Sports must once again be given serious emphasis in schools so as to produce well-rounded students.
Pointing out that education should be fun and interesting, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, proposed a review of the education curriculum to place more importance on sports.
“When I was in school, sports was a very important co-curricular activity. We would go back to school to train and our teachers would guide and motivate us,” he said.
“Sports Day in schools was something the whole town would get involved in. It was such a big event with our parents showing up to lend their support.” Muhyiddin said that the present situation was nothing like that.
“I have a son who is in Victoria Institution, and I did not even know when his Sports Day was. I did not even see him go for training,” he said.
Congratulations: Muhyiddin (right) presenting the trophy to winner Jamalluden Abdul Rosli at the Mines Golf and Country Club yesterday.
“I think we are missing something that is very important in life. Sports is not only for health but also provides a form of bonding,” he said, adding that children now bonded with the use of a computer.
Muhyiddin said as the new Education Minister, he wanted to “bring back sports to schools.”
“In the United Kingdom, it is compulsory to take up two sports, even in universities,” he said in his speech at the prize-giving ceremony of the Tan Sri Muhyiddin Patron’s Cup here.
However, Muhyiddin added that it would not be easy to revamp the system. “For one, not all schools have fields now and there are also not enough sports teachers.”
May 11, 2009
May 05, 2009
Groups give ministry time to review English policy
Many educationist groups have welcomed the Education Ministry’s willingness to continue to listen to various views before making a decision on the policy of teaching Mathematics and Science in English.
Linguist and former Universiti Malaya Academy of Malay Studies director Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Nik Safiah Karim was happy that Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was not in a hurry to make a decision.
“I hope he will listen to all views before a decision is made by the Cabinet,” she said.
Muhyiddin, who is Deputy Prime Minister, said he was willing to listen to more views and accept memoranda on the issue before bringing the matter to the Cabinet for a decision.
Dr Nik Safiah said due recognition should be given to Bahasa Malaysia as the national and official language, adding that there were other ways of improving the standard of English such as by increasing the number of periods in school.
The Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (better known by its Malay acronym PPSMI) policy was implemented in phases, beginning with Year One, Form One and Lower Six students in 2003.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abd Rahim said the ministry should only assess the policy after the pioneer batch sat for the SPM examination in 2013.
Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI (GMP – Movement for the Abolition of Teaching and Learning Science and Mathematics in English) chairman Datuk Dr Hassan Ahmad said GMP’s stand was clear.
“We want the Government to revert to the original policy before 2003 as it was successful,” he said.
National Laureate Datuk A. Samad Said, who is a member of the GMP, said the authorities had contravened the Constitution by switching the language of instruction from Bahasa Malaysia to English.
“Our members, who include Malay scholars and educators, are not against the English Language. But it is wrong to implement a policy in a hurry with no regard to the negative consequences.
“Language is a reflection of our identity. Our country will lose that identity when this policy is implemented,” he said yesterday.
Linguist and former Universiti Malaya Academy of Malay Studies director Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Nik Safiah Karim was happy that Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was not in a hurry to make a decision.
“I hope he will listen to all views before a decision is made by the Cabinet,” she said.
Muhyiddin, who is Deputy Prime Minister, said he was willing to listen to more views and accept memoranda on the issue before bringing the matter to the Cabinet for a decision.
Dr Nik Safiah said due recognition should be given to Bahasa Malaysia as the national and official language, adding that there were other ways of improving the standard of English such as by increasing the number of periods in school.
The Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (better known by its Malay acronym PPSMI) policy was implemented in phases, beginning with Year One, Form One and Lower Six students in 2003.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abd Rahim said the ministry should only assess the policy after the pioneer batch sat for the SPM examination in 2013.
Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI (GMP – Movement for the Abolition of Teaching and Learning Science and Mathematics in English) chairman Datuk Dr Hassan Ahmad said GMP’s stand was clear.
“We want the Government to revert to the original policy before 2003 as it was successful,” he said.
National Laureate Datuk A. Samad Said, who is a member of the GMP, said the authorities had contravened the Constitution by switching the language of instruction from Bahasa Malaysia to English.
“Our members, who include Malay scholars and educators, are not against the English Language. But it is wrong to implement a policy in a hurry with no regard to the negative consequences.
“Language is a reflection of our identity. Our country will lose that identity when this policy is implemented,” he said yesterday.
Rope in experts to assess education system
Local and foreign experts will be asked to assess the country’s education system.
Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said this was to ensure the education system was effective and to identify any weaknesses.
“Quality is the key word here as we can’t compromise on our children’s future,” he told reporters after delivering his first message at the ministry’s monthly gathering.
Muhyiddin, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said the assessment would be headed by an individual within the ministry.
“But I would want to find some experts in education from within the country and outside to assess how good our system is or how can we make it better,” he said.
Muhyiddin said time management and decision-making were very important.
“If we can correct any problems, we must do so. Otherwise, those who lose out will be all of us,” he said.
On the 1Malaysia concept in education, Muhyiddin said it was already in the existing syllabus.
“What we want is to give a new understanding for education to integrate people of different races, cultures and religions. Schools are the best platforms to promote integration among students.”
Asked about his deputy Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong’s statement on reviewing history books, Muhyiddin said he was open to ideas.
“People can make propositions. I am always open to ideas and we will see whether the propositions are reasonable and (if) there is a need to make changes to books, it must be based on certain principles of correctness.
“People cannot re-write or re-invent history. What is past and has been recognised as part of history of this country should be recognised and of course hopefully written in a manner that is correct,” he said.
Asked about Dr Wee wanting all races’ contributions to be noted, Muhyiddin said no one stated there were no contributions to history or development of this country.
“We do recognise contributions of various races in the development of Malaysia from before, during and after independence but what is important in history is to recognise whatever the races have done.
“Malays fought for independence first, joined in by leaders of other races,” he said.
It was reported last month that Dr Wee had said a review was timely to correct the “selective representation of facts” in history textbooks.
Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said this was to ensure the education system was effective and to identify any weaknesses.
“Quality is the key word here as we can’t compromise on our children’s future,” he told reporters after delivering his first message at the ministry’s monthly gathering.
Muhyiddin, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said the assessment would be headed by an individual within the ministry.
“But I would want to find some experts in education from within the country and outside to assess how good our system is or how can we make it better,” he said.
Muhyiddin said time management and decision-making were very important.
“If we can correct any problems, we must do so. Otherwise, those who lose out will be all of us,” he said.
On the 1Malaysia concept in education, Muhyiddin said it was already in the existing syllabus.
“What we want is to give a new understanding for education to integrate people of different races, cultures and religions. Schools are the best platforms to promote integration among students.”
Asked about his deputy Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong’s statement on reviewing history books, Muhyiddin said he was open to ideas.
“People can make propositions. I am always open to ideas and we will see whether the propositions are reasonable and (if) there is a need to make changes to books, it must be based on certain principles of correctness.
“People cannot re-write or re-invent history. What is past and has been recognised as part of history of this country should be recognised and of course hopefully written in a manner that is correct,” he said.
Asked about Dr Wee wanting all races’ contributions to be noted, Muhyiddin said no one stated there were no contributions to history or development of this country.
“We do recognise contributions of various races in the development of Malaysia from before, during and after independence but what is important in history is to recognise whatever the races have done.
“Malays fought for independence first, joined in by leaders of other races,” he said.
It was reported last month that Dr Wee had said a review was timely to correct the “selective representation of facts” in history textbooks.
April 17, 2009
Selection trial for entry into USM on 18 April 09
The 26,635 students who applied to enter apex-status Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) must not miss the Malaysian University Selection Inventory (Munsyl) special assessment test tomorrow.
USM deputy vice-chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) Prof Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal said the test would enable them to select applicants who were suitable for the course they had opted for.
“Anyone who misses the test will miss a chance to study in USM. It’s just a one-hour test and it is to help the university and applicants make the right choice.”
He said USM had selected 117 locations nationwide for the applicants to attend the assessment tomorrow.
“Only 3,500 applicants will be picked to enrol in the university. The applicants will know their status at the end of this month.”
Prof Ahmad Shukri said unsuccessful applicants would have their applications submitted to the University Admission Unit (UPU) for other public universities.
He said those sitting for the Munsyl must print the attending slip from www.usm.my, bring their identification card, pencils and erasers to sit for the assessment.
“The location for them to sit the assessment can be found online,” he said, adding that the university had sent out SMSes to the candidates
USM deputy vice-chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) Prof Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal said the test would enable them to select applicants who were suitable for the course they had opted for.
“Anyone who misses the test will miss a chance to study in USM. It’s just a one-hour test and it is to help the university and applicants make the right choice.”
He said USM had selected 117 locations nationwide for the applicants to attend the assessment tomorrow.
