AMCEA
All Malaysian Council on Educational Advancement
Mission
Expenditure on education in Malaysia as a percentage of total government expenditure has been as high as 5.7% compared with world average expenditure of 4.49%.However, in the rural population, teacher commitment towards the realization of goals of blueprint remains less than optimal especially due to lack of accountability and difficulty in implementing quality assessment programs in far-flung areas of the country. This may prove to be a major stumbling block the implementation of goals of the blueprint, especially in poor areas of the country, when parents don’t realize the need for high-quality education or have poor participation in education systems in local schools. In some of these schools, teacher attendance remains poor, which can adversely affect the future of the new generations in the country.The Ministry also acknowledged in the blueprint the valuable contributions of various stakeholders from international and local organizations in working with the Ministry to complement efforts towards enhancing student proficiency and teacher participation.Hence, AMCEA is committed to fostering cause of improvement of education in Malaysia, especially in rural communities and in building bridges between advocacy organizations and local schools in Malaysia. AMCEA works in collaboration with education advocacy groups in Malaysia to strengthen ties between sponsors and educators both at home and abroad.Teachers are builders of the foundations of any society. Let us salute all the dedicated teachers of Malaysia. In most schools, teachers love to teach and never miss any classes. They are passionate about teaching for a better future for every student in their classes. But all schools are not created equal!Do you think that this happens in your school too? Send us your story. This is your civic duty. Help the society by insisting on teacher accountability and the best possible education in your school and across the country. Get involved by reporting teacher class attendance records. Don’t let anybody deprive of a bright future. Send us your story anonymously.If more people speak up, NO teachers would ever miss classes. Get involved by reporting teacher class attendance records of teachers who miss classes. You can write your story and/or upload your video or picture without mentioning your name. Don’t reveal your personal data or identity. Your picture or video should show the time and day when teachers should have been in the class teaching but the teacher did not show up and the school also did not send a substitute teacher. It would be great if you could take a picture with the school’s name. You can add files or images to upload box on the right side.
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AMCEA is working to work with advocacy groups to improve the educational system in Malaysia. Stay tuned for events!
News
22nd Malaysian Educational Summit
October 28, 2018
Please follow the link to ready the whole story! Here we share updates about issues with educational system."The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia results were released last month. We congratulate the students who did very well and to those who did not, it is not the end of the world. Some will pursue tertiary education but most will not. When a school does well, the credit goes to the tuition teachers. When it does not, teacher absenteeism is blamed. School teachers tend to get a bad rap, but there are many good teachers too.The Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia was invited to speak at the recent 22nd Malaysian Education Summit hosted by the Asian Strategic and Leadership Institute. The theme was “Creating the right environment to enable quality education”. The focus of our session — “Rethinking education: How can education today meet the needs of tomorrow?” — was on literacy rates, including health literacy, which are rising, although required skills, such as financial, technological and problem-solving, have not developed much. The discussion required us to deliberate on the skills required for the future and how we could plan and structure education to teach students in a more wholesome manner.Some degree of teacher absenteeism is globally accepted. So we decided to take two steps back and address instead extreme teacher absenteeism in schools where students are deliberately left behind by teachers.The National Transformation Program for Education speaks about upgrading good teachers but little is being said about bad teachers, which is a sensitive topic — no one wants to get the teachers all worked up and defensive.Politically, teachers are a sizeable vote bank and politicians are quick to defend them no matter the situation, but we know that bad teachers are the weak link in the education system. We have heard this many times before: we have picture-perfect policies but implementation is imperfect.According to the recently released Unesco Global Economic Monitoring Report 2017/2018 (GEM), a review of teachers, school administrators, parents and officials in 24 countries found that 54% believed the code of ethics had a significant impact on reducing misconduct.Therefore, the teacher code of ethics shall be the guiding light.We see the code painted on school walls but hardly hear it being uttered by teachers. Maybe, teachers should declare it at every assembly just as students are made to mechanically recite the Rukunegara. Then maybe, teacher absenteeism will gradually fall as it slowly and painfully tugs at the heart strings. If it does not, then it is probably time for