Education

Education policies concerning non-citizen children with either parent Malaysia should be reviewed and reformed. This includes the following policy recommendations:
1. Amend provisions under the Education Act 1996 that limit public schools to citizens, and allow all children in Malaysia equal access to basic education regardless of citizenship status. This includes stateless and undocumented children.
a. Uphold the directive made by the Ministry of Education in 2018 under the ‘Zero Rejection Policy’ that allowed non-citizen and stateless children of Malaysian parents or guardians to register by requiring only relevant documents such as the child’s birth certificate, adoption papers or a court order.
b. Amend the directive by the Ministry of Education in 2018 to remove the two year limit on filing documentation or citizenship with the National Registration Department.
2. Extend services such as the Textbook Loan Scheme, Supplementary Food Programme and health programmes to all students regardless of citizenship status.
3. Establish and uphold a standard operating procedure for student enrolment in every school district across Malaysia.

The use of School Improvement Specialist Coach (SISC) under the PPD office to tackle teachers with attitude and ability issues in school is not resolving the problem at the roots.
Similarly, teachers with mental health conditions should be placed in the reserve pool (for remedial interventions) without hesitation. The establishment of an ‘Ombudsman’ system is recommended to look into the grievances endured by school principals and teachers. This has to be done, to serve the best interest of students.
The post of Specialist teachers should be awarded based on the true performance of teachers instead of merely filling up the vacancy of the post. It is recommended for all teachers to sit for Professional Competency Assessment, known as PTK (Professional Tahap Kompetensi) prior to further promotion in the career path. Promotion dealing with DG41 to DG48 should be held at school level to ensure teacher’s mastery in pedagogy and professional knowledge, while senior level promotions from DG48 to DG52 to be assessed by professional accreditation body.
Teachers with attitude and ability issues need to be dealt with decisively as it has detrimental effects on students.

The following model in UK can provide a reference for Decentralization of education to
take place in Malaysia.
The UK ‘Academy School’ Model* is recommended to be run on pioneer project basis as a
progressive initiative to realise the Decentralisation in education in Malaysia. In particular
to getting rid of schools and teachers who are underperforming as well as fulfilling
students, parents and community aspirations in education.
Under such a scheme, schools will be given full autonomy to run school in the best
interest to benefit students, community and school. These schools were given 80%
funding by the Government and 20% based on school TRUST fund. Teachers enjoy better
pension scheme and job security. Professional accreditation body to visit schools to
ascertain if they are on track with the self -determined set performance goals
As for under-performing schools, they will be aided by an agreed school recovery plan.
Continual failure of the school community to perform will be resolved. Both teachers and
principals will be disengaged.
School Managements are given a free hand to deliver education, using their own approach
in line with the focus taken by the school community. For example, the school may want to
reinforce student learning in BM, first using the immersion approach for Year 1 students,
followed by set approaches in the teaching of English to students in the Year 2. The only
requirement is that, at the end of this completed schooling, students are competent to sit
for the public exam.
To produce students whose capabilities are sustainable and relevant, schools should be
given autonomy to run a niche school-based curriculum benefitting majority of the
students. This is to be funded by the Government. For example, SMK St Mary, as a Girl’s
School, has been conducting culinary classes to benefit students in life skills, as well as a
potential career in future for students from B40.
Similarly, SMK Confucious school has commenced the ‘Bijak Bahasa’ program to its Year 1
students to address the issue of Malay language literacy gap faced by majority of students
in the school.
Hin Hua High School students, from Klang, are given direct entry to the prestigious
Tsinghua and Beijing Universities. The empowerment of having a self-determined broadbased
curriculum which include the teaching of Social Science with a broad-based
concept to widen students’ global perspective. The school is well-known and given
recognition for producing aspiring students.

The UK ‘Academy School’ Model* is a progressive pioneer project initiative to realise the Decentralisation of education and fulfil students, parents and community’s aspirations in education. Politics is separated from education, underperforming school teachers are removed and those with attitude and ability issues dealt with decisively. Schools and teachers are given due autonomy respectively in the discharge of mission. So are their accountability for education.

The teaching curriculum adheres to parameters set out under the national curriculur framework. Schools have full autonomy to prioritise, sequence and focus teaching subjects and additional school-based curriculum in the best interest to benefit students. For eg. SMK St Mary Girl’s School conducts culinary life skill classes to benefit B40students as a potential career in future.

At the final stage of primary school learning, students are required (with flexibility to decide the time and number of times) to sit for literacy and numeracy competency test as well as the use of science knowledge in daily life. In the final year of secondary schooling, students are required to sit for standardised public exams such as SPM.

