Education is undoubtedly close to the
hearts of all of us. It is the root from which has sprouted civilisations; it
advances nations and it enhances humanity. The revered Nelson Mandela even
said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the
world.”...read more>
Education Minister
The Star/Sunday, 7 August 2016
IN the blink of an eye, Education
Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid has already marked his first anniversary as
head of the ministry.
“I take this trust and responsibility
seriously as it is vital to ensure quality education to produce the next
generation of leaders,” he wrote in a recent blog post on http://portal.tokdet.my,
a year and three days after he was appointed to the position.
Reminiscing his initial days at the
ministry, Mahdzir said he was thrilled upon being briefed on the Malaysia
Education Blueprint 2013-2025.
“I was excited because we have a
comprehensive plan to bring our system into the top third league of countries
that have the best education in the world.”
He however, acknowledged that the
transformation of education through the blueprint is a complex process.
Another subject that is close to his
heart is the welfare of teachers.
“The blueprint itself stresses that
the quality of teachers is important in ensuring the success of students.
“Thus in the first wave, the focus of
the initiative is to change the system by supporting teachers and focusing on
key skills.
“If they are not cared for, how will
they provide the best education for their charges?”
Mahdzir said that he sees positive
changes in the country’s education system.
“Primary school pupils have the
confidence to interact with me and try to explain about what they have learnt.”
He said teachers also gave their
students more space and opportunities to be responsible for their learning,
while school administrators have been providing support to teachers “although
there are various constraints in terms of infrastructure”.
Mahdzir revealed that some of the
earliest initiatives he took was to unite husbands and wives posted in separate
districts or states, or what is known as the duka lara (extreme
suffering) issue among those in the profession.
“There were initially two transfer
exercises but I increased it to three per year. In this regard, the ministry
has managed to solve 4,267 of such cases since I assumed the position,” he
said.
Mahdzir thanked those responsible for
planning and implementing initiatives to improve the quality of education.
“I’m committed to support the implementation
of the blueprint, and I’m confident, through the ministry’s collective effort,
we are on track to bring change.”
What It Takes To Get Ahead
By Chtistina Chin
News
feature/StarEducate, Sunday 11 March 2018
Mindset matter - Let teacher’ lead - Tech-teaching - Quality counts
Chen says the best outcomes combine both teacher-directed and
inquiry-based methods.
Report summary
“Simply
understanding the meaning of motivation is more powerful than students directly
characterising themselves as motivated. Students cannot exhibit positive
behaviours if they do not know what they look like. Interventions to help
students plan, monitor, and evaluate their learning may be a promising way to
improve student motivation and perseverance”
“The
highest scores from teacher-direction in most-to-all classes. Students cannot
progress to inquiry-based methods without a strong foundational knowledge
gained through teacher-directed learning”.
“Technology
tends to be most powerful when used as supplement and support to teaching,
rather than as a replacement. Asian educators should work to ensure that ICT is
fully integrated with instruction and to support teachers to enable them to use
ICT effectively.”
“Good
early childhood education can help boost PISA science scores a decade or more later. The elements of quality early
childhood education are a focus on not just cognitive skills and physical and
mental health, trained teachers, low staff-to-child ratios; adequate
infrastructure; clear learning standards; and positive student-teacher
relationships.”
GLOBALLY, 70% of education reform efforts
have failed in the last 25 years. Despite an increase in spending, outcomes
have either been flat, or declining. The worrying trend has led a consulting
firm to publish The Drivers of Student Performance: Insights from Asia’ report
recently.
McKinsey & Company partner Li-Kai Chen
said the report which focuses on the factors that drive student outcomes,
showed consistent findings across the region. The report is unique, he says,
because it applies machine learning and advanced analytics to huge data sets
from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD)
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which covers over half a
million students in 72 countries. Chen speaks to StarEducate on the main
highlights of the report.
