Archive for category Education
Cabinet decision on PPSMI – not a New Deal but a Raw Deal leaving Malaysia stranded in the march towards global educational quality, excellence and competitiveness
The Cabinet decision on the PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik – teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English) yesterday was not a New Deal, as proclaimed by some newspaper headlines, but a Raw Deal leaving Malaysia stranded in the march towards global educational quality, excellence and competitiveness and doing a great disservice to millions of students currently in both the primary and secondary schools.
The Raw Deal of the PPSMI decision of the Cabinet is powerfully highlighted by the Sin Chew report of a national secondary school Form One student in Ipoh who burst into tears at the news of the Cabinet decision, feeling totally lost, worried what would be his future when he had to switch to Bahasa Malaysia for mathematics and science when entering Form 4 in 2012, after mastering both subjects being taught in English from Form 1 to 3 from this year to 2011 – and Form 4 and 5 are the most important years in a person’s education in preparing for Form 6, university and the world beyond.
Did the Cabinet Ministers discuss and envision the disastrous effect of their PPSMI decision yesterday on the half a million of students who would have been taught maths and science in the English medium from Form 1 to 3 from this year to 2011 in having suddenly to switch to Bahasa Malaysia as medium of instruction for these two subjects in 2012 in Form 4 – after six years of being guinea pigs of PPSMI in the primary schools?
If the Cabinet had not anticipated the cruelty and the sheer injustice of such a switch for Form 4 students in 2012, clearly the Cabinet Ministers had not thought through the whole issue thoroughly and they have failed the nation, the people and in particular the 5.5 million school-going generation under their charge!
Read the rest of this entry »
PTPTN and MARA updates
Just spoken to Chairman of Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN), Dr. Mohamad Shahrum bin Oshman, who is also MP for Lipis, on the complaint in this blog on PTPTN loan interest by Tee from Klang who just graduated from Multimedia University and wanted to begin payment for his RM66,000 PTPTN loan.
However, he was told that the old interest rate of 3% still applies although Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had announced that the new rate of 1% would take effect from June 2008.
Mohamad Shahrum confirmed that the PTPTN interest is 1% and those who had paid 3% from June last year would have the excess credited to their account.
Thanks Mohamad Shahrum for the instant clarification which should put the issue to rest. Read the rest of this entry »
PPSMI – Are the shoes of an Education Minister in Malaysia too big for Muhyiddin?
Posted by Kit in Education, Good Governance on Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Umno Youth Leader, Khairy Jamaluddin admitted in an interview with Sin Chew Jit Poh yesterday that Malaysia should be a A+ country but it could only manage a C!
This is because of decades of Barisan Nasional bad governance and misguided policies which fail to fully exploit the human and natural resources of the country for the national good so as to be able to continuously upgrade our international competitiveness to better position the country to face the challenges of globalization, liberalization and information and communications technology.
A good illustration is the disastrous PPSMI (Teaching Science and Mathematics in English) decision making guinea pigs of some four million Malaysian pupils whether in the national, Chinese or Tamil primary schools in the past six years for “a cure which is worse than the disease”!
Have we got in Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin a new Education Minister who has the political will and professional competence to undo the six-year damage from these unprofessional educational experiments to lead the Malaysian education system to a new era of professionalism, excellence and global status?
Read the rest of this entry »
PTPTN issues – 1% interest rate?
Letters
SS
Let me first introduce myself, I am Tee from Klang, Selangor. I just graduate recently from Multimedia University with B.Eng(HONS) Electronics.
The PTPTN loan i had received is RM66,000. I wish to start my payment as soon as possible but i still very confuse about the current interest rate apply to all IPTA and IPTS students. From the statement i got from PTPTN, they said the old rate still applied, and when i phone them, they said that the conversion from old rate to 1% is still on progress, until then, we still have to follow the old rate.
Now the problem is, our PM announce that new rate which is 1% will start to take effect on June 2008. Why PTPTN still using the old rate? and it take so long to convert.
When i ask them when the conversion will finish, they say they cant give me exact date means we still have to wait and paying to old rate. i think that is not fair to all students in malaysia. At my opinion, PM should’nt make such announcement if it is not possible or take such long time to complete the conversion. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s announcement of new category of PSD scholarship based on “pure merit” welcome though taken with a heavy pinch of salt
The announcement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of a new category of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships next year based purely on ‘pure merit’, regardless of race, is welcome although it is taken with a heavy pinch of salt after repeated disappointments with previous promises of ‘meritocracy’ by the Barisan Nasional Government.
Firstly, some six years ago, Malaysians were promised a system of ‘meritocracy’ in the annual intake of university students but it proved to be a ‘fradulent’ meritocracy, as there continues to be two incomparable university entrance examinations, the world-class two-year course STPM and the inferior one-year matriculation course.