“Only 3,500 applicants will be picked to enrol in the university. The applicants will know their status at the end of this month.”
Prof Ahmad Shukri said unsuccessful applicants would have their applications submitted to the University Admission Unit (UPU) for other public universities.
He said those sitting for the Munsyl must print the attending slip from www.usm.my, bring their identification card, pencils and erasers to sit for the assessment.
“The location for them to sit the assessment can be found online,” he said, adding that the university had sent out SMSes to the candidates
Students can contact Dep Higher Education Minister at Facebook
University students who wish to bring up grievances regarding their tertiary institutions may do so by directly contacting Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah through Facebook.
He will be live on Facebook every first and third Wednesday of the month from 10 to 11 pm.
He will be live on Facebook every first and third Wednesday of the month from 10 to 11 pm.
Education Ministry to help develop Permata Pintar programme
The Education Ministry will help develop the national Permata Pintar programme to improve early education among children aged below five.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the Education Minister, said this did not mean that the ministry would take over the running of the programme.
“We want to further expand the concept of early education. The Education Ministry has been entrusted with the responsibility to help programmes like this for children below five,” he said after closing the international conference on Early Childhood Education and Care.
He commended Permata patron Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, for establishing Permata centres and formulating the national policy on early childhood education and care, and its curriculum which advocated holistic development for children below five.
“While we have done very well in pre-school right up to secondary education, it is thus very timely for us now to focus our attention on early childhood education for children,” he said.
Muhyiddin said Malaysia was one of the countries with the “highest enrolled and continued education (survival) rate” out of 56 countries in a Education for All assessment undertaken by Unesco and Unicef.
“We are also fortunate that there is no gender discrimination and boys and girls have equal opportunities for education,” he said adding that the Unesco Education for All global monitoring report 2006 noted that enrolment for five-year-olds in Malaysia was among the highest in South-East Asia.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the Education Minister, said this did not mean that the ministry would take over the running of the programme.
“We want to further expand the concept of early education. The Education Ministry has been entrusted with the responsibility to help programmes like this for children below five,” he said after closing the international conference on Early Childhood Education and Care.
He commended Permata patron Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, for establishing Permata centres and formulating the national policy on early childhood education and care, and its curriculum which advocated holistic development for children below five.
“While we have done very well in pre-school right up to secondary education, it is thus very timely for us now to focus our attention on early childhood education for children,” he said.
Muhyiddin said Malaysia was one of the countries with the “highest enrolled and continued education (survival) rate” out of 56 countries in a Education for All assessment undertaken by Unesco and Unicef.
“We are also fortunate that there is no gender discrimination and boys and girls have equal opportunities for education,” he said adding that the Unesco Education for All global monitoring report 2006 noted that enrolment for five-year-olds in Malaysia was among the highest in South-East Asia.
March 18, 2009
Tampering will not hurt students’ applications
The online applications to public universities of three former SMK Seri Teja students will not be affected although their eight choices had all been changed to Islamic Studies by an unidentified hacker.
Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung gave the assurance after receiving their appeal letters.
“We will process their applications based on their choices and not their online applications that were tampered,” he told reporters after attending the dialogue between MCA leaders and Chinese guilds and associations leaders at Wisma MCA yesterday.
He said the ministry was looking into the online system to ensure that this incident did not recur.
Last Friday, the university hopefuls were shocked to find their online applications had all their eight choices changed to Islamic Studies. They were also unable to amend the changes.
The students said they had received SMSes from an unidentified person who admitted to making the changes to their applications
Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung gave the assurance after receiving their appeal letters.
“We will process their applications based on their choices and not their online applications that were tampered,” he told reporters after attending the dialogue between MCA leaders and Chinese guilds and associations leaders at Wisma MCA yesterday.
He said the ministry was looking into the online system to ensure that this incident did not recur.
Last Friday, the university hopefuls were shocked to find their online applications had all their eight choices changed to Islamic Studies. They were also unable to amend the changes.
The students said they had received SMSes from an unidentified person who admitted to making the changes to their applications
Students’ online application for public varsity tampered with
Three university hopefuls were shocked to find their online applications to public universities tampered with.
The former SMK Seri Teja students, who had just received their STPM results on Thursday, had all their eight choices filled with Islamic Studies.
To make matters worse, they were unable to amend the changes.
Chow Hon Mun, 21, said they could only make changes to the details on the online application website three times.
