EDUCATION MANAGEMENT 1: MALAYSIA

Aims for Development

7.1 The education management development plans aims to improve and strengthen the level of efficiency and effectiveness of management in the aspects of administration, monitoring and evaluation, curriculum and assessment, personnel, information

EDUCATION MANAGEMENT 2: MALAYSIA

Issues and Challenges

7.2 The challenge to the MOE in education management is to overcome issues and problems due to its structure that is hierarchical, centralised, and heavy at the top (departments/divisions) but small at the bottom (state/district education departments), bureaucratic issues, as well as inefficient and ineffective management of resources and personnel, and the implementation of certain policies. The MOE needs to improve the quality of leadership at all levels of the ministry and develop a group of competent top-level managers equipped with the highestprofessional qualification and who have expertise in management and education. To improve the quality of school management, the MOE needs to strengthen the role of principal/head master as curriculum leaders and ensure that the monitoring, evaluation, and assessment activities of education programmes are carried out in accordance to the objectives of Education High Quality Standard. These activities can only be implemented effectively by having sufficient numbers of inspectorate personnel and distributing the monitoring and evaluation reports to the educational institutions concerned.

7.3 Problems concerning teacher deployment are influenced not only by the actual needs of schools but also by humanitarian factors, the employment of temporary untrained teachers, and the attachment of teachers as administrative officers in the ministry, state education departments, and division/district education offices. At the same time there are other factors beyond the control of management such as the shortage of teachers for critical subjects, limited opportunities for in-service teacher training, teachers taking non-paid leave, and the difficulties in recruiting replacement teachers.

7.4 To further strengthen its organization, the MOE faces the challenge of modernizing its Management and Human Resource Information System by reorganizing its present personnel data base, increasing training activities in ICT, establishing MOE into a learning organization, making the teaching profession attractive to university graduates especially in critical subjects, and increasing the commitment of teachers and other personnel.

7.5 The MOE also faces the challenge of creating an integrated and efficient management information system. This can only be achieved by providing appropriate ICT infrastructure and having a common understanding in the interpretation and implementation of policies among various education agencies. At the same time, the

MOE needs to create a favourable environment that encourages more R&D activities and develops a research culture.

PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY EDUCATION 1: MALAYSIA

Aims for Development

2.1 The Blueprint aims to institutionalise preschool education, provide preschool education for children aged 5+ years, make the National Preschool Curriculum compulsory in all kindergartens, and strengthens the monitoring and evaluation of preschool programmes.

2.2 The development plan for primary education aims to provide appropriate and adequate nfrastructure for the provision of compulsory primary education; further reduce the attrition rate; improve reading, writing, and arithmetic (3R) skills; increase the development of social skills and basic computer skills; increase the mastery of Malay language, English language, Mathematics, and Science; improve the reading and writing skills of the Jawi script; reinforce national unity by introducing Mandarin and Tamil languages as subjects in national schools; provide adequate trained teachers; and ensure that 50 percent of primary school teachers are university graduates by 2010.

TERTIARY EDUCATION 1 : MALAYSIA

Aims of Development

4.1 The development plan for community colleges aims to provide training and retraining facilities in various industrial skills as well as providing an alternative route to higher education for school leavers and the local community and industries for education and other purposes that can benefit both parties.

4.2 The development plan for polytechnics aims to further provide and upgrade education and training facilities at semi-professional level in technical, commerce, and service fields and provide an alternative route for higher education for secondary school leavers.

4.3 The development plan for higher educations aims to produce sufficient quality human resources geared towards the needs of the nation and the K-economy. Specifically, the plan aims to achieve democratisation of higher education and socio-economic balance among the different races. Emphasis will be made on science and technology, the use of ICT, and the mastery of the Malay language and other international languages. The plan also aims to improve post-graduate programmes, produce students of excellence and quality, further develop students character, encourage research and development (R&D) of international standards, inculcate a culture of quality in higher education, and promote lifelong learning.

