KUALA LUMPUR: The MSC Malaysia initiative has entered a new chapter which promises more benefits not only for the country’s IT players but also its citizens.
Called the MSC 2.0, the Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC) said it was time for the initiative to present its benefits to a wider scope of people and expand its outlook beyond just MSC status companies.
“Many people have asked us ‘what has MSC Malaysia done for me?’ and it was always meant to benefit everyone,” said MDeC chief executive officer, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali. MDeC is the custodian of the MSC Malaysia initiative.
He was addressing the media on the outcome of the 20th MSC Malaysia Implementation Council Meeting at the sidelines of the MSC Malaysia-Pikom Export Forum last week.
In its earlier phase, Badlisham said MSC Malaysia was too focused on developing ICT companies with little emphasis on how these solutions can be used.
“The question is now on how we can match these solutions to meet the ICT needs of the industry and the people,” he said.
MSC Malaysia is now in the middle of its second phase and Badlisham said Malaysians will see more of its benefits reaching them this time around.
He said MDeC will identify the citizens’ needs and offer the proper solution out of a myriad of ICT solutions created by MSC-status companies.
He added MDeC will come up with a roadmap to facilitate the rolling out of these solutions.
The roadmap, he explained, will help it better identify the people’s needs and offer the right solutions for those needs.
For everybody
Badlisham said the citizens have always benefited indirectly from the MSC Malaysia initiative.
Taking the MyKad flagship application as an example, he said many just regarded it as a form of identification but the MSC Malaysia initiative has allowed it to be used as a token for farmers and fishermen to receive benefits from the Government.
This, he said was done through a pilot project with the Agriculture Ministry to help create awareness among farmers and fisherman on how ICT can help them in their day-to-day business.
Badlisham said that MSC Malaysia is looking to deliver the solutions to the people by 2010, which will mark the end of the second phase of the initiative.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
NEWS: MOre emphasis on schoolwork from 2010
PUTRAJAYA: A new curriculum will be introduced at the primary school level in 2010 to make it more holistic and less examination-oriented for pupils.
This will lead to less emphasis on the UPSR examination as pupils would be assessed more on their schoolwork.
Eventually this could mean that a school-based assessment makes up a higher weightage of the UPSR at around 70% to 80% while the actual examination score would carry a lower weightage.
Fielding questions: Hishammuddin speaking during a news conference in Putrajaya Thursday. With him are (from left) Alimuddin, ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Zulkurnain Awang and Deputy Education Ministers Datuk Razali Ismail and Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the new curriculum would replace the existing primary school integrated curriculum (KBSR), which was first introduced in 1983 and subsequently reviewed in 2000.
“The new curriculum will be based on six key areas to produce holistic individuals,” he told reporters after releasing the third report card based on the National Education Blueprint 2006-2010.
The six areas were: communication; spiritual attitude and values; humanitarianism; science and technology literacy; physical and aesthetics; and personal development.
Elaborating further, Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom told The Star that Year One pupils in 50 schools nationwide have been using the new curriculum under a pilot project.
He said the pupils were being assessed using several approaches, including psychometric tests, school-based assessments and achievements in extra-curricular activities and sports.
He said that once the teething problems are ironed out the pilot project would be extended to Year One pupils in 500 schools nationwide next year.
“This will be further extended to all Year One pupils in primary schools in 2010 or 2011 if we need more time to iron out any problems,” he said.
Hishammuddin said the implications of the new curriculum would include changes in the timetable, syllabus and curriculum, while teachers would be trained to broaden their skills.
The emphasis in Years One and Two, he added, would be on ensuring pupils master reading, writing, arithmetic and reasoning skills, acquire scientific and ICT knowledge, and develop their creativity.
In Years Three, Four, Five and Six, pupils would learn more complex skills and knowledge.
Alimuddin explained that this meant that pupils would not just be tested on what they have learnt in a centralised examination.
This will lead to less emphasis on the UPSR examination as pupils would be assessed more on their schoolwork.
Eventually this could mean that a school-based assessment makes up a higher weightage of the UPSR at around 70% to 80% while the actual examination score would carry a lower weightage.