“I panicked when I could not make any changes and told my teachers about it,” said Chow when met at the Gopeng MCA service centre yesterday.
“My teachers then advised me to lodge a police report,” he said, adding that his first choice was engineering and that he had no intention of taking up Islamic Studies.
Chow added that recently he and his two friends had also received SMSes from an unidentified person who admitted to making the changes to their applications.
“I initially thought it was a prank but soon realised the person was telling the truth,” he said, adding that he was puzzled that the person had managed to procure confidential information about him and his two friends.
The other two victims were Chai Yick Loong, 21, and Ang Chun Heng, 20.
Chai said he wanted to take up an engineering course, and hoped the Higher Education Ministry could help them with their predicament.
Ang said he wanted to change the list back to his primary choices before the public university acceptance application ends on March 23.
“I hope the relevant authorities will upgrade the security system on the website so that it won’t be so easily hacked by people,” he added.
Gopeng MCA division chief Albert Chang said he would refer the matter to Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung.
“We will help them gather all their result slips, application forms and official school letters and send the documents to Dr Hou through our education bureau,” said Chang.
He urged all public university hopefuls to check their online applications to ensure their forms were not tampered with.
The former SMK Seri Teja students, who had just received their STPM results on Thursday, had all their eight choices filled with Islamic Studies.
To make matters worse, they were unable to amend the changes.
Chow Hon Mun, 21, said they could only make changes to the details on the online application website three times.
“I panicked when I could not make any changes and told my teachers about it,” said Chow when met at the Gopeng MCA service centre yesterday.
“My teachers then advised me to lodge a police report,” he said, adding that his first choice was engineering and that he had no intention of taking up Islamic Studies.
Chow added that recently he and his two friends had also received SMSes from an unidentified person who admitted to making the changes to their applications.
“I initially thought it was a prank but soon realised the person was telling the truth,” he said, adding that he was puzzled that the person had managed to procure confidential information about him and his two friends.
The other two victims were Chai Yick Loong, 21, and Ang Chun Heng, 20.
Chai said he wanted to take up an engineering course, and hoped the Higher Education Ministry could help them with their predicament.
Ang said he wanted to change the list back to his primary choices before the public university acceptance application ends on March 23.
“I hope the relevant authorities will upgrade the security system on the website so that it won’t be so easily hacked by people,” he added.
Gopeng MCA division chief Albert Chang said he would refer the matter to Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung.
“We will help them gather all their result slips, application forms and official school letters and send the documents to Dr Hou through our education bureau,” said Chang.
He urged all public university hopefuls to check their online applications to ensure their forms were not tampered with.
Decision known by mid-April on language for Maths and Science
The Cabinet is expected to make a decision on the language of instruction for Mathematics and Science in mid-April.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hisham-muddin Tun Hussein said this was the earliest he could possibly present it to Cabinet, in reference to whether the teaching of the two subjects continues in English or reverts to Bahasa Malaysia and mother tongue (Chinese and Tamil).
"There is no hurry anyway as we have spent RM3bil since the introduction of the policy in 2003."- DATUK SERI HISHAMMUDDIN TUN HUSSEIN EDUCATION MINISTER
“It is not possible to table it this Friday as a memorandum is being circulated to various ministries for feedback.
“There is also time to hear what the delegates have to say at the Umno assembly next week,” he told The Star.
Hishammuddin said parent-teacher associations nationwide were also holding their annual meetings and he had asked that they make this a part of their agenda.
“There is no hurry anyway as we have spent more than RM3bil since the introduction of the policy in 2003,” he said.
Almost 100,000 teachers were involved and over six million students had gone through the policy, he added.
“Two-and-a-half months since the release of the UPSR results for the first cohort (who were taught the two subjects in English from Year One in 2003) is not long,” he said.
On a report in online news portal, Malaysian Insider, quoting sources that the policy was likely to revert to Bahasa Malaysia and mother tongue for primary schools, Hishammuddin said this was not possible.
“Any policy decision must go through the Cabinet. The decision in 2003 was also made by the Cabinet,” he said.
Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom urged the public to refrain from speculating on the policy.
“A memorandum on the policy was circulated to several ministries for feedback last week,” he said.
The Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (ETeMS or better known by its Malay acronym, PPSMI) policy was implemented in phases, beginning with Year One, Form One and Lower Six students in 2003 during the tenure of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
It was reported last week that Dr Mahathir defended the use of English to teach Science and Mathematics, saying it was necessary to ensure Malaysia could keep up with the rest of the world.