TERTIARY EDUCATION 2 : MALAYSIA

Issues and Challenges

4.5 At present, only 11 percent of the population aged 18-21 years have the opportunity to enroll in non-degree programmes and only 5 percent of the age cohort enrolled in degree programmes. The challenge to the MOE is to further increase accessibility to tertiary education in line with the democratisation concept, meet the growing demand of society for higher education, and fulfill the increasing need for knowledgeable and skilled manpower.

4.6 To promote lifelong learning, the challenge to the MOE is to ensure tertiary education institutions are able to provide opportunities to those who want to acquire knowledge, skills, training, and retraining as well as to enable those who had dropped out of school an opportunity to resume their education. To provide access to tertiary education for Bumiputera students in the rural areas, the MOE faces the challenge to encourage the establishment of private higher education institutions in these areas.

4.7 To meet the target of 60 percent students in science and technology, the MOE faces the challenge to increase science and technology-based programmes at local higher education institutions; ensure the enrolment ratio in certificate, diploma, and Education Development Plan for Malaysia 2001 - 2010 undergraduate programmes at both the public and private higher educational institution matches the demands for skilled and semiskilled workers; and improve communication skills in international languanges, especially the English Language.

4.8 The MOE also faces the challenge to acquire qualified teaching staff; overcome the shortage of experienced teaching staff in various fields of industry; retain qualified teaching staff at polytechnics and other public tertiary institutions; and reduce the ratio of student to teaching staff.

4.9 In addition, the MOE has to ensure higher education institutions has the capability to produce more R&D activities which are of quality and commercial value; generate new knowledge; intensify the learning and usage of ICT; and to further increase the role of higher education institutions in transforming Malaysia into a center of academic excellence by providing courses that are relevant to the needs of the local workforce, innovative, and internationally competitive.

4.10 Other issues and problems that need to be addressed are higher students costs especially at private higher institutions and the escalating development and management costs at public higher education institutions.

EDUCATION SUPPORT SERVICES 1: MALAYSIA

Aims for Development

5.1 The development plan for support service aims to provide quality support services which will enable students to be better for schooling; minimize school drop-out rates, promote greater academic excellence among students from low-income families; ensure students of low-income families receive the same educational opportunities afforded to other students, and ensure a more efficient and effective management of support services programmes.

EDUCATION SUPPORT SERVICES 2: MALAYSIA

Issues and Challenges


5.2 The main challenge of the MOE in the development of support services is to improve the quality of school hostels with substandard facilities and is unsafe for accommodation in the rural areas. Such hostels were built through gotong royong projects or on ad hoc basis initiated by the local community, using low quality building materials and sub-standard building plans. The MOE also faces an increasing demand for residential schools to cater for the growing number of qualified and excellent students. At the same time, many hostels at teacher training colleges are underutilised due to the reduction in teacher trainee intakes for pre-service training. The overall cost of managing and operating these hostels have also risen with the increasing number of hostels and boarders as well as escalating prices of materials and services.

5.3 The operational costs for the text-book loan scheme (Skim Pinjaman Buku Teks, SPBT) have also increased. Furthermore, if the plan to replace the present printed text books with electronic books or e-book is realized, the MOE will need a bigger allocation to supply these e-books to students; train teachers and personnel in managing, maintaining, and storing such books; and provide for systematic and effective e-book distribution system.

5.4 The MOE also faces the challenge of providing sufficient funds for scholarships and study loans to all students and ensuring an effective management of the funds. For the Integrated School Health Programme (Program Bersepadu Sekolah Sihat, PBSS), the MOE has to ensure that all schools receive the services provided under the programme and to increase the frequency of these services. For the Supplementary Food Programme (Rancangan Makanan Tambahan, RMT) for primary schools, the challenge is to increase its allocation in order to expand the services to more poor students and ensure that the meals provided are nutritious and well balanced.

5.5 The MOE also faces the challenge of providing sufficient numbers of full-time student counselors to schools. At present, the number of counselors provided for each school is determined by using the existing ratio for teacher allocation. This practice is a disadvantage, especially to schools with small enrolment where the school heads usually have to assume the role of the counselor as well.

