TOWARDS GREATER EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION

Posted: 30 Dec 2014 08:00 AM PST

31 December 2014| last updated at 12:08AM

He said the blueprint, which will be implemented in three different waves, is aimed at producing human capital to fulfil the nation's future agenda that underlines the importance of a world-class and quality education in achieving the nation's goals.

"The first wave (2013-2015) will rationalise 25 out of the 100 initiatives introduced by the government focusing on revamping the current education system and teacher quality on three key aspects; numeracy, literacy and language," he said, adding that the blueprint would transform the entire education system to meet the requirements of an increasingly competitive global environment.

The teaching profession will be enhanced to create outstanding pupils and students to drive the country's development.

The gap between students in urban and rural areas will be bridged, with other areas of focus being the socio economic level and meeting a 50 per cent gender achievement by 2020.

He said the Ministry will raise teacher quality while improving the existing pool of teachers in terms of school leadership, recruitment and training of principals, and also improving student literacy in Bahasa Malaysia, English and other languages.

The blueprint also focuses on enhancing the status of Bahasa Malaysia while giving serious attention to the English language which will be made a must pass subject for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination by 2016.

"'Strong implementation rapid execution', that is my approach in realising the education blueprint," he said at a press conference at his office yesterday.

"Strong implementation would consist close monitoring starting from the management of the education system right up to the classroom environment," he said adding that as the Director-General, he would go to different schools to closely analyse and look at issues faced by teachers and students first hand.

"The Ministry has developed a set of KPIs anchored on the system goals of access, quality, equity, unity, and efficiency. These KPIs have been cascaded downwards from the Ministry to schools, ensuring consistency and coherency of targets throughout the system.

"The implementation of initiatives towards achieving these KPIs will be monitored by the Inspectorate of Schools."

He said teachers must understand and embrace the blueprint in order to fully implement the plan.

"This is called rapid execution -- we must know where we stand and how far are we from reaching our goal in order to realise each plan or initiative successfully," he said, adding that under the 2014 Budget RM54.6 billion, which is almost 21 per cent of the Budget, was allocated for education purposes.

"The Budget shows commitment by the government in providing the education system with better opportunities for improvement."

The Ministry also carries out special programmes for students identified as gifted, as well as runs the School in Hospitals programme to ensure students who are hospitalised get the opportunity to learn. There are Integrity Schools for juvenile delinquents and Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih in Kuala Lumpur for underprivileged children.

"For poor students, Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pelajar Miskin was established with those excelling in exams given priority for entry into fully residential schools.

"With this there is no question of students being left behind because every opportunity is given to them," he said.