Blueprint to make shifts in education system

At the open day for the Malaysia Education Blueprint Preliminary Report on October 13, 2012, the hall was almost packed to full capacity.

Ministry of Education deputy district governor for policy and development sector Dr Amin Senin led a captivated audience through the 11 shifts and 3 waves of the Malaysia Education Blueprint.

The Malaysia Education Blueprint Preliminary Report 2013-2025 was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on September 12, 2012.

The Blueprint outlines the 11 strategic and operational shifts to transform the country’s education system.

He said the present government spends 16 per cent of the budget on the education system.

However, he mentioned that on the PISA score Malaysia rank 55, which is at the bottom one third of the score.

The Education Ministry hopes to transform Malaysia’s education system through the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 – 2025.

The ministry hopes to raise Malaysia’s international educational standards within 13 years.

The education transformation will take over 13 years, with Wave 1 (2012-2015) focusing on efforts to turn around the system by supporting teachers and focusing on core skills.

Wave 2 (2016-2020) on accelerating system improvement.

Wave 3 (2021-2025) on moving towards excellence with increased operational flexibility.

The 11 strategic and operational shifts identified by the ministry are:

1. Provide equal access to quality education of an international standard.

2. Ensure every child is proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English language.

3. Develop values-driven Malaysians.

4. Transform teaching into the profession of choice.

5. Ensure high-performing school leaders in every school.

6. Empower State Education Departments, District Education Offices and schools
to customise solutions based on need.

7. Leverage information and communication technology to scale up quality
learning across Malaysia.

8. Transform ministry delivery capabilities and capacity.

9. Partner with parents, community and private sector at scale.

10.Maximise student outcomes for every ringgit.

11.Increase transparency for direct public accountability.

The five outcomes the Blueprint aspire for the Malaysian education system to cover are in the areas of access, quality, equity, unity and efficiency.

It seeks to develop students with six key attributes that will enable them to be globally competitive.

The attributes are knowledge, thinking skills, leadership skills, bilingual proficiency, ethics and spirituality, as well as national identity.

The Blueprint had taken a year and involved over 50,000 ministry officials, teachers, principals, parents, students and members of the public nationwide.

This was done through interviews, focus groups, surveys, national dialogue and roundtable discussions.

The ministry had also appointed a 12-member Malaysian panel of experts and a four-member international panel of experts to provide independent input into the review findings.

Video by: Christine Leong, Citizen Journalists Malaysia