EDUCATION SUPPORT SERVICES 3: MALAYSIA

Implementation Strategies

5.6 The strategies for the development of hostels are to build more residential schools, school hostels, and ‘central concept’ hostels; add more physical and non-physical facilities to all existing hostels, and maximise the use of hostels facilities at teacher training colleges.

 

5.7 The textbook loan scheme will be strengthened through a review of its existing qualification policy to cater to the needs of the public and review the present policy if e-books are to be used as a teaching aid.

5.8 The strategies to strengthen other support services programmes will also include increasing the allocation for scholarships and loan, continuing and expanding the coverage of the Integrated School Health Programme, increasing the coverage of the Supplementary Food Programme, and increasing the number, roles, and effectiveness of full-time counselors through continuous in-service training.

EDUCATION FUNDING 1: MALAYSIA

Aims for Development

6.1 The development plan for education funding aims to expand and increase the sources of funds as well as to ensure effective financial management at all levels of the MOE.

COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION IN A PARTICIPATORY

African societies have their own way of looking at their surroundings which stretches back through legends, religion, oral tradition and long-established know-how. In the West, human beings aspire to be the ‘owner and master of nature,’ but in Africa, as Eric Dardel has pointed out, ‘the world is seen as a unity of which human beings are an integral part - as individuals are of a tribe, as the internal blends in with the external. It’s a world of participation where humans seek out their likeness in the world’s creatures and find themselves by reference to the universe. In Africa, humans live on through plants and animals, through the earth and the sky, t h rough the vital spark , wh i ch drives the wind and the stars, the sprouting and the maturing of things, the tides and the rain. It’s the same life which they feel in their own bodies’.

The strength of A f rican countries is the involvement of their people in development programmes. This implies involvement in the conception and execution of a project and in safeguarding its achievements. In this respect, participation is at the heart of integrated sustainable management of coastal regions. To better understand, we can imagine a situation in which communication and education remain a monopoly of official bodies, with no regard for the eventual beneficiaries. That would make it impossible to achieve the set goals, much less inclusion of the beneficiaries and long-term use of the resources.

In the Comoros Islands, for example, the ministry of fish eries provided fish aggregating devices. But because nobody trained local people how to use them properly, some fishermen unfastened the equipment to re-use the rope it contained. In some coastal villages , h oweve r, fi s h e rmen orga n i zed themselve s i n d ep e n d e n t ly of the authorities to protect sea t u rtles and the ra re coelacanth fish and to oppose practices wh i ch we re destroy i n g m a rine re s o u rc e s , s u ch as the use of fi n e - m e s h n e t s , poison and dy n a m i t e.

Participation provides only advantages and opportunities. We must come up with flexible ways to include people, suitable methods of communication, appropriate topics and training methods and ways to solve the tricky problems which come with involvement, such as how to make decisions and how to implement environmental laws and programmes. But people do not realize how serious the problems are. As far as communication and education about the environment are concerned, the main obstacles are:

• i g n o rance of how important the env i ronment is;
• lack of skilled people;
• lack of infrastructure and funding;
• shortage of teaching equipment and organization;
• shortage of integrated, co-ordinated programmes which are reasonable, needed and sustainable;
• very slow growth of the NewWorld Information Order to replace the present one dominated by powerful Western societies;
• ‘dependence’ of African media on those of theWest.

Every country is different, however, so we need to encourage research and action to understand
the problems better and perfect the means of communication and education. In the Comoros, for example, it would be risky to rely on government institutions. Local television stations are everywhere, but a national station has not yet been set up. Experience shows that traditional places – village or town squares, mosques, Koranic schools and community centres – are still the best ones for communication and education.

The goal is a development approach adap

ted to local socio-cultural conditions and based on strengthening capacities. To do this,
we think the priorities are to:

• develop integrated and interactive communication and education;
• encourage the use of local languages, especially in gras s roots communication and instruction;
• emphasize development of human resources and awareness of the importance of the environment and the sustainable management of natural resources;
• encourage the setting up of local and national media organizations in Africa which are diversified, viable and professional;
• strengthen the capacities of the private sector and local communities;
• build networks of communication and information;
• reconcile the needs of the environment with those of the economy (such as tourism) and employment;
• develop socio-cultural factors and add modern scientific and technical knowledge to them.

