and RM30,000.
The ministry also announced students from eight public universities were allowed to start taking a gap year to explore opportunities via the ministry’s gap year 2017 programme.
Higher Education Ministry director-general Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir said the gap year programme is a new concept in Malaysian higher education institutions that allows students to take a year or two semesters off their formal education for personal growth.
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry said dilapidated schools in rural areas will be transformed into community centres under the Government’s National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS).
Mahdzir said the initiative, called My New School, involved upgrading and renovating certain schools to equip them with modern learning facilities to benefit students.
May …
Not all private Tahfiz schools are registered under the Education Ministry. Since religion falls under the state’s jurisdiction, such schools are mostly registered under the state Islamic departments.
There are currently about 270 religious schools registered under the ministry.
However, the ministry and the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) worked together to draw up guidelines for the registration of tahfiz schools.
Mahdzir said the guidelines included the teachers’ qualifications and the number of classrooms, based on the existing terms of reference for private schools.
The Higher Education Ministry targets that by 2020, 15% of students who are in the midst of pursuing higher education will venture into entrepreneurship while five percent of them will become entrepreneurs upon graduating.
The ministry also said engineering courses at public universities will be redesigned to reflect current industry demands.
Idris said rapid development created hybrid or new engineering fields like biomedical engineering – a fusion of medicine and engineering that would create new jobs for the future.
The Education Ministry announced it will be working with experts on early childhood education to improve the preschool education plan for government schools.
Mahdzir said the entire system will be studied, including the subjects taught and the time spent on each subject.
Separately, he said Internet facilities would be upgraded in 6,000-odd schools, bringing the total number of schools to more than 10,000 because high speed Internet access “does not only improve teaching and learning in schools, but is also beneficial for teachers and other staff in discharging their duties.”
Chong announced making English a compulsory pass subject for SPM is being considered again.
June ...
The deaths of two young students shocked the nation this month.
Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain, the navy cadet officer from the Malaysian National Defence University (UPNM) was found murdered because of a dispute over a laptop.
He was allegedly bound, beaten and burnt with an iron before he died on June 1.
Thirty-six students were arrested in connection with the death. Five students were charged with murder, while another five were charged for abetting.
T. Nhaveen, 18, died on June 13 after he fell unconscious being beaten up and sodomised by a group of teenagers believed to be ex-schoolmates with helmets and fists.
Four teens were charged with murder, but their trial has been postponed twice till next year, causing dismay for Nhaveen’s family.
On a more positive note, the nation’s five public research universities – Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) – have been listed in the top 1% universities worldwide.
From this year, students at the 15 government matriculation colleges nationwide will only get the RM250 monthly allowance if their parents have a combined income of less than RM10,000 a month.
Read more @ https://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2017/12/31/an-eventful-year-for-education/#zjF0cg7aqFmvcUoh.99