The Education Ministry will address urban problems in the second phase of its development plan.
THE focus of the National Education Blueprint 2006-2010 will shift from rural schools to those in the urban areas this year.
Last year, initiatives were geared towards reducing disparities and inequalities and levelling the education playing field.
This involved ensuring that all schools had electricity and water supply, and giving out a hardship allowance of between RM500 to
RM1, 500 for teachers serving in rural areas, plus a yearly allocation to enable them to balik kampung.
This year, the ministry will turn its attention to problems in urban schools, such as overcrowding, high fees, shortage of teachers, and poor maintenance of educational facilities.
Minster Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said that in 2007, the ministry’s target was
to reduce the gap between urban and rural schools.
“We have built up the infrastructure and ensured that teachers are given incentives to teach in rural areas, including the provision of quarters and other facilities.
“We wanted to help those who really needed it, like the Orang Asli and Penan, and give them equal access to education as we don't want any Malaysian to be sidelined,'' he told reporters after launching the second report card on the implementation of the Blueprint at the Ministry on Thursday.
In addition to the report card, a leaflet on the progress made in education projects in Sabah was distributed.
It showed that the east Malaysian state received the highest proportion of money from the Federal Government under the Ninth Malaysia Plan – RM3.43bil, or 16.54% of the total amount allocated. Sarawak was second, with RM3.01bil, and Johor third, with RM1.99bil.
“Sabah received three times the amount that my home state, Johor, was given. We have
never sidelined Sabah. We in fact allocated more money to the state as we wanted to reduce inequalities,” Hishammuddin said.
Programmes like RIMUP and KIA2M are among the success stories of the Blueprint. New realities
The outcome of the March general election showed, however, that people in urban areas were unhappy about certain issues, including the fees imposed by Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs).
As such, the ministry wants to strengthen PTAs and provide them with financial assistance to reduce the burden on parents.
“We want to ensure that PTAs can still function without having to impose fees. It is a fact that even though the government has disbursed RM3bil as aid to students, many parents still find it difficult to educate their children.”
Schooling is essentially free now as the government has abolished public examination as well as school fees. Textbooks are also given free to all students.
Last year, the government absorbed the cost of examination fees amounting to RM93.5mil
for the UPSR, PMR and SPM exams, and RM12.87mil for the STPM exam, Hishammuddin added.
To solve the shortage of classrooms, cabin structures will be used in urban schools. These have been successfully introduced in rural areas.
“They are cheaper and the time taken to construct them is also much shorter.”
As for the lack of teachers, he added that the ministry would continue hiring temporary teachers to fill the shortage.
Teacher issues
Under the Blueprint, the government has increased promotional opportunities for teachers, improved training programmes and introduced stricter entry criteria for trainee teachers.
Last year, 417,447 teachers went through in-service training. Figures in December showed that 2,866 teachers had been selected to fill the quota in several posts from DG32A to Superscale C.
However, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) contends that the ministry has yet to resolve several outstanding issues.
On the same day that Hishammuddin issued his second report card, NUTP had called a press
conference to highlight the plight of teachers.
It has also prepared a memorandum containing proposals to strengthen the education
system, which it plans to present to the Ministry.
NUTP president Anuar Ibrahim acknowledged that teachers had received a lot from the Ministry.
“We are grateful. However, there are several issues that need the Government's attention.
“These include the loss of seniority and remuneration for non-graduate teachers who had obtained degrees,'' he said.
NUTP estimates that about 70,000 teachers had lost out after obtaining degrees.
However, Anuar said that NUTP recognises that many of the issues also involve
other agencies such as the Public Services Department (PSD).
“At our meetings, we were told that whatever benefits given to teachers would also have an impact on other civil servants, as such the matter needs to be studied carefully.”
Another sore point is the position of senior assistants following the upgrading of Form Six teachers.
“We welcome the new posts but at the same time the Ministry must look at how this has affected senior assistants, as their grading has not changed.”
He added that NUTP would be meeting with Deputy Education Minister Datuk Razali Ismail on Thursday to discuss this and other issues.
Many achievements
The Blueprint, launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in January
last year, outlines the ministry’s plans to develop education over a five-year period in six key areas.
They are nation-building, developing human capital, strengthening national schools, bridging the
education gap, improving the teaching profession, and accelerating excellence at educational institutions.
The second report card, like the first, which was released last July, highlights various
measures taken by the ministry to implement the Blueprint. Of the 320 action plans drawn up, 157 (or 49.06%) have achieved their targets.
A total of 17,356 development projects are slated for the five-year period of the Blueprint. Of this number, 10,045 are at various levels of implementation – 2,493 have been completed, 3,023 are ongoing and 4,529 are at pre-construction stage.
Hishammuddin also announced that the ministry will give priority to remedial and renovation works undertaken by Class F contractors to ensure that all schools have
proper facilities.
There were several success stories last year, in particular the decision to form permanent committees to tackle issues such as discipline, health, safety and cleanliness.
“The number of discipline cases has dropped,” said Hishammuddin. (See chart)
The ministry’s success has also been recognised by Mampu (Malaysian Administration Modernisation and Management Planning Unit).
In a survey of 28 ministries, the Education Ministry was the highest-ranked, (86.63%) and received a four-star rating.
Boost for national schools
To make national schools the school of choice of parents, several measures have been taken, Hishammuddin added. These included improving infrastructure and attracting more non-Malays to teach in these schools.
A total of 413 (7.14%) national primary schools now have non-Malay enrolment of over 20%, while 1,987 or 20.5% of primary and secondary schools have non-Malay headmasters or principals.
The ministry has also expanded the teaching of Chinese and Tamil in national primary
schools. Chinese is now being taught at 250 national schools, and Tamil, at 120 national schools.
In 2007, 2,889 pupils studied Chinese.
The breakdown was: 1,555 Malays, 561 Chinese, 214 Indians, and 559, other races. Tamil was studied by 492 pupils – 165 Malays, seven Chinese, 208 Indians, and 12 other races.
This year, all students, regardless of their parents’ income, received free textbooks. Hishammuddin also highlighted the success of programmes like the Early Intervention
Programme for Reading and Writing (KIA2M) and remedial classes.
THE KIA2M programme has resulted in over 90% of Year One pupils being able to read and write in Bahasa Malaysia compared to 60% before.
The RIMUP or Students' Integration Plan for Unity has seen remarkable growth.
Last year, 1.95 million primary school pupils and 1.57 million secondary school students went through the programme.
The F1 in Schools and Robotics competitions have also been incorporated into RIMUP.
Hishammuddin added that it was impossible for the ministry to solve all education woes. “We have to prioritise. What is important is that we are open and above board in whatever we do.”
The report card is available for viewing at www.moe.gov.my.
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