Integrated management of coastal regions is a laborious process. The ultimate aim is to consider
a new approach to communication and education which allows everyone, from political decision-makers and agents of change to those who finally benefit, to be involved in the sust a i n able integrated management of coastal regions. The goal should be to find a good balance between the formal and informal in the field of communication and education as it applies to the environment.

AIMS OF THE PLAN: MALAYSIA

The Education Development Plan for Malaysia (2001-2010), henceforth referred to as the Blueprint, takes into account the goals and aspirations of the National Vision Policy to build a resilient nation, encourage the creation of a just society, maintain sustainable economic growth, develop global competitiveness, build a knowledge-based economy (K-economy), strengthen human resource development, and maintain sustainable environment development. The Third Outline Perspective Plan (2001-2010) and the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005) outlined the strategies, programmes, and projects to increase the nation’s economic growth towards building a united, just and equitable society as well as meeting the challenges of globalisation and Keconomy. The ultimate aim of these long and medium-terms plans is to build Malaysia into a developed nation based on its own mould. These plans have great implications on the national education system.

The Blueprint aims to ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to twelve years of education in terms of access, equity, and quality. The Blueprint also aims to further develop the potentials of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and physically balanced in line with the National Education Philosophy. In addition, the Blueprint plans to nurture creativity and innovativeness among students; enhance learning culture; effective, and world-class quality education system; and promote Malaysia as a center of education excellence.

The major thrusts of the Blueprint are to increase access to education, increase equity in education, increase quality of education, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of education management. The Ministry of Education (MOE) will continue with the equitable distribution of educational inputs to ensure students obtain appropriate learning experiences from all educational programmes.

The Blueprint focuses on the development of preschool, primary, secondary, and tertiary education levels which will be strengthened through the development of support programmes, funding, management, and integration of information and communication technology (ICT).

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION

For those who know it only by name, E q u at o ri a l Guinea is a small country in central A f ri c a , in the m i ddle of the Gulf of Guinea. One of its pro blems is that its regions are ve ry scat t e re d. Th e re a re seven islands (Bioko , A n n o b o n , C o ri s c o , E l o b ey Gra n d e, E l o b ey Chico, C o c o t e ro and Pemba) as well as the mainland terri t o ry of Rio Muni. The nort h e rnmost island of Bioko is 6 7 0 km from the one furthest south (Annobon), while the port of Bat a , in Rio Muni, is 280 km f rom Malab o , the main town on Bioko . This means that Equat o rial Guinea has ex t e n s ive coastal regions and small islands. Also, as a developing country, it has huge problems communicating with and administering such areas.

The country is a big timber exporter, which puts it at the mercy of the industry’s market fluctuations. The mainland coast is the area most affected by this. According to a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) study in 1981, mangroves cover 20,000 hectares of Equatorial Guinea. But lack of money and trained personnel as well as the absence of a broad awareness of their economic importance has meant that these areas have not been developed. These are some of the reasons why my country is interested in the activities of Sustainable Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM), and in all UNESCO’s programmes to do with the environment, small islands and integrated management of ecosystems. We also favour drafting an overall plan for c o m mu n i c at i o n , e d u c ation and training in coastal management.

Therefore, my country would like to implement, with UNESCO’s help, an interactive communication programme which would set forces in motion resulting in an energetic and interact ive re l ationship between the va rious social agents, with the help of the media and the N ational Unive rs i t y. The aim would be to increase the involvement of the population and their commitment to the development process and to change the behaviour of people, groups and communities so as to improve the quality of life of these individuals and groups. An interact ive commu n i c ation programme could be a means of development and social involvement in sustainable management of Equat o ri a l Guinea’s coastal regions and small islands.

Th rough its Conservation and Rational Use of Fo rest Ecosystems (CUREF) progra m m e, t h e
gove rnment is also committed to drawing up a plan for cl a s s i fi c ation and rational use of land in the Rio Muni mainland. The plan outlines a d e s i rable pat t e rn of land use based on biologi c al , physical , technical , economic and socio-cultural crite ri a , as well as on the gove rn ment ’s policies concerning rural development , timber production and pre s e rvation of fo rest ecosystems.