Schools under the status of ‘Academy School’ are 80% funded by the Government and 20% from the school TRUST fund. Teachers enjoy better pension scheme and job security. Professional accreditation bodies visit schools to ascertain if they are on track with self -determined performance goals. Teachers and principals are disengaged. Underperforming schools are aided by an agreed recovery plan and continual failure to perform resolved

The learning goal has to be clearly set for the appreciation for the diversity and
resourcefulness contained in a multi-racial society in the country.
There is a need to come out with a reliable and valid content for school History subjects,
to counter the distortion that has been embedded in History texts since 2004.
It is recommended that the mandatory curriculum to be studied by all students should be
(and is named) ‘Civic and Citizenship’ or ‘Civic Education and Citizenship ’. This includes
studies on the country’s political, legal and Government systems, as well as the role of
government vis a vis the people and the citizen’s role to safeguard a just, safe and humane
society. It includes studies on diversity of practices in culture and religious belief within the
country and across the world. Others include the truth behind political and human acts
which impacts the emergence of global issues etc. Such awareness and civic skill are seen
essential to develop a ‘co-existence and co-prosperity mindset’ within people living in a
multi-racial society.

The consultative panel of experts or scholars with adequate experience in education and holding leadership positions, are responsible for establishing and implementing education policy. The differences between what is desired in education (curriculum, instruction and assessment) and what is implemented has been a constant problem in education. In order to reduce this gap, we propose the following:-
1. Formation of the professional, ‘apolitical’ educational consultative council consisting of relevant experts in specified fields within the Ministry of Education or otherwise;
2. Explicitly define the role of government and the roles of the consultative council in the process of implementation so that there may be minimal political interference or interventions;
3. Increase the role of our youth in the formation of educational policies;
4. Empower the role our educational administrators, teachers and perhaps the student themselves in policy and curriculum design, decisions and implementation. Basically, it will position education professionalism in place.

1) Introduce comprehensive gender sexuality education into the school curriculum.

2) Providing training curriculum to future educator

1. Enhance and simplify the teaching and wide use of Malay language in vernacular schools through interesting methods and activities. Develop love for the acquisition of the language and appreciation of the culture contained within.
2. Politicians have to be trustworthy instead of misleading the majority ethnic group using the supremacy of one language for political mileage and control.
3. There needs to be a genuine debate on the right and equality bestowed on all Malaysians regardless of ethnicity as well as the status of Malay as national language as contained in Chapter 1,4, 8 and 11 in the Constitution. This includes evaluating the relevance of an education system, which insists on the use of Malay as the language medium as recommended in the Razak and Rahman Talib Report.

Advance national competitiveness using the inherent diversity of the Vernacular school system as a wealthy resource. It serves as the magnet to attract foreign investment in the country both from the West and the East. Political masterminds, behind the right-wing NGO allegations, seeking court injunctions to end the vernacular schooling system in the country have to be sanctioned in the coming election.
The dedicated leadership of the Board of governors and generosity of the alumni to assist, support and sponsor the infrastructure and financial needs of school in Missionary, Chinese Conforming and Chinese Independent Schools speaks the essence of education. That is to transmit love, care and values to safeguard the heritage of culture or ethos by means of social modelling and thus sustain schools and churn out aspiring students and thoughtful alumni and leaders for the community.
Similarly the use of English to teach Science and Maths under the Dual Language Program in the secondary vernacular schools is regarded as a viable alternative to produce students who are bilingual with a Malaysian identity. This is the aspiration embedded in the Malaysian Education Blueprint.
To the Malay students enrolled in the Chinese conforming schools, the wide use of Mandarin in school provides language immersion to students, enabling them to be trilingual competent in Mandarin, English and Malay. Similarly the Chinese students benefitted from learning together with the Malay students. This is a wealthy resource to be tapped in vernacular schools, represented by diversity of ethics, language and culture. It helps to provide wider alternatives and choices to students in higher education and overseas job markets.

The purpose of the assessment is to provide students feedback on their attainment of literacy and numeracy including mastery of knowledge that is used in living and daily life. The assessment could be held from Year 5 to 6 at primary school level conducted by a professional examination board. Students can be given the autonomy to decide the time when they feel they are most ready for the test. There is no limit to the number of times to sit for the assessments
The abolishment of UPSR exam in the present year 2021 could be regarded as a turning point for teachers and schools to focus on true delivery of education. That is education is a process of connectedness in particular to restore the autonomy and ownership in learning to students and teaching to teachers. The teacher’s bigger role is to develop the love for reading and the love for learning in students.
Of paramount importance, is developing the curiosity and the eagerness to learn. To ensure teachers and schools have such attitude and commitment to deliver the goal, it is recommended instead of preparing students at primary school level to sit for public exam, the school needs to subject to a two-years-once overview assessment by a professional body. Schools that fail to deliver will be given assistance with a recovery plan. If school leadership and teachers continue to fail to deliver, the school management team and teachers may be disengaged.

Education system needs schools to be conducive to nurture student’s creativity.
1. Emphasize the importance of using students' interests to immerse them in the learning journey. Recognize and support students with diverse capabilities.
2. Design a learning environment, question-friendly environment and a schedule that encourages play, discovery and useful failure.
3. Find ways to involve parents and the wider community in the students' creative pursuits.
4. Connect problems and their solutions to real-world situations using problem-Based Learning and inquiry learning tools. Supported with new skills, inspired by cross-pollination of ideas.
5. Let students dream about solutions without borders and accomplishment without limitation. Lead them towards imagining what they want as opposed to just what they think is possible.
6. Incorporate “learning” classroom practices with outings to explore and learn from nature and the environment.