If Barisan Nasional government is serious about wanting to stop the sharp drop in standards of Malaysian public universities – best illustrated by the best Malaysian universities falling out of the league of the world’s Top 200 universities – and transform Malaysian universities into world-class institutions, the best lecturers and students must be recruited regarded of race or religion. Read the rest of this entry »
Make English a compulsory pass subject for SPM, STPM and matriculation to end and reverse the unchecked decline of English standard in the country in the past three decades
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin on Sunday, 21 June 2009
One of the greatest failures of the past two premiership of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (for 22 years) and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Tun Abdullah) was their failure to enhance the country’s international competitiveness by ending and reversing the unchecked decline of English standards in the country and to ensure that Malaysian students master English as “necessary for communication and essential to keep abreast of developments in the technical fields such as engineering and science”.
Globally English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a “world language”, the lingua franca of the modern era. While English is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a second language around the world to the extent that it has ceased to be the exclusive cultural property of “native English speakers”, but a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow.
It is a sorry spectacle in the past three decades to see the headlong decline of English standards in Malaysia, which was once the envy of other countries, undermining Malaysia’s economic prosperity and well-being in crippling our international competitiveness in the era of globalization.
Read the rest of this entry »
Something Sensible From UMNO Youth
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Education, UMNO on Monday, 15 June 2009
by M. Bakri Musa
I am heartened that UMNO Youth supports the proposal that a pass in English be mandatory in securing the SPM certificate. I commend the organization in going further then merely supporting the proposition. Among others, UMNO Youth suggests increasing the number of English teachers in rural schools and hiring foreign native-speaking English teachers as well as those retired teachers trained under the old system and thus fluent in English.
I wish that UMNO Youth would be more daring and follow the example of its sister wing, UMNO Puteri, and support the continuation of the teaching of science and mathematics in English. I would also prefer that they would support the proposal making a pass in MUET be mandatory for university entrance. That notwithstanding, the stand taken by these two junior UMNO organizations is in stark contrast to that taken by Pakatan Rakyat partners. Read the rest of this entry »
PSD scholarships – MCA has again failed to give justice
Posted by Kit in Education, Letters, MCA, Parliament on Monday, 15 June 2009
Letters
by Tan Hao Chong
I am a 2008 SPM student ranked top 7th in a premier school at Johor Bahru (S.M.K. Sultan Ismail) .I scored 11A1 and 1A2 in Chinese in SPM. I applied for JPA and was rejected after appeal. I was not even offered for local institutions. I am active in co-curricular activities and I believe I have done well in my interview.
The rejects had brought many sleepless nights for me and my parents. What is most sad is that students of poorer results were randomly selected in an attempt to confuse the public. My mum took the matter to the Sin Chew Press and Nanyang Press. Thanks to the papers the matter was brought to the attention of many.
I am writing to you as going to Mr. Lim is our only and last hope for justice now. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s two RM67 billion economic stimulus packages are both failures – forecast of 3.5% GDP growth in 2009 ending up in Malaysian economy shrinking by 4-5 per cent
Posted by Kit in Economics, Education, Najib Razak, nation building on Sunday, 14 June 2009
Datuk Seri Najib Razak is nearing his first two-and-a-half months as the new Prime Minister in Malaysia, but he does not seem to be able to do anything right, as he is still dogged by a deepening crisis of credibility, integrity and legitimacy of his premiership.
This is why Najib should be brave enough to cut the Gordian Knot of this crisis of confidence and ask for a vote of confidence as the first item of parliamentary agenda when Parliament reconvenes on Monday.
Whether on the political, economic, educational or nation-building front, Najib has still to deliver his first accomplishment.
Politically, Najib inflicted on himself a deep and grievous wound in orchestrating the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.
Economically, Najib’s two RM67 billion economic stimulus packages are both failures as evident by the downward revision of 3.5% GDP growth in 2009 in the first RM7 billion package last November to the current estimate that Malaysian economy will shrink by 4-5 per cent. Read the rest of this entry »
USM Apex Uni admission foul-up – USM shld put online full list of 4,574 students forwarded to UPU
Posted by Kit in Education, university on Monday, 8 June 2009
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Khaled Nordin said the special committee headed by Higher Education Ministry deputy chief secretary (management) Omar Abdul Rahman to investigate the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Apex University student intake foul-up is expected to complete its report by end of this week.
Yes, the reasons for the inexcusable USM student intake foul-up, where the names of all the 8,173 pre-qualified applicants were incorrectly uploaded on its website as successful when only 3,599 were successful, leaving 4,574 students roller-coasting between euphoria and despair in a matter of hours, should be thoroughly investigated and publicized; and those responsible dealt with severely.
But this should not distract the higher education authorities from the proper things that they should do.