Environmental training is provided at the National University with courses to train skilled public health workers and forestry experts.

PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY EDUCATION 3: MALAYSIA

Implementation Strategies

2.6 Preschool education will be further developed by institutionalising preschool education and making compulsory the use of the National Preschool Curriculum at all preschool institutions, providing training facilities for preschool teachers, and strengthening the monitoring of preschool teachers, and strengthening the monitoring of preschool programmes conducted by public and private agencies.

2.7 Strategies to further promote access to and equity in primary education include increasing the participation rate particularly among the children of indigenous groups such as the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia and the ethnic groups in rural and remote areas of Sabah and Sarawak. The Blueprint plans to make primary education compulsory and this entails the building of more schools, providing more trained teachers, and increasing monitoring activities.

2.8 The Blueprint plans to strengthen special education programmes and expand opportunities for special education by providing more trained teachers in special education schools and schools with inclusive programmes. Efforts will be made to encourage public participation and contribution in the development of special education.

2.9 Strategies to improve the quality of primary education include increasing basic education infrastructure, revising the norms for teacher allocation, and ensuring 50 percent of primary school teachers are university graduates by 2010. Other strategies include strengthening the Integrated Primary School Curriculum (Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah, KBSR) to further improve the 3R skills among pupils, making the curriculum more relevant to current and emerging needs of the country, and strengthening all co-curriculum programmes to reinforce the development of intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and physically balanced individuals. In addition, the strategies include revising school textbooks, improving integration of ICT in teaching and learning, expanding the Smart School concept nation wide, increasing the role of school administrators as curriculum leaders, strengthening monitoring and evaluation activities on teaching and learning, strengthening evaluation mechanism of student performance, increasing school and community collaborations, and reviewing the rate of per capita grant to schools.

PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY EDUCATION 2: MALAYSIA

Issues and Challenges

2.3 One of the pertinent issues for preschool is the low enrolment rate of preschool among children aged 5+ years. At the primary level, the MOE has not met its goal to ensure all Year One school children complete 6 years of primary education.

2.4 The challenge to MOE is to increase accessibility to preschool and primary education to ensure all children aged 5+ years obtain education and all children aged 6+ to 11+ years complete primary education. The MOE faces the challenge to provide all schools with computers and increase the use of ICT in teaching and learning. The MOE also needs to increase equity in preschool and primary education, especially to provide equal access to quality educational facilities for all children; increase provision of special  education opportunities; encourage greater participation of the private sector, NGO’s, community, and individuals in education funding; and ensure sharing of school facilities in the implementation of Vision Schools.

2.5 Other issues at the primary level include the wide differences in  academic and co-curricular achievements according to school types and location as well as low proficiency of Malay and English languages as preparation for secondary education among primary school children. The challenge to the MOE is to increase the quality of preschool and primary education including the provision of adequate numbers of trained teachers and increasing basic education facilities.

Download Berguna: Penghalang Belajar

Download Berguna: Penghalang Belajar: "Kejahilan- Pelajar tidak tahu akan kepentingan dan keperluan pelajaran. Mungkin dia tidak tahu kenapa dia perlu belajar? Untuk apa dia perlu..."

EDUCATION FUNDING 3: MALAYSIA

Implementation Strategies

6.4 The MOE will expand its sources of funds by encouraging the private sector and individuals to provide funds directly to educational institutions; increase the participation of the private sector, non-governmental organisations, and individuals in financing education programmes; introduce competitive fees for foreign students at all public educational institutions; and issue bonds that are backed by the Federal Government.

6.5 The strategies to enhance efficiency in financial management include upgrading of knowledge and skills in financial management among education managers; giving more empowerment to those managing education finance; establishing more educational institutions as Responsibility Centres (Pusat Tanggungjawab); strengthening financial monitoring activities; and providing continuous supervision of the expenditure of all educational programmes.

