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Saturday, October 11, 2014

Students the biggest losers in Budget 2015 as funds for teacher development slashed

Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari says the quality of teachers corresponds directly to quality of students. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 11, 2014.Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari says the quality of teachers corresponds directly to quality of students. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 11, 2014.
As complaints mount about Malaysia's education system, now plagued by examination leaks, DAP's Zairil Khir Johari pointed out that a smaller budget for teachers' professional  development will further affect the quality of students.
While allocations in Budget 2015 went up by RM9.8 billion, bringing the total to RM273.2 billion, the Bukit Bendera MP said that there was a RM600 million drop in pre-service, in-service and leadership training of teachers in the budget which was unveiled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday.
"One thing that I was looking out for was teacher development. This is because the quality of teachers corresponds directly to quality of students," he told The Malaysian Insider.
Prior to the Budget 2015 presentation, Zairil along with other education lobbyists had called for more money to be put into teacher development instead of spending on infrastructure projects that, they said, were not critical to the advancement of education.
They said that as far as infrastructure is concerned, the basics such as clean water, electricity and proper computer and science labs should be prioritised, while plans to introduce new technology in schools should be accompanied by proper training so that the hardware is utilised.
Education, however, received the biggest allocation – RM56.6 billion, or 26% of the federal budget.
However, Zairil noted that 92.5% of the funds was allocated to operation expenditure while only 7.5% is for development.
"I noticed an increase of nearly RM200 million in infrastructure, mostly for information technology.
"Without details, I can't say much, but my worry is that it is more expenditure on white elephant projects such as 1Bestari and Chromebooks that benefit certain companies," he added.
The Bukit Bendera MP had previously criticised Putrajaya's 1BestariNet project, which is a multi-billion ringgit project to supply high-speed broadband to all 10,000 schools in the country and the use of Virtual Learning Environment e-textbooks in all schools, as well as the supply of Google Chromebooks, saying that it was not critical to education outcomes.
In Budget 2015, RM800 million was allocated to the development and maintenance of education facilities. This covered all types of schools under the national school system, including vernacular, residential, religious schools and MARA junior science colleges.
The government also increased its subsidy for utility bills for all national-type schools up to a maximum of RM5,000 monthly from RM2,000 previously.
In the run-up to the budget, PKR's Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar had expressed concern that Putrajaya would not adequately address declining education standards.
Malaysia's declining education standards was a warning sign that could not be ignored, and the government had to "pivot towards investing in the future", Nurul Izzah had said.
PAGE chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim says the allocation for the development of another 20 trust schools is too little. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 11, 2014.PAGE chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim says the allocation for the development of another 20 trust schools is too little. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 11, 2014.In Budget 2015, RM10 million was also allocated to develop another 20 trust schools – a move welcomed by the Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE), although it found the amount too little to speed up the transformation of all schools and the quality of teaching.
"We know that the root of the problem is teacher training and to wait for new teachers to replace existing ones will be too time-consuming," PAGE chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said.
"We are delighted that the budget has provided for another 20 trust schools. However, we feel that that amount is way too small if we are serious about transforming all schools."
Trust schools are national schools managed by a public-private partnership and enjoy greater autonomy and use of innovative teaching methods. The new trust schools under Budget 2015 will be in Johor, Sarawak, Selangor, Perak, Negri Sembilan and Kuala Lumpur.
By Noor Azimah's calculations, the government only needed to spend another RM5 billion to turn all 10,000 schools nationwide into trust schools.
She welcomed the government's emphasis on the importance of English by setting higher standards as a requirement for university admissions through the Malaysian University English Test (MUET), and said it was only logical to reinstate the policy on using English in the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics (PPSMI).
"Bring back the PPSMI! There are students who questioned this move to set a higher requirement to enter universities when they (the authorities) had abolished PPSMI," she added.
Najib had announced yesterday that the minimum English entry requirement into public institutions of higher learning will now be according to field of study, and no longer the minimum grade of Band 1 in MUET as is currently required.
Those aiming for Arts and Social Science courses will have to achieve Band 2, while those pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics courses will have to achieve Band 3.
Law and medical courses will require a Band 4 result in the MUET.
MUET is an English proficiency test used in university admissions in both Malaysia and Singapore.
The prime minister said the move was to enhance graduates' self confidence and English proficiency skills, adding that about 53,000 graduates remained unemployed after six months of graduating.
- TMI

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