The first thing that must be done is that USM should put online the full list of 4,574 victim-applicants it has forwarded to UPU for selection to other public universities so that the students could personally verify to make sure that there will not be another foul-up. One cannot run away from the fact that the foul-up has created a confidence problem in the integrity of the USM administration. Read the rest of this entry »
Axe MARA and JPA scholarships for ACCA abroad
Letters
by a Malay accountant in London
Dear Uncle Lim
I am called to write to you following your post (Have MARA run out of funds…) on your blog.
First of all, I admit that the whole scholarship system is flawed and needs to be overhauled. Scholarships should be awarded on merit, and if at all, certainly not to rich students. However, asking for such a radical change from a half-past-six administration with no balls is almost futile, or as we Malays say, ‘anjing menyalak bukit’.
My letter today is to focus in prioritisation of issues within the existing framework. Today, I would like to focus on MARA and JPA scholarship for professional courses.
http://www.jpa.gov.my/perkhidmatan-teras/latihantajaan/pinjaman-luar-negara/
http://www.mara.gov.my/web/guest/kursus_ditaja
With all due respect, I firmly believe that these schemes are a total waste of taxpayers’ money, especially in the recession. I will outline my reasons, with focus on the ACCA programme. Read the rest of this entry »
Cabinet assurance needed – all 4,574 student-victims of USM foul-up will be given places in other public universities
Posted by Kit in Education, university on Tuesday, 2 June 2009
From the statement of the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Khaled from Yemen and my discussion with the Higher Education Department director-general Datuk Prof Radin Umar Radin Sohadi, no concrete assurance is forthcoming that the 4,574 student-victims of USM Apex University student intake fiasco will definitely be given places in other public universities.
Although Khaled described the foul-up by the country’s only apex university as serious and directed that an independent committee be set up to investigate the matter, he has no assurances for the 4,574 student victims.
All Khaled said was that students who were rejected by USM will get another bite of the cherry, as they will be considered for placements in other public universities by the University Admissions Unit (UPU).
This is scarce consolation for the 4,574 students who went through emotional havoc over the USM foul-up.
Read the rest of this entry »
Higher Education Minister should ensure that new university intake by UPU to be announced on June 19 provide places for the 4,574 student-victims of the USM Apex University fiasco
The fiasco of 4,574 students being wrongly informed that they had obtained places at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) cannot be a worse start for USM as the Apex University – a bungle and blunder which should not have happened at all and completely inexcusable.
In keeping with its status as an Apex University, USM was for the first time exercising the freedom to choose the best students before the University Admission Unit’s (UPU) selection of students for the other public universities.
But the USM chancellory yesterday was the venue for emotional havoc for hundreds of students and their parents when they found that they had been wrongly informed about being accepted as students in USM, with lost tempers and heart-rending scenes of tears and frustration.
Read the rest of this entry »
Abolish Overseas Undergraduate Scholarships
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Education on Monday, 1 June 2009
by M. Bakri Musa
Every year at this time the nation goes through its regular spasms of indignation over perceived unfair distribution of scholarships for studies abroad for those with the Sijil Persekutuan Malaysia (SPM). This being Malaysia, such controversies inevitably and quickly acquire ugly racial overtones, no matter how ‘objective’ or ‘sophisticated’ the arguments put forth.
I suggest that we abolish all public scholarships for undergraduate studies abroad. That would at least remove yet another source of racial disagreement. The fewer such contentious issues we have, the better it would be for Malaysia.
Public scholarships for studies abroad should only be given to those pursuing higher degrees. As for the handful of our brightest who secured undergraduate slots at the world’s most competitive universities, rest assured that there will be no shortage of sponsors outside of government if these students were truly in need of financial aid.
Whatever money left over after funding those pursuing higher degrees abroad should then be diverted to strengthening our local universities, which desperately need the support.
A candidate with only the SPM regardless of the number of A’s obtained could secure a place only at a third-rate institution in America. We do not need to send our students there. Even when on the rare occasions that they do end up at a respectable university, these students have to spend a semester or two doing preparatory courses (essentially Sixth Form). Read the rest of this entry »
Education DG bluffing when he suggested limiting subjects for students in SPM exam can transform education system into quality world-class
The Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom is simply bluffing when he suggested limiting students sitting Sijil Pelajarian Malaysia examination to not more than 10 subjects can transform the education system into a quality world-class one.
This is too simplistic and unprofessional an approach.
When Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
proposed on Thursday that the number of subjects each student could take in the SPM examination be limited, it was his idea of putting an end to the perennial complaints of injustices in the award of Public Service Department scholarships, where students with 11, 12, 13 and even 14A1s are denied scholarships as compared to students with fewer distinctions.
There have bouquets and brickbats for Muhyiddin’s suggestion for limiting the number of SPM subjects a student can take, but the proposal does not really address the issue of injustices and lack of transparency in the PSD awards – which are the root causes of the perennial annual national outrage over the PSD scholarship selections.
