DURING the first weekend of November 2011, the PPSMI (the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English) policy trended on Twitter. This evidence of PPSMI’s importance to large numbers of tech-savvy Malaysians came shortly after Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s back-to-back statements on the policy. Muhyiddin first reiterated that PPSMI would […]
education
“See me as I am”
TAN Sri Rafidah Aziz, 68, has been a towering figure in Malaysian politics for the past three decades. Born in Selama, Perak, in 1943, she became at age 30 Member of Parliament for Kuala Kangsar, and remains the incumbent. In 1987, she was appointed international trade and industry minister. Her political career has not been […]
Creativity and innovation in education
IF you missed The Nut Graph‘s second Found in Conversation event on creativity and innovation in education, held on 25 July 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, listen to the dialogue through the following videos. The panelists were 3R executive producer and social commentator Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir; educator and Five Arts Centre co-founder Datin Marion D’Cruz; […]
Revamping education: Is the government up to it?
THE idea of abolishing the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) exams shouldn’t have taken us by surprise when Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced it in June 2010. Those who follow developments in the Education Ministry might recall that plans to have school-based assessments instead of centralised exams […]
Education and the agenda of political parties
THE year 2010 is the year of creativity and innovation for Malaysia. And yet, a common lament when discussing the country’s state of affairs or the quality of education is that we lack in precisely these areas. What, then, of the government’s plans to make Malaysia a high-income nation? Where do we even begin in […]
Revolutionising Malaysian education
THE Nut Graph held its second Found in Conversation event titled Creativity and Innovation in Education on 25 July 2010 in Kuala Lumpur. Panelists comprised educator and dancer-choreographer Datin Marion D’Cruz, 3R executive producer and social commentator Datin Marina Mahathir, and Learning Beyond Schooling founder KV Soon, who is a proponent of homeschooling. About 40 […]
Starting school at age five: Should we?
PETALING JAYA, 2 July 2010: If the government wants children to start school at five instead of six, it must first review the existing curriculum for pre-school and Standard One, experts said. “There ought to be some reviewing of the curriculum so that there’s less emphasis on academic performance at such an early stage,” said […]
Nasihat tentang PMR
NAMPAKNYA cadangan untuk memansuhkan Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah dan Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) menimbulkan debat yang hangat. Lihatlah saja surat dari seorang pembaca kepada Kak Nora yang baru saya temui: Assalamualaikum Kak Nora, Saya tengah stress yang tidak terhingga, Kak Nora. Umur tak sampai 15 tahun pun sudah ada uban, nasib baiklah muka saya lebih […]
UKM is “penalising” students
Letter to Prof Tan Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) vice-chancellor Dear vice-chancellor, I am writing to you with regards to the persecution of four UKM students for taking part in the Hulu Selangor elections. Come 2 and 3 June 2010, the four will be charged under Section 15 of […]
Orang Asli Hospital not fulfilling role
KUALA LUMPUR, 22 Mar 2010: A hospital set up by the British to serve the Orang Asli in Gombak is not fulfilling its objectives in part because most of its patients are non-Orang Asli. Dr Selva Vathany Kanapathi Pillai, recently transferred out of the hospital after publicly voicing her concerns, told The Nut Graph that […]
