Education for all
Pakatan celebrates first year in power by making education accessible for all.
MAY 9 will mark the first anniversary of Pakatan Harapan taking over the government.
And with that milestone comes the reforms to Malaysia’s education sector.
After almost a year of helming the biggest ministry, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said he is happy with the progress made by the new government to improve the education system.
During an interview on Monday in conjunction with the milestone, he said there were nine core successes achieved over the past year.
All the initiatives have led to the ministry achieving its goal of making education more inclusive and of good quality.
Some of the core achievements revolve around increasing access to quality education for the marginalised communities.
He stated that special attention was paid to the B40 group.
Dr Maszlee said 60% of spaces in fully residential schools have been allocated for this group in 2019 with about 2,630 students taking up the offer.
There has also been a special entry path to public institutions of higher education (IPTAs) set up, and priority given to the local matriculation programme for these students.
“We want to increase access to quality education for those in the B40 group because they do not get the same opportunities as the children from more well-to-do families,” he said.
The ministry has enabled stateless children to be enrolled in schools since the beginning of 2019 with more than 2,600 children having been registered, and the number is increasing.
This move was done after careful consideration into various factors such as the laws and regulations surrounding the matter.
The ministry has also begun practising a “Zero Reject Policy” for special needs students in all government and government-aided schools since January this year, he added.
This has led to more than 5,400 special needs students enrolling in schools, he said.
He said that the schools’ infrastructure and facilities have been improved and teachers have received training periodically to accommodate these students.
Special needs students are also given a special entry path to IPTAs, he said. They, however, still need to fulfil the course criteria before they are accepted.
The Education Act 1996 is also being revised so that there is a provision to make 11 years of education compulsory.
Dr Maszlee said that the ministry has been conducting a pilot project to get school dropouts to return to school.
So far, the pilot project has been carried out in Perlis, Hulu Langat, Langkawi, Pasir Mas, Kluang and Kulai with 262 students (26.1%) returning to secondary school.
Burden no more
Since the beginning of 2019, the ministry has come up with five initiatives and nine interventions to lighten a teacher’s workload.
Dr Maszlee added that they want teachers to return to their core job, which is to teach and not be bogged down by unnecessary work.
“Before this, there were a lot of complaints about conflicting duties, having to perform the same task two or three times especially filling in forms and other matters,” he said.
“In addition to these five initiatives, the ministry has also identified several long-term initiatives involving more complex issues that require a review of existing policies and regulations, improvements in infrastructure and optimising job and human resources at schools,” he explained.
“These include working time, Internet access at the schools, information system integration, the role of administrators and members of the implementing group and the allocations of teachers at the schools.”
The ministry has also been working on improving a teacher’s image by strengthening the role of school inspectors.
He added that this is to enable them to go down to the ground and into schools to provide guidance and teach teachers how to teach.
“The ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Dr Mohd Gazali Abas and I have gone to Sabah to teach,” he said, adding that if they can do it, so can the school inspectors.
He said teachers should be the “noble torch that lights the nation”.
Student-centric
Dr Maszlee said in order to remove the exam-oriented mindset, the ministry has abolished mid-year and final-year exams for pupils in Years One, Two and Three.
“We are carrying out more holistic forms of assessments. This also allows teachers to be more creative and innovative to uncover their pupils’ talents,” he added.
This initiative has benefited around 1.3 million pupils all over Malaysia.
He added that more objective forms of assessments are being used instead in order to create a more fun learning environment
that focuses on continuous character building and development of a pupil’s potential.
“Parents will see their children’s development in a more holistic manner and not just based on their examination scores alone,” he said, adding that teachers will also get to know their pupils better.
“This will lead to the development of character and values.”
Dr Maszlee said that Finland, which doesn’t carry out exams for its school students, also faced hiccups at the beginning of the implementation.
But over time, he added, the students, parents, and nation embraced the “no exams” concept and it has benefited their country.
Dr Maszlee added that RM615mil had been allocated in Budget 2019 to upgrade and repair schools across the country, including national schools, vernacular schools, fully residential schools and tahfiz schools.
“The ministry is committed to
repairing dilapidated schools in order to provide a conducive learning environment for students,” he said.
This includes having a dashboard in his own office to monitor the progress “live” and rank the progress using an “impact scale” for more effective and strategic monitoring.
The impact scale, he explained, determines the urgency and needs of a dilapidated school.
“There were 394 projects in 2018, where 301 were issued Certificates of Practical Completion (CPC) and 93 more are in various stages of completion.”
He also pointed out that the Pakatan government does not sideline schools in Opposition-led states such as Sarawak.
University autonomy
Dr Maszlee said in order to give more autonomy to higher education institutions, Section 15 (C) of the Universities and University Colleges Act (Auku) 1971 was abolished in December after a thorough study was conducted.
Students can now run their own campus elections and form student unions to increase their involvement in campus matters.
A student representative should also be part of the senate in IPTAs.
He stressed that universities should include students in their decision-making processes.
Private institutions of higher education (IPTS) have been roped in to create a roadmap to increase collaborations with IPTAs.
This roadmap will also include the direction for IPTS, regulations and governance.
“There was a lot of disgruntlement in the past but now, we are involving the IPTS in the policy-making process,” he said, adding that the ministry has been engaging with IPTS to get their feedback.
TVET
Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) is a sector not to be sidelined, said Dr Maszlee, adding that the ministry wants to make TVET “mainstream”.
Dr Maszlee said that a Single TVET Quality Assurance System has been formed and will be used by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and the Skills Development Department (JPK) to accredit TVET courses.
He added that this is one initiative to reduce the problems faced by students who couldn’t get jobs after graduation because their course is not recognised.
He also said there have been townhall sessions with the various ministries, industries and communities to discuss ideas and the problems faced in the sector.
“We have increased access to polytechnics and community colleges by developing alternative programmes such as ACES (Apprenticeship Programme, Professional Certification Programme, Entrepreneurship Programme and College Community Certificate),” he added.
Language, culture and literature
Dr Maszlee said IPTAs will have sessions with national literary experts to raise the position of these experts in the country.
This will see IPTAs conducting literary activities under the guidance of these literary experts, he explained.
The ministry also launched the National Reading Decade, which runs from 2021 to 2030, he said, adding that this was to form a reading culture among Malaysians.
Dr Maszlee also said the National Language Policy and the National Book Policy were being reviewed.
“This is a segment we cannot ignore and we know that literature is part of a nation’s pulse,” he said.
“All these achievements are the result of the collective efforts of everyone in the ministry, not my own,” he added.
“We leave it to the rakyat to decide on how well Pakatan has performed.”