Mindsets
matter - Student mindset, which is about one’s
outlook on life, and how that translates to behaviour, is the most predictive
factor of outcomes. It has double the effect of socio-economic background on
outcomes, says Chen.
The most critical mindsets are motivation
calibration, and growth mindset.
Motivation calibration is about behaviours
that signify motivation. These include always finishing what you start,
delivering on your promises, and exceeding expectations.
"Motivation calibration is more
impactful than intrinsic motivation. If a student says he or she is motivated
and wants to be the best, this doesn't necessarily drive outcome. It's the
student who understands what motivation means in day-to-day behaviour who will get
ahead.”
Growth mindset, he adds, is about whether
a student believes that hardwork can lead to positive results. It’s about effort
and improvement. He feels it’s important to acknowledge hardwork and the
journey as opposed to the intrinsic like intelligence and looks.
“As a parent, are you rewarding effort or
success? Do we celebrate the best schools or schools that show the most
improvement? If a child does well, do you congratulate him for being smart, or
for being hardworking?”
In Malaysia’s poor performing schools,
having well-calibrated motivation and growth mindset allow students from the
lower socio-economic group to outperform their more privileged counterparts.
“The biggest determinants of student
outcome is the mindset of the individual. This means that a child with a strong
mindset can outperform a child with a weaker mindset despite coming from a
lower socio-economic group.
“It’s very difficult to change the
socio-economic conditions of students but if we can change their mindset, they
can do really well.”
Unfortunately, most students from the
lower socio-economic background don’t believe that if they work harder, things
will change for the better, he notes.
The mindset and behaviour of children are
very important because that determines how they act, and view life. Why do 60%
to 70% of our students feel that working hard won’t make a difference?
Is it because they’ve been constantly told
that they’re not intelligent, or that they’re delinquents who would never
amount to anything in life? Be careful because those messages stick, he warns.
“An education system that scales up
mindset interventions to improve student outcome will be more successful. And,
it doesn’t require huge investments.”
Let teachers lead - The best outcomes, explains Chen, combine
both teacher-directed and inquiry-based methods. The teacher-directed method
means that discussions in class are teacher-led. For example, the teacher
demonstrates a science experiment. Inquiry-based refers to student-directed
learning where the students take the initiative and play a more active role -
for example, designing an experiment.
If lessons are fully inquiry-based with no
teacher-direction, the results will be negative.
“The inquiry-based method is tough because
the teacher would have to manage chaos without stepping in. There needs to be
very high quality teaching, prep work, and teacher-training, for that to be
successful. If teachers aren’t equipped, this method won’t deliver results. And
for students to benefit from inquiry learning, they must have a strong
foundation.”
Tech-teaching - With a limited budget, the question of
whether to invest in the teacher or student, is vital. The impact would be
greater if tech investments were made for teachers instead of students.
“Investing, for example, in a computer for
the teacher, will have a bigger effect than if you were to give every child a
computer,” Chen says, pointing out that technology yields more benefit if it’s
in the hands of teachers.
Quality counts - The earlier you start school, the better
the outcomes. But this isn’t necessarily true for students from lower economic
backgrounds, Chen warns.
It’s not just about access to pre-school
and early child care. It’s about quality too.
“In many regions, if you start too early,
the outcomes are worse. So the quality of pre-school education is vital. If the
education quality is poor, sending kids early could lead to lower outcome than
if you were to send them late.”
It’s not just about getting children into
seats, it’s about getting them into quality seats, he stresses.
Factors driving Asian student performance
23% - Mindset:
General
18% - Social factors
16% - Teacher factors
15% - Home environment
12% - Student behaviour
9% - Others
8% - Mindset: Subject orientation
Being
there in good and bad times
IT was two weddings and a funeral for Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid in his Padang Terap parliamentary constituency.
His original schedule was to attend a wedding reception at Kampung Keda
Semeliang at 12.30pm on a Saturday last month.