But how could the Education director-general make the quantum leap as to claim that Muhyiddin’s proposal to limit the number of SPM subjects a student can take in an examination could transform the education system into a quality world-class one? Read the rest of this entry »
Time for the government to be colour-blind and to end ethnic profiling for scholarships
If the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is serious about his slogan of 1Malaysia, then the time has come for the government to be colour-blind and end ethnic profiling for scholarships.
The Barisan Nasional government had promised that there would not be a recurrence this year of the perennial problem of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships selection creating grave injustices and public alienation but this is not the case.
I am very disappointed that after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, there had been no announcement whatsoever about the solution to this year’s nation-wide uproar at the unjust PSD scholarship awards, and the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat had been particularly quiet after various statements about a solution for the aggrieved students who failed to get scholarships despite clear merit in their results.
May be Ong is preoccupied with the RM12 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, on the breach of his repeated promise to make public the PricewaterhouseCooper audit report on it. However, many are saying that the gross wastage of public funds and mega financial scandals are interconnected with issues of PSD scholarships and government services, as for example the RM12 billion squandered on PKFZ would have amply provided scholarships to all the over 8,000 applicants who applied for PSD foreign degree scholarships this year.
Read the rest of this entry »
JPA s’ships – can Najib Cabinet end the “oppression, injustice” suffered by the nation’s top scorers or is it even worse than the “half-past six” Abdullah Cabinet?
Posted by Kit in Education, Parliament on Wednesday, 20 May 2009
I have been on the twitter for a week and earlier today, I sent out this tweet: “6A1s get PSD eng s’ship – 13, 14 A1s no s’ships: why our Cabinet Ministers allow such nonsense yr in yr out. Sack the whole useless lot!”
This follows the latest revelation by the Deputy Education Minister, Wee Ka Siong, about the PSD scholarships scandal this year – of the case of a student with 6A1 and 4A2 who obtained a scholarship to study engineering while students with 13A1s and 14A1s are given places to do matriculation instead of being awarded with scholarships.
The PSD scholarship uproar this year is all the more inexcusable, for three reasons:
- It is a tragedy for nation-building after 52 years of nationhood;
- It has torn to shreds the new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s motto of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”.
- It is a breach of the solemn promise made by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz in Parliament in March this year about the end of the annual national travail at this period of the year of the nation’s top SPM scorers being victims of an unfair and discriminatory PSD scholarship selection system.
6As get PSD scholarship for engineering but 13, 14As no scholarships – whole Cabinet should be sacked for allowing such nonsense year in year out
Posted by Kit in Education, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 19 May 2009
This is simply outrageous – a student with 6A1s getting a Public Services Department (PSD) scholarship to study engineering while students with 13A1s and 14A1s not getting any scholarships!
The whole Cabinet should be sacked for allowing such nonsense, year in year out!
It is none other than the Deputy Education Minister, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong, who revealed this shocking example of the gross injustices and sheer perversity of the PSD scholarship scheme, which makes Malaysians wonder about the quality of the political and civil service leadership in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
PSD scholarship awards – noon meeting with Ismail Adam scheduled
A noon meeting with the Public Services Department Director-General Tan Sri Ismail Adam in Putrajaya has been scheduled on the subject of another round of injustices in the PSD scholarship awards, out of line with the “1Malaysia” slogan of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The subject has provoked national debate and soul-searching. I reproduce three emails below: Read the rest of this entry »
Enhance, Not Review the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Education on Monday, 18 May 2009
by M. Bakri Musa
Minister of Education Muhyuddin Yassin is doing our nation a great disservice in further delaying the critical decision on the of teaching science and mathematics in English (TSME, or its Malay acronym, PPSMI –Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik Dalam Bahasa Inggeris) in our schools. His indecision merely compounds the uncertainty, especially among educators, parents and students.
What he should be doing instead is to explore ways of enhancing the implementation of the policy, not review it. He should be focusing on finding ways to get more competent teachers, explore innovative teaching techniques, and provide inexpensive textbooks. He should also be busy eliminating such expensive but ineffective teaching gimmicks as the “computerized teaching modules” with their laptops and LCDs that our teachers are unable to handle. Those machines are now either stolen or crashed because of viruses and dust.
The conditions of our students today have not changed from 2003 when the policy was first introduced. If any they are worse. Whatever the rationale was for adopting the policy back in 2003, it is still very much valid today.
Today’s many critics of the policy are latecomers. Where were they when the policy was first mooted six years ago? These critics have yet to answer the basic question on whether the policy itself is flawed or that the deficiencies are with its implementation. They are unable to answer this important question as they are entirely confused over the issue. Their opposition is based more on emotions rather than rational thinking. Read the rest of this entry »
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