Tuition classes are the norm but not a necessity. It’s down to the parents and teachers to help students excel in international assessments.
BETTER teachers and involved parents are the key to students doing well in international assessments.
The Education Ministry must ensure that only those who are qualified, committed and interested in teaching, are selected to join the profession, Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Education senior lecturer and teacher-trainer Dr Zuwati Hasim said.
Calling on the ministry to raise the selection criteria for teacher training and education, she said this was crucial in maintaining the standards and quality of the country’s education system.
And, teachers, she said, must be allowed to focus on teaching.
“Empower teachers with continuous professional development (CPD). Ensure that they are teaching subjects that they are trained for, ” she said, adding that in developed countries, there is strong parental involvement in schools.
She said schools that are properly managed by experienced administrators usually excel. And, committed and supportive principals create a positive environment for teachers and students to learn, develop and perform.
But parents, she said, play the biggest role when it comes to education. They shouldn’t let teachers take over their parental responsibility.
“In school, teachers deliver knowledge. Outside of school, it’s up to the parents to monitor their child’s progress.”
These days, with both parents having to work – at times late into the night – they miss out on talking and motivating their children. Yet, these parents demand excellent exam results.
“The easiest way out is extra classes. It’s scary how some kids as young as six are sent for tuition, ” she said, cautioning that a conflict of interest could arise if school teachers offered tuition.
There have been cases, she shared, of teachers who did not give their best in class because they want their students to enrol for tuition. These teachers “reserve” important knowledge and skills for these after school sessions.
“Those who can’t afford tuition will be at a disadvantage.
“Effective teaching should take place in classrooms. Teachers must ensure that students understand the content that’s delivered.”
High expectations and peer pressure, particularly among competitive parents who are determined to see their children out-perform others, result in them sending their kids for tuition even when it isn’t necessary.
With barely enough time to rest and play, children struggle to cope with the mounting pressure, she said.
“This could be one of the reasons behind the rising depression and bullying cases among students – they either take out their frustrations on others or worse, take their own life.”
Parents, she said, must understand their children’s interests and different abilities as there are many learning pathways available.
Over the years, however, there has been sharp decline in content delivery and pedagogy in both urban and rural schools because the majority of teachers don’t have in-depth knowledge of the subjects they teach, said Gerald Kochappan.The retired English teacher was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Global Education Forum for Education Learning in Dubai last year. He recently received the International Academic Association of Researchers in Humanities, IT, Engineering & Science Life-time Achievement Award in Mumbai.
A former Malaysian Smart Schools consultant, he was appointed Inspector of Schools and later a senior lecturer at the ministry’s National Institute for Educational Leadership and Management. Now an education consultant, he trains leaders from developing Asean countries.
“Teachers don’t read enough so they don’t really understand the content that needs to be imparted on students.
“Some, because of their lack of English proficiency, are unable to access reference books which would have greatly helped - especially in the teaching of science and maths.”
But merely knowing content well, isn’t enough.
Teachers must inject creativity and innovation into pedagogical knowledge to make lessons meaningful.
The sad reality is that many parents have accepted tutoring as a necessity, he said.
“Parental involvement requires great deal of sacrifice. Not many have the content and pedagogical knowledge to help their children academically so the tutoring uptrend will continue unless teachers are motivated to strive for quality education.”
The Education Ministry, he said, must recognise and reward teachers better to reduce the dependence on tuition.
Tutoring is not a necessity. If students are guided on the proper use of technology and other innovative resources, they can have unlimited access knowledge and skills, he said.
According to the Khazanah Reasearch Institute, the country’s improving performance in basic education indicators, have failed to translate into good performance outcomes in the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study).
Despite an abundant supply of teachers, the effectiveness of content delivery and pedagogy is lacking, its “Behind the Blackboard: How basic indicators mask gaps in quality of education” paper read.
Limited direct parental involvement may have prevented children from being motivated to study and perform well while widespread tutoring creates a disincentive for teachers to teach effectively. These issues need to be addressed if Malaysia is to catch up to the top performers, the authors wrote.
Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said school teachers are allowed to give tuition but only up to four hours a week and it has to be declared.
Unfortunately, the lack of enforcement means that tuition is the main source of income for some.
Teachers who are not sincere and dedicated may end up neglecting their students, urging these children to go for private classes – which offer personal attention in a more conducive environment – instead.
There are parents who send their children to school for social purposes, she said, leaving the serious learning to tuition centres.
Busy with putting food on the table, more and more parents are shirking their responsibility. They want outstanding academic results and they expect the teacher to deliver.
Parents think it’s their role to educate but legacy issues such as teachers not teaching their options, a shortage of teachers in schools, the slow replacing of teachers who are on maternity leave, and teachers having to accompany students for competitions while classes are left unattended, can’t be ignored.
We need smaller classes and double-session schools have to go, she said.
Having teaching assistants who can double up to conduct co-curriculum activities, level the playing field and make education more inclusive.
Malaysia, she added, could improve its performance by reviewing the quality of teacher education in Institutes of Teacher Education (IPG) and universities to benchmark against education degrees from top performing countries.
“Conduct relevant CPD. Encourage bilingual proficiency among teachers. Offer comprehensive Mandarin classes, promote diversity and inculcate reading in schools.”
To improve maths and science, more time must be set aside. Science labs must be in good working order so that experiments can be conducted instead of just making students memorise them, she said.
National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Harry Tan said bureaucracy and irrelevant work have clipped teachers’ desire for creativity in their quest to give their best, he said.
“It’s unfortunate. Look around – teachers are doing all sorts of work from gardening, maintenance work, managing recycling activities, conducting motivation camps, organising fund raising activities and the list goes on. Extra classes are the norm in any school.”
But our teachers must be doing something right if students grow to be employable adults, he added.
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