But in the morning at his Alor Setar home, he received news that a
68-year-old constituent had died. At noon, the politician paid his last
respects to the rubber tapper.
This is his routine as Padang Terap MP or when he was assemblyman for
Pedu (a seat in his parliamentary constituency that he won in 2004).
When the former Kedah Mentri Besar heard that someone in his
constituency had died, he would try to attend the funeral. If he couldn’t, he
would send a special officer to represent him.
Mahdzir spent 20 minutes at the funeral in Kampung Bukit Nyamuk about
48km from Alor Setar.
Then in a four-vehicle convoy passing the village he was supposed to
attend a kenduri kahwin (wedding feast), he headed to the
Padang Terap Umno building in the small town of Kuala Nerang town. There he
presented donation to students heading to a boarding school.
At 1.10pm, Mahdzir hastened to the wedding reception he was scheduled to
attend...read more>
Restore the ‘National’ in National Schools
By Johan Jaafar
The Star/Monday, 8 August 2016
For
these schools to be parents’ first choice, there must be a clear distinction
between secular and religious educational institutions.
NATIONAL schools are NOT religious schools. They
are supposed to provide secular education. As spelled out by the Education
Ministry, the philosophy is to develop the “potential of individuals in a
holistic and integrated manner” so as to produce Malaysians who are
“intellectually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious”.
Yet, sadly, in many national schools, “religion” is taking
centre stage, undermining the very philosophy that our forefathers carved for
those schools.
The trend over the last few decades has been alarming.
More and more schools are adopting their own concept of religious awareness
among teachers and students. The school heads are turning national schools into
their own brand of religious schools.
It is not uncommon to see the recital of the Quran during
assemblies. Or religious rites performed at schools. And surau built
within their compounds.
But more importantly, the ustaz and ustazah are now the de facto discipline
teachers, determining not just dress codes but imposing their own perceptions
of right and wrong. They are becoming very influential in the schools, even
undermining the power of head teachers or principals.
They are mostly left unchecked by district education
officers and the ministry as a whole. Some of them have jaundiced views of the
role of sports, music, drama and even extra-curricular activities.
Students are taught about values that the ustaz and ustazah believe are proper and necessary, and
thus the very philosophy of developing balanced individuals is left on the back
burner. Every move the students make must adhere to the behavioural construct
defined by them…
Read more...
The Sun Daily-Aug 6, 2016
Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir
Khalid (C) with Umno delegates at the opening of Umno's Setiawangsa
division meeting in Kuala ...
Ministry probes teachers accused of
raping, molesting students
Malaysiakini (subscription)-17 hours ago
Malaysiakini (subscription)-17 hours ago
Opinion-The Star Online-7 hours ago
KUALA LUMPUR: Education Minister
Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (pic) has dismissed the possibility of Chinese
vernacular schools being turned into mainstream schools in 10 years’ time.
Mahdzir said that although the ratio
of non-Chinese students to Chinese students in vernacular schools was higher in
some rural areas, in Sabah and Sarawak, the majority of the vernacular schools
in the urban areas was still dominated by Chinese students.
“It is unlikely,” he told reporters
after launching the Setiawangsa Umno division meeting yesterday.
He said this when commenting on a
two-year research conducted by the National Education Advisory Council that
revealed the possibility of Chinese schools turning into mainstream ones in 10
years’ time.
Recently, retired council member Prof
Dr Teo Kok Seong told a news portal that national schools registered only 4%
non-Malay students while the Chinese schools had 18% non-Chinese students.
Mahdzir said a study would be
conducted on the findings of the report before any further action was taken on
the matter.
He said the ministry was also looking
at several other problems faced by Chinese vernacular schools, including the
disproportionate ratio of teachers to students.
“We have schools with high number of
students, schools with average number of students, and also schools with low
number of students. Some schools have only three students with 15 teachers.
“The cost of operating a school is
high, considering the wages that have to be paid to the teachers, for
maintenance and security for a small number of students,” he said.