Fielding questions: Hishammuddin speaking during a news conference in Putrajaya Thursday. With him are (from left) Alimuddin, ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Zulkurnain Awang and Deputy Education Ministers Datuk Razali Ismail and Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the new curriculum would replace the existing primary school integrated curriculum (KBSR), which was first introduced in 1983 and subsequently reviewed in 2000.
“The new curriculum will be based on six key areas to produce holistic individuals,” he told reporters after releasing the third report card based on the National Education Blueprint 2006-2010.
The six areas were: communication; spiritual attitude and values; humanitarianism; science and technology literacy; physical and aesthetics; and personal development.
Elaborating further, Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom told The Star that Year One pupils in 50 schools nationwide have been using the new curriculum under a pilot project.
He said the pupils were being assessed using several approaches, including psychometric tests, school-based assessments and achievements in extra-curricular activities and sports.
He said that once the teething problems are ironed out the pilot project would be extended to Year One pupils in 500 schools nationwide next year.
“This will be further extended to all Year One pupils in primary schools in 2010 or 2011 if we need more time to iron out any problems,” he said.
Hishammuddin said the implications of the new curriculum would include changes in the timetable, syllabus and curriculum, while teachers would be trained to broaden their skills.
The emphasis in Years One and Two, he added, would be on ensuring pupils master reading, writing, arithmetic and reasoning skills, acquire scientific and ICT knowledge, and develop their creativity.
In Years Three, Four, Five and Six, pupils would learn more complex skills and knowledge.
Alimuddin explained that this meant that pupils would not just be tested on what they have learnt in a centralised examination.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
NEWS: 旅遊部推行網絡廣告
吉隆坡旅遊部長拿督斯里阿莎麗娜說，旅遊部將在9月至12月期間聯合雅虎及MSN推行網絡廣告活動以吸引更多遊客。她表示，目前遊客使用網絡的趨勢越加強烈，所以旅遊部認為，現在推廣這項活動將利於馬旅遊業。互聯網瞭解大馬的真正情況，而不隨意相信有關大馬政局不穩的訊息。”
她今日今日(週二3日）是在為旅遊部聯合雅虎及MSN的網絡廣告活動主持推介禮致詞時，發表演說。
她今日今日(週二3日）是在為旅遊部聯合雅虎及MSN的網絡廣告活動主持推介禮致詞時，發表演說。
Saturday, September 20, 2008
NEWS: Key players dissatisfied with Budget 2009
PETALING JAYA: The Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) is disappointed with next year’s budget allocation for the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) segment.
David Wong, its chairman, told In.Tech that the Government likely sees ICT as an area that is doing relatively well and does not need as much help as other sectors.
“This is true to a certain extent but there are areas (within the ICT segment) that need to be seriously addressed, such as promoting (Malaysia as a regional centre) for outsourcing,” he said.
Pikom had hoped for a double deduction of income tax for overseas companies that are outsourcing to Malaysian-operated businesses. This would have been an encouragement for the local businesses, Wong said.
Chipmaker Intel Malaysia shared some of Pikom’s disappointment. It said it had looked forward to more incentives to reduce infrastructure costs, including the removal of import duty and sales tax exemptions on broadband equipment and consumer-access devices.
Such a move, it said, would have helped accelerate broadband deployment across the nation. “The deployment of broadband beyond urban areas will drive greater PC penetration and narrow the digital divide,” said Ryaz Patel, country manager for sales and marketing at Intel Malaysia.
Good stuff
However, the industry players are satisfied with other parts of the budget.
Pikom likes the five-year tax exemption offered to venture capitalists that fund local startups. “This is good news for our startup companies and is a good carrot to attract venture capitalists,” said Wong.
It was proposed that venture capitalists investing at least 30% of the funds needed by a startup would be eligible for the tax exemption.
“Currently only 20% of venture capitalist funding (in the country) is provided by private funds. Most early-stage funding comes from government-linked organisations like the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd,” he said.
“But whether the tax break alone will be good enough to attract the venture capitalists in question, remains to be seen. Seed funding is a risky business,” he said.
The Government has also proposed that the Accelerated Capital Allowance on expenses incurred on ICT equipment for companies, which is currently claimed over two years as a tax deduction, be accelerated to one year.
