Parents’ group wants school-based assessment to be put on hold

PAGE, a parents’ action group, has joined other critics of the school-based assessment system in urging the Education Ministry to put the system on hold. – The Malaysian Insider pic, February 20, 2014.
 Another education pressure group has added their voice to calls that the Education Ministry put on hold the much maligned SBA, the three-year-old school-based assessment system that does away with annual exams.

Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE), a pro-English education group, has said that SBA or school-based assessment was poorly implemented even though its aims were good.

PAGE honorary secretary Tunku Munawirah Putra said the SBA’s rushed implementation has burdened teachers while parents themselves are sceptical of how student performance is assessed.

“The PBS system is a total system overhaul compared with all the other numerous changes that we have had so far.

“Yet, it is done rather hurriedly and without proper supervision. There are too many uncertainties with SBA,” Munawirah said in a statement today.

The SBA, which was introduced in 2011 at the Primary One level and in 2012 at the From One level, was aimed at replacing the old system of assessing students’ understanding of subjects via mid-term and annual exams.

It is part of the government’s efforts to produce more well-rounded students instead of those who purely excel in academics.

There are no annual exams under SBA. Each day, teachers grade pupils on a subject based on a six-band spectrum starting from band one understand” (the lowest) to band six “exemplary” (the highest).

The data has to be entered each day into a centralised computer system.

Teachers have said that the vagueness in the grading system has prevented them from accurately evaluating whether a student actually understands the material taught to them.

Munawirah referred to this and said that such a system could cause inconsistent marking among teachers not used to such a system.

“PBS requires that teachers evaluate each student individually. This can cause inconsistent marking.

“Teacher evaluation is subjective and varies among different teachers and schools.”

Another common complaint was that teachers are burdened with extra work as the process of entering SBA data every day was tedious and frustrating.

Network congestion is common in the computer system, leading many to wake up at odd hours of the day, when traffic was slow, to enter their data.

“(Teachers) should be focused on one thing, which is teaching our children. Any other chores that take away their classroom and lesson preparation time will not benefit our children,” she said.

Opposition to the SBA has led to teachers’ group Suara Guru-Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) or Teacher-Community Voices Malaysia to plan a rally this Saturday at the Education Ministry.

The SGMM, which is said to represent teachers, wants the system abolished.

Its spokesperson Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari said earlier this month that the ministry had three years to repair weaknesses in the system, but did not appear to be improving the SBA and instead was covering up its weaknesses.

“The minister’s (Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh) call to have a dialogue is hypocritical. If he wants to meet and talk to us, then come on February 22,” said Nor Izzat, referring to the protest date.

Besides the SGMM, the National Union of Teaching Professions, which has 180,000 members, has also urged that the SBA be abolished.

The National Union of the Teaching Profession said the SBA was alien to the education culture of Malaysian students who liked having their progress measured in the As, Bs and Cs of annual exams. – February 20, 2014.

Mobile phones in schools?

‘Teacher called students Hindu Pariah’

Both education department officials and the headmistress of SMK George Town have been accused of attempting to cover up the matter.

GEORGE TOWN: Racism has reared its ugly head in schools again and sources claim that there is an attempt to cover up the latest incident.

As the nation celebrates Teachers’ Day today, FMT however was alerted about a disturbing episode which took place at SMK George Town here.

Last week, a teacher at the secondary school had allegedly scolded a group of Indian Form Five students, calling them “Hindu Pariah.”

The teacher, Sabariah Ramli in her late 30s, was also accused of deliberately giving high demerit points to the students during the incident on May 9.

She also allegedly ticked off two other Indian Muslim boys for befriending the Indian students.

Sources claimed that education authorities and headmistress Farah Shikh Abd Rahman attempted to cover up the matter and defended the teacher when confronted by parents of the affected students.

A 16-year-old student lodged a police report last Friday on the matter while an official complaint was also filed by the students with the school authorities.

