2016 year starter: Dynamic new measures

Confidence is an important factor if Malaysian students are to compete internationally.

“Actually, the iCGPA concept is new to the world but it is not new to some of our professors.
 
“In fact, some engineering faculties have been implementing the integrated concept of evaluating the students. What we are doing is just putting it together in a more formal structure,” he explains.
 
The iCGPA calls for students to take numerous courses before their social skills can be fully measured.

This means that the proper gauge of a student’s skills cannot be read in just one semester, but would only be available at the completion of their studies.
While public response to the iCGPA has been encouraging, Idris says people are questioning how the students will be measured.

However, measuring entrepreneurship or managerial skills is nothing new.
 
“There are always mechanisms and approaches to achieve it. You can see that the Human Resources departments in big companies have been doing it. It may be new to certain people but as a mechanism it’s not new anymore,” he explains.

Selected faculties from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, and Universiti Malaysia Pahang will implement the iCGPA and the complete results will be out once the pioneering first year students graduate.

Universiti Malaysia Kelantan currently offers new 2+2 undergraduate courses where students study for two years and undergo two years of practical training.
Some may consider the programmes to be new territory, but Idris believes the moves will pay off for the future of Malaysian education.

Language on the frontline

The biggest change for schools within the 2016 syllabus will be the introduction of two English language papers for the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah.
 
Education Ministry director-general Datuk Seri Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof welcomes the move as a step forward in encouraging critical thinking among pupils.
  
“In both papers, there will be a lot more open-ended questions rather than closed response questions or multiple choice questions (MCQs). We want to have students try to comprehend whatever passage is given in the exam papers. Comprehend it, think about it, and then only start writing and giving answers,” says Khair.

Idris Jusoh believes we have to change in tandem with the rest of the world. — Photos: The Star

“In the past, we had MCQs in the examination papers. But for this new format, we have two separate papers. One is writing and the other is for comprehension,” he adds.

The comprehension paper will contain a variety of questions, including fill-in-the-blanks and fewer MCQs compared with the old format, which only had the latter.

While some naysayers claim that students may not be ready for “difficult” papers, Khair believes there’s no time like the present to encourage critical thinking. 

“We have to start young. I think the younger, the better. Don’t be surprised. I think they can answer the open-ended questions,” he says, expressing confidence in Malaysian students. 

Although students may not always give the “right answer” to open-ended questions, Khair explains that having students provide their own answers would give teachers the opportunity to gauge the way their students think.

Teachers have also undergone several development programmes to prepare themselves for the new format, says Khair.
  
Another language-enhancing programme set to kick off in 2016 is the Dual Language Programme, which will see selected schools being given the option to teach certain STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects in English or Bahasa Malaysia.

The Ministry will also roll out the Highly Immersive Programme, which aims to strengthen English by increasing usage hours outside the classroom.

Both programmes are part of the Government’s efforts to uphold Bahasa Malaysia while strengthening the use of the English language.

To maintain the quality of teachers and ensure their ability to cope with the new syllabus, only those with a minimum of 5As in SPM will be eligible to enrol into the Bachelor of Education programmes at Teacher Education Institutes nationwide.

“We want to have quality teachers, so at the very beginning and earliest screening we want to have people who are qualified,” says Khair, explaining that the move was in line with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.