Form Six To Be Rebranded To Raise Image, Says Muhyiddin

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya

YOGYAKARTA, July 5 (Bernama) -- Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Form Six education would undergo rebranding to raise its image by being in tune with pre-university education like at the matriculation colleges and science foundation centres.

The deputy prime minister said among the measures to be taken would be to separate the Sixth Form students from the normal schools and placing them in special studies centres.

"We are thinking of bringing together the Form Six students but wearing a different uniform, and having a different time-table for lessons and different teachers in a slightly different category (from the normal schools)," he told Malaysian journalists, here, Thursday.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, is here since yesterday to attend the Asean Education Ministers Meeting and related meetings which ended today.

He said in realising the proposal, Form Six students needed to be placed together in special centres as they were now scattered about throughout the country, studying in one or two classrooms in certain schools.

This year, there are 83,000 Form Six students and 26,000 matriculation students nationwide.

He said the move to separate Form Six students from the other students of normal day schools was also in line with their position as pre-university students.

Currently, the general view of Form Six is that it is a continuation from Form Five, whereas Form Six students are in a different category and more mature in their thinking.

Muhyiddin said rebranding was needed to show that Form Six was actually pre-university education that was comparative to the ministry's matriculation colleges and science foundation centres of the local public universities.

Public perception today is that matriculation college education is better than Form Six while the entry qualifications into public universities are the same for Form Six students.

Muhyiddin said the public should not see matriculation as being better than Form Six as there had been times when Form Six students performed more brilliantly than matriculation students.

Therefore, those who passed the SPM exam should also view Form Six as one of the best choices for pre-university education, he said.

Muhyiddin also said that changes to Form Six education started this year by introducing a three-semester system but comparatively, matriculation students finished their studies six months earlier.

Asked whether Form Six would be shortened by six months to make the study duration the same with matriculation, he said the ministry would study it.

Muhyiddin today left for Bali to continue his six-day visit to Indonesia since July 3 in enhancing bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields between Malaysia and Indonesia.

The deputy prime minister also took the opportunity to hold a discussion with Indonesia's Vice-President Boediono on bilateral issues between the two countries, especially on labour, maritime border problems and culture.

-- BERNAMA