In the early years of independence,
existing Chinese, Tamil and mission schools accepted government funding and
were allowed to retain their medium of instructions on the condition that they
adopt the national curriculum.
Chinese secondary schools were given
the option of accepting government funding and change into national-type
schools or remain Chinese and private without government funding.
Most of the schools accepted the
change, although a few rejected the offer and came to be known as Chinese
Independent High Schools. Shortly after the change, some of the national-type
schools re-established their Chinese independent high school branches.
In the 1970s, in accordance with the
national language policy, the Government began to change English-medium primary
and secondary national-type schools into Malay-medium national schools.
The language change was made
gradually starting from the first year in primary school, then the second year
in the following year and so on. The change was completed by the end of 1982.
Malaysia Education Blueprint
Sunday, 14 August 2016
Meeting selected
education transformation objectives so far paves the way for Malaysia to raise
its standards, and be on par with the best globally.
IT took a lot of effort to bring
various parties together, but after countless evaluation sessions over the last
three years, results from the First Wave of the Malaysia Education Blueprint that began in 2013 now has a report card of its own.
The Education Ministry released the
2015 annual report of the Blueprint, an ambitious undertaking that will
transform the education system in three Waves orGelombang, with the
first from 2013 to 2015, the second from 2016 to 2020, and the final one from
2021 to 2025. Within the Blueprint are 11 Shifts or Anjakan that
will take the country to where it needs to be nine years from now.
The Blueprint contains 100
initiatives of which 25 came under the Blueprints’s First wave.
In brief, the ministry claimed that
it had “surpassed the targets it set for itself” when launching the latest
annual report at its headquarters at Putrajaya on Tuesday.
Based on the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals to ensure “education for all”, the First Wave
aimed to increase student enrolment, reduce the urban-rural divide, and ensure
100% literacy and numeracy (Linus) rates within the first three years of
schooling.
Greater inclusivity
On inclusivity, Education Minister
Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said more students with special needs have been
enrolling in national schools.
“The integration of special needs
students with mainstream students in daily school activities has been enhanced
through the usage of a more holistic and inclusive education model,” he said.
This is done through the Inclusive
Education model which saw an increase to 16,899 (23.2%) special needs students
in 2015, up from 10,700 (18.4%) students in 2014.
Besides just studying with their
mainstream peers in classrooms, students under this model are also included in
school events such as the morning assembly and co-curricular activities.
Overall, Mahdzir said the number of
special needs students enrolling in schools have increased from 58,006 in 2014
to 72,715 in 2015.
Preschoolers are also not left out of
the inclusive education programme…
EDUCATION
AND THE DEVELOPING WORLD:
Why
Education is Essential For Development?
NST/klassifieds/November
15, 2017
By DR G. VIZAYER RAJ
He is the Founder and
President of Malaysian Indian HOPE Foundation.
EDUCATION
is the cornerstone of every community. It lays the groundwork for the future direction
of people's lives and the societies they live in. It is a fundamental human
right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights and for social,
political, and economic participation.
At the Malaysian Indian Hope Foundation
(MIHF); we see education as one of the means to become financially
independent and achieve greater success. We believe education is a great
insurance policy against financial challenges.
Many disadvantaged individuals in Malaysia
are unable to access education due to restricted financial resources. The
foundation strives to open the door to a better future for these people, for
their own personal growth and the betterment of the community.
We want to improve people's lives, and
their ability to participate in society, by understanding the social and
economic factors that affect their chances in life. The foundation aims to
improve the design and operation of social policy, particularly in education.
The MIHF is committed to empowering young
people by supporting efforts to increase access to quality education. From
early childhood to higher education, we want to ensure young people from
different backgrounds have equal access to education and to promote critical
thinking, respect for diverse opinions, and free and open intellectual inquiry.
We want to understand more about the
skills and attributes that equip children and young people for life and work in
a rapidly changing world, and to develop and evaluate interventions to improve
them.