He said it would be better for people to know the language so they could get the information themselves.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hisham-muddin Tun Hussein said this was the earliest he could possibly present it to Cabinet, in reference to whether the teaching of the two subjects continues in English or reverts to Bahasa Malaysia and mother tongue (Chinese and Tamil).
"There is no hurry anyway as we have spent RM3bil since the introduction of the policy in 2003."- DATUK SERI HISHAMMUDDIN TUN HUSSEIN EDUCATION MINISTER
“It is not possible to table it this Friday as a memorandum is being circulated to various ministries for feedback.
“There is also time to hear what the delegates have to say at the Umno assembly next week,” he told The Star.
Hishammuddin said parent-teacher associations nationwide were also holding their annual meetings and he had asked that they make this a part of their agenda.
“There is no hurry anyway as we have spent more than RM3bil since the introduction of the policy in 2003,” he said.
Almost 100,000 teachers were involved and over six million students had gone through the policy, he added.
“Two-and-a-half months since the release of the UPSR results for the first cohort (who were taught the two subjects in English from Year One in 2003) is not long,” he said.
On a report in online news portal, Malaysian Insider, quoting sources that the policy was likely to revert to Bahasa Malaysia and mother tongue for primary schools, Hishammuddin said this was not possible.
“Any policy decision must go through the Cabinet. The decision in 2003 was also made by the Cabinet,” he said.
Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom urged the public to refrain from speculating on the policy.
“A memorandum on the policy was circulated to several ministries for feedback last week,” he said.
The Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (ETeMS or better known by its Malay acronym, PPSMI) policy was implemented in phases, beginning with Year One, Form One and Lower Six students in 2003 during the tenure of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
It was reported last week that Dr Mahathir defended the use of English to teach Science and Mathematics, saying it was necessary to ensure Malaysia could keep up with the rest of the world.
He said it would be better for people to know the language so they could get the information themselves.
March 15, 2009
School with one pupil all set for relocation
A Chinese school with only one student in Batu Pahat will be relocated to Horizon Hills in Nusajaya next year, said MCA vice-president Tan Kok Hong.
The relocation of SJK (C) Ming Chih would begin next month and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Tan said the first phase of the project would be a canteen and a four-storey building which would have 16 classrooms, a library, computer room and science laboratories.
He said the school would be able to accommodate 1,200 pupils.
He said the sole student of the school was in Year Six this year and they hoped to take a fresh batch of students by 2010.
“The registration for Year One to Year Three students for the school will be held next week at SJK (C) Pei Hwa and SJK (C) Kuo Kuang 2,” he told reporters after the presentation of plans for the school in Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club here yesterday.
Tan added that the 2ha land and the construction cost for the school would be borne by Gamuda Land and UEM Land, which jointly developed Horizon Hills.
Tebrau MCA deputy chairman Senator Khoo Soo Seang said he would apply for tax exemptions for the building so the money could be channelled to improving the school later.
Gelang Patah MP Tan Ah Eng, who was also present, said the new school would support the needs of pupils as the population in Nusajaya was growing rapidly.
Horizon Hills senior marketing manager Jim Woon said they hoped to continue working with the MCA and school authorities to organise charity drives to raise funds for construction of following phases.
TS
The relocation of SJK (C) Ming Chih would begin next month and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Tan said the first phase of the project would be a canteen and a four-storey building which would have 16 classrooms, a library, computer room and science laboratories.
He said the school would be able to accommodate 1,200 pupils.
He said the sole student of the school was in Year Six this year and they hoped to take a fresh batch of students by 2010.
“The registration for Year One to Year Three students for the school will be held next week at SJK (C) Pei Hwa and SJK (C) Kuo Kuang 2,” he told reporters after the presentation of plans for the school in Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club here yesterday.
Tan added that the 2ha land and the construction cost for the school would be borne by Gamuda Land and UEM Land, which jointly developed Horizon Hills.
Tebrau MCA deputy chairman Senator Khoo Soo Seang said he would apply for tax exemptions for the building so the money could be channelled to improving the school later.
Gelang Patah MP Tan Ah Eng, who was also present, said the new school would support the needs of pupils as the population in Nusajaya was growing rapidly.
Horizon Hills senior marketing manager Jim Woon said they hoped to continue working with the MCA and school authorities to organise charity drives to raise funds for construction of following phases.
TS
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