However, the student later retracted the report, with sources claiming that the headmistress had threatned the student’s father that his son would have a black mark in his school leaving certificate if the report was not withdrawn.

According to the police report, the students were talking in class after an examination when the teacher shouted at them.

She had allegedly singled out the group of Indian students and told them: “Hei Hindu diam (Hindu shut up).” Following this, she called them “Hindu Pariah.”

The teacher also allegedly tampered with the students demerit points after obtaining their signatures on originally lighter demerit points.

One of the student’s demerit points was visibly modified from 10 to 20 while another was modified from 15 to 25.

Sources said that demerit points above 20 could lead to a student’s dismissal but such heavy demerit points were usually given only for criminal acts such as drug abuse, stealing or gang-related activities.

FMT learnt that the headmistress defended the teacher’s behaviour claiming that Sabariah might have over-reacted due to work stress.

‘Students warned with disciplinary action’


Seri Delima assemblyman RSN Rayer, who received a report on the incident, had lodged a complaint with the state education department to resolve the controversy as soon as possible.

“I have told the department to transfer out the teacher, failing which I will call for a meeting with representatives of the school parents-teachers association,” he said.

Following Rayer’s complaint, a team of education officials came to the school in Jalan Batu Lanchang yesterday and recorded statements from the affected students, witnesses and teachers.

Sources claimed that the officials, comprising Mohd Raffie Bachik, Huzaid Ibrahim and Daud Shaari, warned the students and witnesses to “keep their mouth shut” over the incident.

The students were warned of dire consequences if they were to disseminate any information on the issue to outsiders, including their parents.

Some six students, which included those of other races, who gave statements to the officials, had also claimed that the ministry-commissioned investigators threatened them with severe disciplinary action.

Some of them, said sources, were warned that they would be barred from sitting for the SPM examination this year.

Farah, who became the school’s headmistress some four years ago, was also accused of uttering derogatory remarks against Indian teachers and parents previously.

When contacted on the latest incident, Farah told FMT to refer to state education director Ahmad Tarmizi Kamaruddin.

Ahmad Tarmizi, however, could not be reached despite numerous phone calls and text messages.

Meanwhile, the teacher had also lodged a police report yesterday claiming that she had been threatened with harm by four school students.

Last March, Nibong Tebal’s SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman headmaster Ng Tong Koang, 56, allegedly used the word “pariah” to scold parents of schoolchildren for making a prohibited U-Turn at a nearby traffic light. He later apologised.

The word “pariah”, considered derogatory to Indians, was central to the recent Interlok novel controversy.

The novel, which contained such references to the Indian community, was initially earmarked to be used for the Malay literature subject for students but was later revoked after strong objections.

Education dept probing ‘racist’ teacher

The Penang education department has initiated an internal inquiry into allegations that a teacher from SMK George Town uttered racial slurs against a group of Indian students.

PETALING JAYA: The Penang education department is conducting an internal probe into the alleged “Hindu Pariah” remark made by a secondary school teacher in the state.

State education director Ahmad Tarmizi Kamaruddin told FMT that two officers have been sent to gather more information from the school, students, parents and police on the matter.

“We knew about it since last Friday and our officers are investigating. We’re gathering evidence for our internal inquiry and we’ll also see what the police have to say, as we don’t want to jeopardise their case,” he said.

Ahmad Tarmizi also said that his department was also concerned about allegations of attempts to cover up the case by his department and the school.

“That’s what is being alleged. I want to know who is the officer who is talking about covering up or trying to hide information about this case. Is this person from the department or what? For now it’s just hearsay.

“I want to know. Who is the one who hid this information? How did this happen? The issue is what she actually uttered. Did she actually say those words? If it is true, she should admit it, if she did not, we also need witnesses to prove it. If the school is hiding information from us, why was that done? I was informed that our information was different from what reporters received,” he added.

Ahmad Tarmizi said aside from the police case, the department could take various actions against the teacher if she was found guilty.