“This is good,” said Wong. “If for instance, you spend RM10mil on ICT equipment. You can now claim for all of it on the first year instead of RM5mil the first year and RM5mil the next.”
This move earned kudos from Intel Malaysia, too. “Technology must be made affordable and widely available to all sectors of the community to help accelerate the digital inclusion,” said Patel.
“With the reduced timeframe to claim for the Accelerated Capital Allowance, companies can refresh their IT assets consistently to keep up with technology trends.”
Software giant Microsoft Malaysia agreed. “This serves to encourage more companies to invest in the latest know-how, such as unified communications and mobility technologies, which would result in better productivity and operational efficiencies,” said Vijay Bala, its chief financial officer. “
This is a step forward for local businesses because technology is all about empowerment — tools to bring out the best ideas and innovations.”
More goodies
MDeC chief executive officer Datuk Badisham Ghazali lauded the human capital development programme that was announced under Budget 2009.
“The double tax deduction offered to employers who sponsor staff to pursue postgraduate studies in ICT will definitely encourage more talents to join the industry, which will help meet the growing demand for knowledge workers by MSC Malaysia-status companies,” he said.
MDeC is caretaker of the MSC Malaysia initiative which is aimed at building up the country’s knowledge economy.
Intel Malaysia also supports the Government’s decision to allocate RM14.1bil under Budget 2009 to improve the quality of education at institutes of higher learning.
“We believe this will encourage the development of quality human capital and accelerate the cultivation of 21st century learning skills among students as they prepare themselves for the knowledge economy,” said Atul Bhargava, Intel Malaysia managing director.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the details of Budget 2009 on Friday.
NEWS: Rise of the webmercial
MOST of us have come across at least one “webmercial” while surfing the Internet. They are short web-based commercials that start playing automatically on some websites or come attached with an e-mail.
This is the future of marketing, said web design and web commercial company VE Media. Webmercials have been gaining popularity because of their low production cost and the fact that they can be distributed over the Internet without having to purchase expensive TV airtime.
“Webmercials have been all the rage on the Internet since 2002,” VE Media business developer Ho Kin Shwen said. Ho cited the birth of YouTube and the increasing availability of video technology as catalysts for this emerging phenomenon.
“We have done a survey which showed that more than 90% of Malaysian companies are SMEs (small and medium enterprises),” VE Media managing director Henry Ng said.
“These companies don’t have the luxury of employing a large marketing team or a team of programmers (to produce the webmercials), therefore they rely on third parties to do it for them at a lower cost” Ng said.
VE Media believes that SMEs can now get the same exposure as big companies through webmercials at a fraction of the cost.
Many webmercials are created via “green screen” which is where a commercial is created with an animated background. This eliminates the need for big production crews and exotic filming locations.
A possible hindrance to the webmercial market in Malaysia is the problem of acquiring fast and reliable Internet access in many areas.
As a consequence many videos and webmercials cannot be viewed satisfactorily.
“We believe that the Internet speed will improve in the next few years” Ho said. “Give it two or three years, the webmercial will be king.”
Ng pointed out that there are now third-party websites that can host videos on behalf of a company which stream adequately, despite the viewer having a low bandwidth connection.
VE Media started in 1999 and is incorporated in seven countries including Malaysia and Australia. For more information, go to www.vemedia.net.
NEWS: Google news comes to town
Search giant Google has just introduced yet another new product — this time it’s the localisation of its news aggregation site, Google News.
Officially live on Sept 18, the localised site, which is accessible from http://news.google.com.my, gives the user a page of constantly updated local news of the day.
“Our mission is to organise the world’s news info and make it accessible to everyone,” says Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, product manager for Google News.
Rahul said that the intent of the Google News site is not to take content away from publishers but to help people find what they’re looking for as fast as possible.
Hopefully, this will also channel traffic as quickly as possible to the publisher’s website, he says.
The main advantage of Google News Malaysia is to give readers a choice of a wide range of articles and views on the same story.
The technology that runs Google News is much like the one used for its search engine, i.e. webpages are ranked based on their popularity and certain predefined patterns of traffic on the Internet.
Currently, Google News Malaysia culls news snippets from more than 4,500 English-language sources such as The Star and The Borneo Post.
Like the US version, Google News Malaysia is split into several categories, ranging from technology to sports, all of which offer news from local sources.