6.6 Steps will also be taken to increse the number of incomegenerating agencies especially those involved in training, consultancy services, publishing, and marketing their own products; increase the quality of R&D carried out in all departments, divisions and corporate bodies of the MOE and other public higher education institutions, and commercialising the R&D products; expand the operations and increase the effectiveness of income-generating agencies; and establish more trust accounts for educational institutions.

6.7 The Blueprint plans to increase private sector participation in funding educational programmes through provision of incentives and encouragement for direct financial contributions to educational institutions, create smart partnerships between public and private higher education institutions with the private sector, and create a cost sharing mechanism in providing facilities for training and R&D activities.

COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION: CHAIRS AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT

UNESCO should be commended for incorporating the component of communication and education at the planning stages of establishing a UNESCO Chair on ‘Integrated Management and Sustainable Development in Coastal regions and in Small Islands’. Practitioners in development now recognize the significance of communication and education, particularly at the community level, and the environmentalists firmly believe in this in Kenya, as demonstrated by the training wo rkshops at community level and among the media. In my opinion, the most critical factor in the formulation of a communication and education strategy for any development effort is that the community should drive it. This is based on the realization that without the participation of the community, the sense of ownership and responsibility will be lacking. This has severely compromised many development programmes and projects related to sustainability. Any communication and education strategy must therefore begin with a community development and participatory approach.

This highlights the importance of the audience in the strategy. A comprehensive needs assessment should be undertaken as the first step and address the following questions:

• What do members of the community feel about sustainable development in respect to coastal regions?

• What factors have resulted in the degradation, of coastal regions?

• What is the level of awareness among the community on sustainable development?
• Is there a repository of indigenous knowledge and practice that promotes sustainable development in regard to the coastal regions?
• What are the existing communication networks and systems?
• What are the preferred channels of communication?
• How can information on sustainable development in the coastal region be packaged in a simplified, interesting and palatable manner that will interest the community?

The needs assessment will assist in the planning of the strategy because audiences should be segmented and specific for effective communication. Further, available avenues of communication, such as radio-listening groups where they exist can be tapped into and utilized, thus reducing the cost in terms of acquisition of communication channels.

The strategy should be both long-term and short-term. The long-term strategy should be aimed at developing a sustainable communication and education system at the community level: ultimately, the Chair can be envisaged as a technical arm which provides relevant information as demanded by the communities. The advantage of this is that such information will be specific to particular areas and communities and will be based on their priorities, leading to their ownership and active involvement because they will determine how the programme will operate.

This also means that fe e d b a ck mech a n i s m s should be efficient, effective and significant to
the process. The mass media can be considered as a possible tool to raise awareness and for advocacy. Most media studies indicate that the mass media are most effective in raising awareness and to lobby for policy changes among decision-makers and opinion leaders. The radio and newspaper for instance can be used to inform and educate this category, who can be encouraged to incorporate messages of sustainable development in their meetings such as barazas, and even in religious gatherings.

I n t e rp e rsonal commu n i c ation has been found to be highly effe c t ive in political commun i c at i o n , p a rt i c u l a rly wh e re the mass media is somewh at curt a i l e d. Other deve l o p m e n t agents such as social development wo rke rs and c o m munity development offi c e rs can be targeted, to enable them to include messages on sust a i n able development in their contact with
c o m munity members. The strat egy on the whole should be mu l t i d i s c i p l i n a ry and it should use a multi-media pers p e c t ive to enabl e the planners to re a ch a va riety of audiences
e ffe c t ive ly and to re i n fo rce the most cru c i a l m e s s ages. At the fo rmal leve l , the school system can be used as the ch i l d - t o - child communi c ation method has proved to be of gre at
impact in the health sector. This will involve using the educational stru c t u re and integrat i n g
a component of sustainable development into the school curri c u l u m .

At the university level, institutions of communication and journalism can be targeted to enable the Chair to instill messages of sustainable development in the media and to develop their interest and solid knowledge in the topic. Training workshops can be an effective method in sensitizing this cadre of workers: it can also be extended to those in the teaching profession, community development officers and those in social work. This summarizes my idea of what the workshop should add ress. I hope to part i c i p at e actively in the planning and implementation of the programme.