We also seek to improve the quality of
teaching and learning across the education system, and to understand more about
young people's choices, decisions and pathways at key points in their
progression through education and training. Our focus also addresses the
various forms of educational disadvantage and vulnerability encountered by
children and young people.
MIHF provide opportunities for students,
particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to develop their skills and
confidence.
We believe these skills are essential for
people to participate fully in the digital knowledge economy.
Technical and Vocational education and
training and skills development, together with basic and adult education are
vitally important for building a sustainable future based on youth employment,
poverty reduction and social inclusion. Maximising the contributions of skills
development to social and economic progress requires that broad vision be
developed encompassing a multiplicity of purposes, providers, settings and
learners.
Skills development, wherever and however
it occurs, must be made visible, appreciated, supported and given due attention
in policy and action. At the same time, TVET by itself does not create jobs or
alleviate poverty. Decision makers must in place the right policies and
conditions to promote equity and reduce poverty.
The foundation intends to support a number
of programmes aimed at learning; and developing knowledge and new skills to
help underprivileged individuals start a career. The objective being, it allows
disadvantaged individuals to increase their knowledge and awareness. They allow
the creation of new relationships and a source of inspiration to turn cherished
dreams into reality.
In Malaysia we have laws requiring
children to attend school and constitutional guarantees on
the right to education. We want to make the right to education meaningful and
seek to enable and promote quality education for all. Through our programmes,
we want to provide people with a HOPE fora brighter tomorrow.
Malaysian Indian Hope Foundation is a
non-profit organisation whose aim is to transform the community. The trustees
of the foundation set policy and delegate authority to the president and the
vice-president to explore opportunities to pursue the foundation's goals,
formulate strategies and recommend proposals for funding. The - foundation
wants to become a national philanthropy dedicated to the advancement of human
welfare and human development. Perhaps most significant, the foundation
declared its intention to focus on solving humankind's most pressing problems,
whatever they might be to work in a particular field and that is education.
We believe that the best way to meet this
challenge is to encourage initiatives by those living and working closest to
where problems are located to promote collaboration among the non-profit,
government and business sectors and ensure participation by men a n d wome n
fro m d ive rse communities and at all levels of society. Experiences have
shown such activities help build understanding, enhance excellence, enable
people to improve their lives and reinforce their commitment to society.
Financial support will enable lives to be
changed. Focus on education needs lot of financial support from companies,
private persons, NGOs, and other organisations The foundation is ready to work
with them.
We would like to thank everybody in
anticipation for your generous support which will help us to realise our goals.
The emphasis of this support is on education.
Showdown
in paradise
THE voice over the plane’s intercom welcoming everyone to Langkawi made
it sound as though we had landed in paradise.
Well, Langkawi with its many islets and glittering blue seas does look
like paradise. The sun seems to shine brighter here and the air feels so pure
that it is like watching high-definition TV – the blue skies are bluer and the
vegetation is extra green. And the island folk do not put on any airs. They
talk and laugh easily and welcome outsiders like old friends...read more>
Not
Everything Turned To Gold
THE music seems to have come to a stop at Langkawi’s version of the
French Riviera.
There was hardly a soul in sight at this once happening waterfront known
as Perdana Quay, although November to March is the peak tourist season.
It was like an episode of Twilight Zone, where things look
familiar yet strange and deserted.
Perdana Quay is part of the scenic Telaga Harbour Park on the quieter
side of the island. It was designed as a swanky enclave of boutiques,
restaurants, spas and bars overlooking a sheltered bay, where the waters are
always serene and blue...read more>
Read more news...
Ministry of Education
Executive Summary Preliminary Report Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025
· Pusat Maklumat Setempat Pendidikan Khas. IDEA HATCH. Puspanita KPM.
Ministry of Education
recognised and lauded Malaysia's progress in education. But in order to ... To this end,
the Government has developed the Education. Blueprint. It provides a ...