NEWS: English on the web
THE Online Resources for Learning in English (MyLinE) which was specially created to help UTM students improve their language skills, has proven to be a hit. It’s been so popular that the website has been extended to students in the country’s 19 other public universities.
First launched in the first semester of 2006/2007, MyLinE is a platform for UTM students to learn and practise their English language skills in their own time and at their own pace.
By the second semester, the MyLinE website already had 158,192 hits.
Mohamed Khaled (seated) having a go at MyLinE as UTM English Language Unit director Assoc Prof Dr Khairi Izwan Abdullah explains the system to him. UTM vice-chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dr Mohd Zulkifli Mohd Ghazali said the website is part of the university’s English Language Support Programme (ELSP) for students.
Other components under ELSP are peer support, one-on-one support and short taught courses.
“The main aim is to develop a culture of responsibility for self-directed learning (among students) and nurture a community of learners who will take charge of their own self development,” he said.
MyLinE offers a variety of activities and learning resources to improve language proficiency, which include academic reading, writing, speaking and listening, study skills and grammar.
The MyLinE website had caught the attention of Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, when he visited the UTM campus in June.
“Realising the potential for wider use, the ministry decided to provide administrative and financial support of about RM4.5mil to UTM so that MyLinE could be extended to students in other public universities,” he said after launching its extended use at the UTM city campus in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday.
He said MyLinE had been made available unofficially to students from other public universities for the last three days.
“As of 8am on Tuesday, there had already been 30,915 hits,” Mohd Khaled said, adding that the ministry would continue to monitor the usage at each university.
He stressed that this did not mean online resources would replace conventional teaching as the ministry would continue to provide support and encourage teaching in innovative face-to-face classroom teaching.
UTM, he added, would continue to develop and maintain MyLinE.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
NEWS: 5-star ratings for 30 more smart schools
Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein says five-star schools would be used as the benchmark
PUTRAJAYA: Another 30 smart schools nationwide will obtain "five-star" ranking by the year's end to take the total to 88.
To date, 58 of the schools have already achieved the status, 29 others are ranked four-star while one is ranked three-star. The five-star schools, he said, would then be used as the benchmark to turn other government schools into "smart schools" by 2010.
Hishammuddin said the concept of "Pembestarian Sekolah" which focused on teaching and learning (as well as school management) mediated by information and communication technology, was the way to go for all other schools under the ministry.
Under ministry plans, 7,500 government schools will be ranked three-star, 2,000 four-star and 500 five-star by 2010. The ministry will hasten all ICT initiatives, including computer laboratories and web televisions, for the schools.
The ministry, Hishammuddin said, would also need to bridge the digital gap between urban, rural and remote schools.
"We are hoping that more schools can attain the five-, four- and three-star status by 2012," he said after launching the book Malaysia: From Traditional to Smart Schools -- The Malaysian Education Odyssey at his office yesterday.
On the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English, he said any change would be made from Year One.
Hishammuddin said a win-win decision should be the only answer to the debate on the use of English in the teaching of Science and Mathematics as the ministry did not want students to be left out due to their poor command of the language.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
NEWS: Key players dissatisfied with Budget 2009
PETALING JAYA: The Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) is disappointed with next year’s budget allocation for the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) segment.
David Wong, its chairman, told In.Tech that the Government likely sees ICT as an area that is doing relatively well and does not need as much help as other sectors.
“This is true to a certain extent but there are areas (within the ICT segment) that need to be seriously addressed, such as promoting (Malaysia as a regional centre) for outsourcing,” he said.
Pikom had hoped for a double deduction of income tax for overseas companies that are outsourcing to Malaysian-operated businesses. This would have been an encouragement for the local businesses, Wong said.
Chipmaker Intel Malaysia shared some of Pikom’s disappointment. It said it had looked forward to more incentives to reduce infrastructure costs, including the removal of import duty and sales tax exemptions on broadband equipment and consumer-access devices.
Such a move, it said, would have helped accelerate broadband deployment across the nation. “The deployment of broadband beyond urban areas will drive greater PC penetration and narrow the digital divide,” said Ryaz Patel, country manager for sales and marketing at Intel Malaysia.
