Align education goals with economic aspirations
Open any business article or newsfeed and one cannot miss the roar of the wood dragon breathing fire across the board as it welcomes the Chinese New Year. Businesses have not been so bullish for quite some time. While the pandemic, perhaps, provided the breather the world needed, it also offered a period of contraction, consolidation and reflection. But the time has come for optimism as the world gains confidence anew, while keeping in mind the challenges of sustainability and climate change. Businesses are returning with a vengeance and there is no turning back.
For the pupils and students, too, a new academic year begins. Principals would have on their part briefed parents on the Dual Language Programme (DLP) in their respective schools. Principals who uphold the principles of professionalism and integrity should exercise the autonomy given to them and accommodate parents’ wishes, which is in the spirit of DLP and the Education Act 1996. Principals who ignore the parents’ choice may do so more out of fear of disciplinary action from the top than anything else. If they have compassion and aspirations for the children, they will not mislead parents. Otherwise, the vicious cycle continues.
Accelerating progress: Reflecting on Gentari's two-year journey in the clean energy landscape
Two years of putting clean energy into action: Gentari offers clean energy solutions through three initial core pillars - Renewable Energy, Hydrogen and Green Mobility - forming a portfolio of solutions cutting across the electron value chain to help customers achieve net zero emissions.
The objectives of DLP (3.0) are three-fold: to provide the opportunity for students to raise their proficiency in the English language through the teaching and learning of science and mathematics (3.1); to provide the opportunity for students to gain access to knowledge through the exploration of various fields to compete in the global arena (3.2); and to raise the marketability of the students in the future job market (3.3). Thus, DLP is not an extension of an English language class but much more than that.
Now that there are no more assessments, how will students be allocated to classes? Read the Surat Pekeliling Ikhtisas (SPI) DLP KPM 2021 dated Nov 26, 2020. Parents will be given a form to fill entitled “Borang Persetujuan Penyertaan Murid DLP Tahun 2024-25 (DLP-KPM 01/2021)” consenting to either DLP or non-DLP schooling. Then, there must be at least 15 students to open a DLP class (12.2.4), to open a class when there are at least 15 students (12.3.2c) and students who opt for a non-DLP arrangement should not be deprived of such classes (12.2.7). But where there is no parent opting for non-DLP schooling, there is no need for the school to accommodate any imaginary student. There is no need for a non-DLP class either.
For parents with six-year-olds just starting school, this is a crucial time for you to make the right decision for your child. What is it that you want for your child? By now, parents must have some aspirations for their children. Read and know your rights. Do not be swayed by what the school leaders tell you.
Two months from now, enrolment will begin for fully residential schools such as the highly acclaimed Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) and Tunku Kurshiah College (TKC) and Science Secondary Schools, which are under the Ministry of Education (MoE), while Mara Science Colleges, on the other hand, fall under the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (MRRD).
Students accepted into fully residential schools are the cream of the crop. They would have excelled in the entrance examination, where applicants number many times more than available places. Acing Malay and the English language would have been a piece of cake.
So, pursuing DLP for these elite schools would not be a big ask either. According to the grapevine, MRRD has abolished DLP save for its handful of schools offering IGCSE. MoE, too, has indicated to parents that DLP classes will be slashed. It can only be detrimental to these brilliant students who have the potential to secure scholarships to pursue degrees abroad, where most likely science and mathematics-related subjects will be lectured in the English language.
The deputy prime minister (DPM), who also heads MRRD, has been tasked with leading the National TVET Council. He has since invited Germany to be represented in the council while invitations will be extended to other countries to share new knowledge and technologies and eventually hire our graduates. Institutions in China have offered more than 2,000 TVET training places to our students for exposure to fields of high technology. Our government also intends to send our students to Japan and South Korea in line with the Look East Policy 2.0.
The question that begs to be asked is, what would be the medium of instruction that would be adopted in these training programmes, which will be conducted in Japan, South Korea, China and Germany? Surely it will not be conducted in Malay. At best, the medium of instruction will be in the English language, otherwise students will have to take up a foreign language.
The DPM may not have connected the dots yet, but surely he can see that DLP just fits like a glove with TVET. Let us just bite the bullet and return DLP to its intended objective in order for Malaysia to power up to become an economic powerhouse again.
Comments