Sometimes, I really wonder if the people in charge of formulating & executing policies are really qualified, or experienced. From the day Malaysia switched the medium of instruction from English to Bahasa Melayu, many people, including those who have gone through the system, could see that the standards have fallen. The negative perception of the various education related ministries & agencies have begun to be proven true with each passing year.
Here's the scenerio.
1. They acknowledge that our English standard needs to be raised.
2. But because they do not want to hire the local retired English teachers, they spend hundreds of millions to hire foreigners to teach those teachers.
3. And after years of dismal results, they decided to continue throwing good money after bad.
Wouldn't it be easier if they were to recruit people who are proficient in English and possess higher qualifications to be trained as teachers in the first place?
And where did these teachers studied in? The national schools.
Which brings us back to square one.
Isn't it obvious that they are going round in circles all these years?
What needs to be said has already been repeated enough through the years. Really, it seems that those in charge are not bothered to listen.
Sadly, we will never be able to find a permanent solution, like I have mentioned many times, everything is inter-related in Malaysia. We are only treating/hiding the symptoms because it is easy to do. The real cure, is too painful and I doubt it can be done.
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| Federal Hotel |
Sometimes, I wonder, what would Malaya be like without the immigrants: the Sultans would probably hold more power. Or it could become a Republic like Indonesia. Maybe it would be like Brunei, whose Sultan was smart not to join the federation back then. Until today, the Sultan of Brunei is the absolute ruler of the country. Perhaps the Malays here would not share the same standard of living as the Bruneians but I doubt that the Malaysia would have prospered and developed as much either.
Anyway, back to education.
Begining this year, 2014, the PMR Form 3 exam will be replaced with PT3 school-based Assessment. Based on my understanding of the new assessment system, I have strong reservations. This type of system will only work when certain resources and conditions are in place.
1. Qualified & dedicated teachers
2. Class size of not more than 20 students per class.
3. School have proper resources and facilities.
Do we meet these conditions? The answer is no.
In the past, the SRP (the predesessor to PMR) was used to stream students into Science or Arts streams in Form 4. For the Malays, it was, and still is, used to place the Malay students in Fully Residential Schools, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama, Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM) including Sekolah Menengah Teknik (SMT) and Vocational Colleges.
So, with the abolishment of the PMR centralised exam, for non-Malay parents & students, it makes little difference because they will continue with Form 4 regardless. But I wonder what will happen if the students fail?
For the Malays, well, according to an Art teacher in Pahang, they are concerned that it will be abused by certain parents when they want to enrol their kids into one of the exclusive Malay schools.
In a country where there are 2 different higher education entrance exams based on race (STPM vs Matriculation), and the grading marks are classified as State Secrets, I suppose we should not expect too much. While our rankings in international assessments such TIMMS keep falling, the number of straight A's students keep increasing every year. How do you explain that?
I wonder if the parents out there still have faith in the current education system? Going by the mushrooming of International Schools or Private Schools in the country, it's evident.
RM270 million spent on English yet no results
Anisah Shukry
| March 24, 2014
The government has extended a contract for the English teachers' mentoring program in rural primary schools, even though it did not help English language UPSR results from sliding further last year.
kamalanathanKUALA LUMPUR: Despite the government paying RM270 million, a mentoring programme implemented since 2011 to improve English language teachers’ skills has had minimum impact on the quality of English among students and teachers alike.
The Dewan Rakyat was told today that the Program Penutur Jati Bahasa Inggeris (PPJBI), which hires foreign teachers to mentor local English language primary school teachers from rural areas, was unable to prevent last year’s UPSR results for the English subject plunging lower than ever.
However, the programme, which ran from 2011 to 2013, has since been extended from Oct 1, 2013 to Sept 30, 2015, at an additional cost of RM184.4 million, according to Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan.
He explained that the plan was aimed at yielding long term results.
“I don’t deny that there is a decrease (in UPSR results), but this is a long term plan. The 6,054 teachers in the programme were evaluated by their mentor based on the common European framework.
“The mentors found that the number of teachers categorised in the basic level (of English) had decreased, whereas the teachers categorised in the higher level had increased significantly,” Kamalanathan told the House during the question session this morning.
According to Kamalanathan, the percentage of teachers categorised in the lower band levels for writing skills had decreased by 7.8%, while the number of teachers who were in the higher levels had increased by 8.7%.
The teachers’ improvement in terms of reading were also similar: teachers categorised in the lower band levels had reduced by 9.92%, while those categorised in higher band levels had increased by 12.67%.
“The teachers have also shown an increase in listening and speaking. In [the lower bands], the number of teachers have reduced by 8.07%, whereas those in [higher bands] have increased by 6.73%,” said Kamalanathan.
RM21,000 per mentor
Zairil Khir Johari (DAP-Bukit Bendera) had earlier pointed out that the RM270 million allocated for the programme from between 2011 to 2013 equated to the government spending RM21,000 on a single mentor.
It involved hiring 360 mentors from three different companies: The British Council Malaysia, the British Education Group and SMR HR Group.
“This program has been going on since 2011, and now it has been extended… what is the rationale for extending this programme considering that last year’s UPSR results have shown worse results? It doesn’t look proportionate to the cost,” stressed Zairil.
But Kamalanathan stressed the programme helped expose teachers from rural schools to new concepts and theories, and had received positive feedback from the participants.
“They said when they apply their new knowledge obtained from the programme, they are able to fulfill the teaching and learning objectives in the English classes with no obstacles.
“This programme involves the participation of all English language teachers from standard one, two and three in 1800 schools,” he added.
- http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/18/Muhyiddin-PT3-PMR/PT3 replaces PMR, says Muhyiddin
- Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) or Lower Secondary Assessment examination would be replaced with Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) or Form 3 Assessment, beginning this year.
- "PT3 replaces PMR. There is some form of assessment at the school level. The PT3 will be used as the basis to determine the entry of students into Form 4 whether in Fully Residential Schools, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama, Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM) including Sekolah Menengah Teknik (SMT) and Vocational Colleges.
- http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/new-form-3-exam-system-open-to-bias-abuse-says-education-activistNew Form 3 exam system open to bias, abuse, says education activist
The new exam system that will replace the PMR for Form Three students this year is open to bias and abuse, and could jeopardise the future of children from poorer families, said an education activist today.Mohd Noor Izzat Mohd Johari (pic) said that unlike the old system, where the Form Three exam is produced and graded by an independent body outside the school, the new one, PT3 or Form Three Assessment, will be done by the teachers of each individual schools.Since PT3 results are used by students to apply to elite schools such as residential schools and the MARA junior science colleges, richer, more well off parents could pressure teachers into giving their children better grades."This is the situation that we are afraid will happen. When parents come to school and ask that teachers 'take care' of their kids," said Mohd Noor Izzat who teaches art at a secondary school in Pahang.
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