Good stuff
However, the industry players are satisfied with other parts of the budget.
Pikom likes the five-year tax exemption offered to venture capitalists that fund local startups. “This is good news for our startup companies and is a good carrot to attract venture capitalists,” said Wong.
It was proposed that venture capitalists investing at least 30% of the funds needed by a startup would be eligible for the tax exemption.
“Currently only 20% of venture capitalist funding (in the country) is provided by private funds. Most early-stage funding comes from government-linked organisations like the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd,” he said.
“But whether the tax break alone will be good enough to attract the venture capitalists in question, remains to be seen. Seed funding is a risky business,” he said.
The Government has also proposed that the Accelerated Capital Allowance on expenses incurred on ICT equipment for companies, which is currently claimed over two years as a tax deduction, be accelerated to one year.
“This is good,” said Wong. “If for instance, you spend RM10mil on ICT equipment. You can now claim for all of it on the first year instead of RM5mil the first year and RM5mil the next.”
This move earned kudos from Intel Malaysia, too. “Technology must be made affordable and widely available to all sectors of the community to help accelerate the digital inclusion,” said Patel.
“With the reduced timeframe to claim for the Accelerated Capital Allowance, companies can refresh their IT assets consistently to keep up with technology trends.”
Software giant Microsoft Malaysia agreed. “This serves to encourage more companies to invest in the latest know-how, such as unified communications and mobility technologies, which would result in better productivity and operational efficiencies,” said Vijay Bala, its chief financial officer. “
This is a step forward for local businesses because technology is all about empowerment — tools to bring out the best ideas and innovations.”
More goodies
MDeC chief executive officer Datuk Badisham Ghazali lauded the human capital development programme that was announced under Budget 2009.
“The double tax deduction offered to employers who sponsor staff to pursue postgraduate studies in ICT will definitely encourage more talents to join the industry, which will help meet the growing demand for knowledge workers by MSC Malaysia-status companies,” he said.
MDeC is caretaker of the MSC Malaysia initiative which is aimed at building up the country’s knowledge economy.
Intel Malaysia also supports the Government’s decision to allocate RM14.1bil under Budget 2009 to improve the quality of education at institutes of higher learning.
“We believe this will encourage the development of quality human capital and accelerate the cultivation of 21st century learning skills among students as they prepare themselves for the knowledge economy,” said Atul Bhargava, Intel Malaysia managing director.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the details of Budget 2009 on Friday.
NEWS: An international success
Thousands of IT professionals, developers, system architects and technical decision makers attended this year’s Microsoft Tech.Ed South-East Asia show.
THE annual Tech.Ed SEA conference attracted 3,200 attendees with a marked increase in foreign participants.
One quarter of this year’s attendees are from the region, an increase from 20% last year, according to Tyson Dowd, Microsoft Malaysia senior director for Malaysian software economy.
PACKED:Many participants flew in from neighbouring countries like Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia just to attend Tech.Ed 2008. “We had people from Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia flying down to Kuala Lumpur just for Tech.Ed. This is thanks to the awareness we built over the last few years,” he said.
He said that attendees place a lot of value in attending Tech.Ed because the event gives them a chance to get a hands on feel of Microsoft’s products.
“Getting to attend Tech.Ed is like a reward for a job well done, as they get to meet the experts,” he said.
Tech.Ed took nine months to organise and overall, Microsoft is satisfied with the results. “It was like having a baby,” he said.
Dowd said that the highlight of the event were the tracks on virtualisation, as Microsoft is offering Hyper-V with Windows server 2008.
Virtualisation has in recent years become an increasingly popular method for companies to reduce hardware requirement by running two or more virtual machines on a single server.
This is more environmentally friendly because by reducing the number of physical machines, companies will also see a reduction in power consumption.
“If you’re an IT person, virtualisation will change your life,” he claimed.
Most participants interviewed by In.Tech said that they attended at least 12 sessions during the intense, information-packed four-day event and found the conference to be very useful.
Nazhar Nizam, Bank Rakyat Sdn Bhd’s executive for IT infrastructure management, was upbeat on the Hyper-V virtualisation technology because it can help optimise server resources.
“We definitely want to upgrade to it as soon as possible,” said Nazhar, a first time Tech.Ed attendee.