“If we look at this case, if it’s true, the teacher can be punished for breaching discipline. We can give her a warning or deduct her pay, depending on what we find. If she really did such a thing, we can suggest to the upper management, the ministry, to take stern action,” he added.

Independent probe

Ahmad Tarmizi assured that the department, as “third party observers”, would follow up on the matter, and added that he had even advised his investigating officers to conduct the probe independent from each other.

Responding to a question, he said the teacher had no prior disciplinary problems.

Earlier today, FMT reported that a teacher at SMK George Town had allegedly used racial slurs to scold a group of Indian Form Five students.

The teacher, Sabariah Ramli, had allegedly uttered the words “Hindu Pariah” and was also accused of deliberately giving high demerit points to the students during the incident on May 9.

She also allegedly ticked off two other Indian Muslim boys for befriending the Indian students.

There were also claims of an attempt by the state education department and the school’s headmistress to cover up the incident.

Meanwhile, National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Hashim Adnan declined to comment on the matter.

“It’s only reported online? No hard copy? I only comment on things that have been published and printed in national newspapers and which is already out in the public. Please call my secretary-general for comments,” he told FMT.

Sritharan (7) hit with shoe by teacher. Now father threatened by police on “old case”: Classical UMNO cover up of gross racism. Exactly how UMNO racist system works.

Immediately after SMS, faxes and website postings started going out and the Press Conference from at the Hindraf HQ in Bangsar calls started coming from the school asking Sri Tharan’s father to withdraw the police report and to “close this case" of gross racism.
Then at 12.30 a.m Sri Tharan’s father Murugan gets a phone on an “old case” from one Sargeant Affendi (017-2247704) asking Murugan to come to the police station for “muka cam” on a case that happend two years ago and that was hardly investigated. This caused alarm to the family who telephoned their lawyer at 12.40 a.m.
And then this morning a ‘reporter from The Star” has been harassing Mr. Murugan to come to the school.
In the previous cases the classic racist UMNO BTN trained headmaster teachers etc is to coerce the family to give in writing that this matter is solved and the police report withdrawn. And end of the matter.
But had it been an Indian teacher who thrown his shoe at a Malay muslim pupil, he would by now have been remanded for seven (7) days been clobbered in the police lock up and prosecuted by the racist Attorney General Tan Sri Gani Patail for “attempted murder” if not causing grievous injuries on a child.
And the Indian teacher would have been sacked by now.
 
But as usual when the victim is an Indian child, zero happens, no police investigations, the teacher gets to stay put in her school.
So much for UMNO Prime Minister Najib’s 1 Malay-sia.

Dad says teacher used shoe to hit Year One boy

Indian students are too often the target of such ill-treatment, says Hindraf.

KUALA LUMPUR: A parent has demanded that the Education Ministry take action against a teacher he has accused of using her shoe to injure his son, a Year One pupil at SK Damansara Damai 1.

A Murugan told a press conference today that his son was now down with a fever and suffering from swellings on his face.

Speaking at the Hindraf office in Bangsar, he said the assault happened yesterday at about 4pm when the teacher, Nur Adha Mat Ali, caught his son, Sritharan, talking with a friend in class. He said the boys were talking about school work.

According to him, Nur Adha threw her shoe at Sritharan and hit his face.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “How could anyone use a shoe on a Standard One pupil, who stepped into school for the first time a mere three months ago?

“My son now is afraid to go back to school and has caught a fever.”

He said he had lodged a police report.

Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar described the incident as the latest in a series of cases in which teachers have targeted Indian students for punishment.

He said he had written to Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar, asking them to treat the matter seriously.

He urged Muhyiddin to suspend Nur Adha from teaching duties and the police to charge her in court with a criminal offence.

Poor English skills bad for economy

by Stephanie Sta Maria - Free Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR: A nation’s economy is only as good as its education system. So powerful is education that even the subtlest tweak has the propensity to either elevate or relegate a nation on the global stage.