The Star
Aug 16, 2015 - The exercise to transform education will see the cikgu play a more
critical role in ... Tags / Keywords: mary yap , Malaysia Education Blueprint ...
The Star
Aug 31, 2014 - THE Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 launched last year, has ... The Malaysian government,
recognising that education is the bedrock ...
The Star
Aug 10, 2016 - The implementation of the Malaysia
Education Blueprint is riding on the momentum from
the First Wave.
The Star
Sep 6, 2013 - KUALA LUMPUR: The highlights of the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025
as launched by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin ...
The Star
Jun 4, 2016 - PUTRAJAYA: Plans to strengthen the use of Bahasa Malaysia and English
... well under The Malaysia Education Blueprint (PPPM) 2013-2025, ...
The Ministry of Education Malaysia governs all national education-related matters from preschool to
higher-level education. The ministry is led by Minister of ...
The Nation
A new "frank and bold"
education blueprint styled as "Malaysia
Education Blueprint 2013-2025" faces up to ... The Star September 17, 2012 12:00 am.
Wikipedia
Education in Malaysia is overseen by the Ministry of Education (Kementerian Pendidikan).
...... In 2006, the National Education
Blueprint 2006–10 was released. ..... Malaysia for introducingeducation blueprint - Nation - The Star Online".
School Bullying
School Bullying
Let’s Tackle Bullying Together
By Myrra Baity
#StandTogether is a
bullying prevention campaign jointly organised by R.AGE and SP Setia with the
aim of creating an annual National Kindness Week in schools every first week of
April.
VICTIM - Fear, Depression, Aggression
BULLY – Anger, Defiance, Truancy
BYSTANDER - Guilt, Fear, Helplessness
Source: Unicef
WE all know bullying is bad. We are
repeatedly told in school that bullying has negative effects on the victims and
we should avoid bullying behaviour, but do we really understand what
that means?
What is bullying behaviour and how does
bullying affect not just the victims, but also the bully?
The cases of bullying reported in the news
are often extreme cases of physical bullying, as in the death of T.Nhaveen and
the case of the Tahfiz fires, but not all forms of bullying are as violent.
Bullying occurs when a student is the
target of negative behaviour by a student or group of students, over a period
of tirne. This means the victim is repeatedly hurt by their bullies either
physically or emotionally and this affects them in several ways. Here are some
ways bullying affects victims:
It causes them to develop avoidant behaviours.
For example, withdrawal from family interactions, unexplained moodies, refusal
to discuss or go to school and faking illness to avoid school;
-Causes emotional and physical issues. For
example, depression, restless sleep or nightmares, drastic changes in eating
patterns; and
-Causes them to “act out”. For example,
aggressive behaviour such as bullying other children and carrying a weapon for
protection. The effects of bullying are not limited to victims but also extend
to the bully and other students who are bystanders. Here are some effects of
bullying on the bully:
-More likely to be convicted of a crime in
a court of law;
-More likely to engage in the use of substances
such as alcohol,
drugs and tobacco; and
-More likely to engage in truancy and drop out of
school.
Bullying also affects bystanders or those
who witness bullying and do not do anything to stop it. The reason bystanders
choose to be passive can be because they are scared. Bystanders usually:
-Have nightmares about being the next
target;
-Become fearful of going to certain areas
of school where bullying takes place; and
-Feel guilty, angry and helpless for not
taking action against the bully.
Whenever bullying occurs in schools, it
negatively affects all the students, not the just the victim. This is why we
all have to come together to prevent bullying from happening in our schools.
This is why #StandTogether is making the first week of April each year, National
Kindness week. If you are a teacher or a principal, register your school on our
website standto- gether. my/register.
If you are a student who has ideas on how
to make National Kindness Week in your school even better, join our
#StandTogehter Competition. Go to Standtogether. my/competition for more
details.
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