Rick Salisbury, product development manager of Melbourne-based Ultradata Pte Ltd, a supplier of IT services to the financial sector, found the mobile development tracks the most interesting.
“I believe there are twice as many mobile phone as there are PCs in the world, and the mobile world hasn’t reached its potential yet. It’s interesting to see how mobile applications will evolve in two years time,” he said.
Another first-timer at Tech.Ed, Ismail Hussin, an assistant manager of group risk and information security at AmBank Group, said that learning about Microsoft’s Systems Centre was an educational experience.
Systems Centre is a complete suite of solutions for managing a server farm.
“We have 400 servers and Systems Centre gives a bird’s eye view of what’s on them,” he said.
Siti Nabilah Ibrahim, an executive at Petronas Nasional Bhd’s research and technology division, said she gained a deeper understanding of Sharepoint, a networking and collaboration software, which was initially deployed for her department of 8,000 people.
Over the next six years, her team is looking at deploying Sharepoint for 33,000 Petronas employees.
“Besides the tracks, I also found the labs a great help as it gave my team a chance to learn from the experts,” she said.
NEWS: Bank lends a hand
CITIBANK Bhd, through a Citi Foundation grant, recently donated learning materials and equipment worth US$25,000 (RM84,830) to six schools in Kota Tinggi, Johor. In line with the bank’s on-going commitment to nurture the educational needs of young people, the donation was used to purchase PA systems, visualizers, LCD TVs, computers, laptops, whiteboards, noticeboards, dictionaries and reference books on creativity.
The six schools which benefited from the donation were SK Taman Kota Jaya, SK Bandar Kota Tinggi, SJK(T) Jalan Tajul, SJK(C) Pei Hwa, SMK Laksamana and SMK Tun Habab. Headmasters, teachers and students from the schools attended the presentation ceremony held at SK Taman Kota Jaya.
“Citi has always placed a high level of importance on education,” said Citibank senior branch operations officer Jennifer Wong.
Their happy faces say it all. Some of the pupils at the presentation ceremony. “We are committed to using our resources to help improve access to quality education for young people, and are pleased to be able to support these six schools by enhancing their resources, facilities and infrastructure. This assistance is important as it will give students more opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills.
“We believe some 5,913 students will benefit from the donation,” Wong added.
Working closely with the Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS) and the Kota Tinggi district education office, the six schools were selected as they had been badly affected by the 2007 floods in the area. They lost much of their teaching resources and equipment.
“Education is a child’s greatest asset,” said Wong.
“We are constantly exploring ways for Citibank to play an effective role in helping students better equip themselves so that they, in turn, can contribute to the country’s economic growth and prosperity,” she added.
NEWS: Get Smart
Some rural smart schools in Sarawak are making lots of headway with ICT in the classroom.
WHAT image comes to mind when you think of kampung (village) schools? An old rickety fan, rows of wooden chairs and tables, and wide-eyed children in front of a blackboard, perhaps?
Ah, but for some smart schools in the rural areas and towns of Sarawak, you could not be more wrong.
From interactive whiteboards to organising information databases on the computer, the Education Ministry’s smart school initiative has brought ICT skills to the previously uninitiated, prompting them to engage in innovative ways of using technology in the classroom. This has helped to narrow the digital gap between urban and rural students.
A teacher using an interactive whiteboard to teach Science at SM Sains Kuching, Sarawak. Last month, ministry officials and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC) staff visited three Sarawak schools — SMK Bahasa Malaysia (SMK BM) Saratok, SM Sains Kuching and Kolej Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Abdillah (KDPAHA) — as part of the Smart School Qualification Standards (SSQS) monitoring exercise.
Smart schools, first introduced in 1999, differ from regular schools in several ways. For one thing, a part of their teaching and learning uses digital content and ICT hardware. Then, students are provided with facilities such as web-based TV while teachers are given software like the Web School Management System (WSMS) and Learning Content Management System (LCMS) for organising administrative detail.
With the SSQS, all 88 smart schools are ranked from one to five, according to criteria such as ICT utilisation, human capital, applications and technology infrastructure.
The visit to the Sarawak schools proved to be as much an eye-opening experience as a monitoring exercise.