Policy-makers therefore tread with great care when proposing policy amendments, acutely aware of the staggering impact their decisions would have on the country’s future.

Malaysia’s policy-makers, however, appeared to have lacked this attention to detail when deciding to reverse the teaching and learning of Science and Maths in English (PPSMI). And that move has placed Malaysia’s economy on shaky ground.

Cheong Kee Cheok, a Senior Research Fellow with the Faculty of Economics in Universiti Malaya, expressed grave concern over the system’s failure to produce the human resources needed to propel the country forward. And this, he warned, would severely cripple the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Malaysia.

“One of the benefits a country reaps from FDI is the acquisition of technology,” he said. “But we can only acquire it if we speak the language of technology, which is English. Unfortunately, we are losing out to the Thais, Vietnamese and Chinese in our ability to communicate in English.”

“We have enjoyed FDI for 30 years but what technology have we acquired? To a certain extent, piracy is a key indicator of a country’s technological prowess. China is able to pirate almost anything whereas our piracy is limited to DVDs.”

The inability of a nation to acquire a certain strength leaves it no choice but to be dependent on other nations. This stagnancy will gradually reduce its competitiveness and eventually ease it out of the economic supply chain altogether.

“Our lack of technological expertise will dissuade technologically capable industries from investing in Malaysia,” Cheong said. “Right now we are still locked in a supply chain but our position will shift as other nations become better.”

Fear of backlash

Another professor, who declined to be named for fear of backlash from the Education Ministry, revealed two other flaws in the education system. Both are related to the Public Service Department scholarships.

The first flaw, she said, was a shortage of scholarships for physical sciences. The second – and more alarming – flaw was that these scholarships were being awarded to students who either didn’t have the aptitude or the interest to pursue a career in physical sciences.

“Malaysia produces less than 20% of physical science graduates,” she stated. “Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China produce 30% to 40%, which increases their preponderance for acquiring technology.”

“And because most of our graduates weren’t interested in physical sciences in the first place, they carve careers in other industries upon graduation, which further dilutes our already limited resource pool.”

She blamed the political powers for handicapping the country by using its education system as a political tool, especially in the PPSMI reversal.

Pointing to Vietnam and China as examples of governments with foresight, she said that both countries had each launched an all-English government university.

“Their governments recognised English as an international language, not a colonial one,” she emphasised. “And they essentially told their people that if they didn’t like it, then they didn’t have to come. But that opportunity was there for those who did want it.”

“Malaysia has a myopic vision. We look inwardly to see how fast we have improved without taking into account how our competitors are faring. Our education system is not producing people who can think, which is fundamental to a country’s growth.”

But it is not just the science and technology industries that are suffering the butterfly effect of the PPSMI reversal. Even the food industry is fearing for its future in the global market.

English terms

At a recent public forum organised in support of PPSMI, an entrepreneur who only wanted to be known as Mazidah related the struggle she faced in her food-processing business.

“Our previous interns weren’t exposed to Science and Maths in English and had problems understanding industry terminologies,” she recalled.

“Their working papers were downright embarrassing. I recently found out that many have opted not to pursue a career in the food industry after all because they can’t cope with the English terms.”

Her recent batch of interns, however, underwent the PPSMI and she marvelled at the difference in their capabilities. According to her, they understand the industry requirements, have better communication skills and are on top of advancements in the industry as they are able to read books written in English.

“The food industry can be very difficult if you’re not exposed to scientific terms in English,” she stressed. “And we’ll drop very far behind if we don’t do something about our education system now.”

The other issue that greatly aggravates her is the Health Ministry’s decision to hold two separate workshops on food safety management systems – one in English and one in Bahasa Malaysia (BM).

“The ministry officials told us that the BM workshop is meant for the local market and the English version is for those who wish to export their products,” she said. “But this is ridiculous! Not only will it widen the existing class divide but it will also hamper our global competitiveness.”