Diverse experiences
SMK BM Saratok uses the government-provided SchoolNet and Streamyx to offer Internet access to students, who often conduct research for projects and submit assignments online.
“The computer labs are open every day, from 2pm to 5pm,” says Form Six student Lydia Luta. “I come three times a week if I have work to do.”
The school’s Briged Bestari member and Form Four student Muhd Norhelmi Ahmad, 16, explains that the special brigade not only maintains the computers in the school but also teaches fellow students ICT use during assembly as well as engages in community work.
Awang Alyster (right) with the robot he created. “We bring in primary pupils during the school holidays to learn ICT and use our facilities,” he says, adding that soon, there may be an online forum for students and teachers to communicate with each other.
Over at SM Sains Kuching, principal Salbiah Seman talked about how her school applied ICT in every aspect, even in teaching physical education and running its cooperative retail shop.
Form Five student Josepha Awing, 17, says using interactive whiteboards, doing online research and making powerpoint presentations are normal practices in the school.
“We make use of computers and LCD screens for all our subjects. Right now, I’m researching the challenges of Vision 2020 for Moral Education,” she says. “We have to compile the information in a scrapbook.”
KDPAHA has a vibrant ICT culture. It often holds exhibitions showcasing students’ work with IT and conducts workshops for teachers and students. It even has an IT song that is sung every assembly — complete with action.
“The students produce VCDs of their school’s rugby game and other co-curricular activities to sell to their peers,” says principal Johara Zen. “They also hold video-making competitions between sports houses.”
Students like Awang Alyster Awang Kasumar, 16, took part in robotic competitions, exhibiting robots they constructed and programmed using computer software. “In future, I want to make robots that are beneficial to humans,” he says, showing off his robot at the school’s IT fair.
Despite all these positive efforts, there are a number of problems. SMK BM Saratok principal Rahim Ibas pointed out that there are often blackouts after a rainstorm and the surge of voltage sometimes spoils the computers.
For KDPAHA, the cost of maintaining the equipment hinders them from fully utilising the facilities provided.
“Currently, 14 of our 32 LCD projectors are not usable because the bulbs have fused and it costs RM2,000 to replace each bulb. Replacing 14 would mean we have to spend RM28,000,” explains Johara.
"Most schools will be made smart by 2010, but in phases" - DR NORRIZAN RAZALI Another concern brought up by the principals was balancing their school’s image.
“We feel tension because we’re trying to be a smart school and also achieve good exam results,” Rahim says. “People tend to say, ‘Your school is supposed to be a smart school, why don’t the students do well?’”
Ready for challenges
Nevertheless, the general response has been encouraging. If everything goes well, all 10,000 schools in the country will be “smart” by the year 2010.
“All schools will be made smart by 2010, but in phases,” says (MDEC) smart school senior manager Dr Norrizan Razali.
“Most are ready in terms of infrastructure, as digital content for Maths and Science and resources like SchoolNet are available.”
Although 1,737 schools have been identified by the ministry as being at various levels of “smart school readiness”, more remains to be done, she adds.
“Perhaps some are not ready in terms of ICT utilisation and human capital, so coaching will be focused on these two aspects.”
By “coaching”, Dr Norrizan means monitoring and advisory help from educationists from tertiary institutions and the ministry’s Technology Education Division officers. Smart schools currently have 18 coaches from universities and 21 from the ministry in a system implemented on a trial basis last year.
One such KDPAHA coach, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak lecturer Norazila Abdul Aziz, explains her role.
“I visit the school once a month and also correspond with them by phone or email,” she says. “I meet with teachers, give tips on how ICT can be included in lessons and make sure they document their ICT usage.
“If they raise problems, I suggest strategies to overcome them. I also raise them up during focus meetings in Kuala Lumpur every month, where we discuss problems and best practices.”
Dr Norrizan adds that coaches also identify the training that needs to be provided by the ministry or MDEC. Of course, she admits, the challenge is how to engage enough coaches for 10,000 schools.
But she believes that there is a bigger purpose for smart schools.
“It’s an effort to create a culture for the world of work, and talent for a knowledge economy,” Dr Norrizan says.
“ICT is used to enhance interest in the field itself as a career, and also to improve the students’ lives.”
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