the teachers concerned to call it quits. Teachers have to be honest with themselves and do their part too.The GEM report also points out that “in schools with no or low community monitoring or parental involvement, or very poor resources and facilities, teachers are more likely to be absent”. Not surprisingly, literacy rates are high in Peninsular Malaysia, at 95%, but significantly lower in Sabah and Sarawak, at 79% and 72% respectively, because their communities are poor, inaccessible, less educated and probably have lower expectations of their children. Irresponsible teachers take advantage of this by reporting for work but not attending classes, and falsifying records.In November last year, in a news report entitled “Malaysian civil servant sacked after missing work for 2,002 days”, the Minister of Education admitted that it was not a teacher but a staff member of a rural school and, indeed, of almost 3,500 cases of wrongdoing committed by employees of the ministry from 2010 to October last year, 55.4% were related to absenteeism.“Imagine a student walking an hour and a half to school, where there is no path or public transport, only to find no teacher when he arrives. Who is to blame? What can parents do if they are not literate and cannot afford to find out whether the teacher had to attend to regular, non-classroom administrative duties or was simply negligent, backed by a local politician who helped appoint the teacher in the first place?” the GEM report asks.The question that begs to be answered is, who is accountable for extreme teacher absenteeism? It is obvious that the teacher will be the first to be reprimanded and shown the exit but it should not stop there. Those higher up should also be held responsible and admonished for student abuse. This will send a warning to bad teachers that they have to shape up or ship out.As an extension of the exit policy, the Ministry of Education could offer a voluntary separation scheme to teachers with a poor attendance record. Get rid of them rather than allow the malaise to spread and rob students and their families of a better life. Replace them with inspiring teachers.If nothing is done about bad teachers, the good ones might exercise the exit policy and opt for the private sector where it is more lucrative, what with the mushrooming of international and private schools and tuition centres, and home-schooling becoming an alternative and popular learning choice.If the situation worsens, there will be little left of national schools.For most people, education is the best way out of poverty. Return to our students their right to a proper education"Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim is the chairman of Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia, which is an educational lobby group that serves as a channel between concerned parents, the Ministry of Education and other educational stakeholders
Student sues teacher for not coming to class for 7 months
October 28, 2018
Please follow this link to read story on Malaysiakini.A student filed a suit against her English teacher for allegedly failing to turn up for classes for seven months at SMK Taun Gasi, a school in Kota Belud, Sabah.Nafirah Siman, who has since turned 18, sued Jainal Jamran for allegedly not turning up to teach English classes in 2015 when she was in Form 4.The suit was filed through law firm Roxana & Co on Oct 16. It also named the school's headmaster Suid Hanapi and SMK Taun Gusi, the Kota Belud district education officer, the Sabah education director-general, the Education Ministry and the government as defendants.A check with the court records showed that the case has been fixed for mention for Nov 19.Nafirah claimed in her suit that Jainal had failed to turn up to teach English from February 2015 until October 2015 except for one week when the Education Ministry and state Education Department officials visited the school.She claimed that despite multiple complaints including from a Fullbright senior English teacher assistant grantee seconded to the school and the school's English Department's head, the authorities which were the Education Ministry, the state Education Department and the headmaster failed to act.Further to that, she claimed headmaster Suid tried to cover-up the absenteeism by asking the teacher to "fabricate" his attendance to show that he was only absent for two months.The suit also alleged that Suid intimidated students to give favourable comments about the teacher.Nafirah is seeking a declaration that the defendants are in breach of their statutory duty under the Education Act by failing to ensure that she was taught English during the period of absenteeism and that this violated her constitutional right for access to education.She also wants a declaration that there was a breach in duty and misfeasance in public office.She also seeks exemplary, general and aggravated damages as well as cost.
More ex-students air their grouses after teacher sued
November 4, 2018
Please follow the link to read original story.More complaints have surfaced against a teacher in Kota Belud, Sabah, who was sued by a former student for allegedly not coming to class for seven months.Two individuals claiming to be former students of SMK Taun Gusi posted their grouses on the 1Sabah Facebook page.Commenting on a Malaysiakini article about the case, Velnie Aine Ringgan claimed to have experienced a similar predicament.“In my experience as a former student at SMK Taun Gusi who was taught by the teacher in question when I was in Form Four and Five, I have indeed been through the same situation.“The teacher rarely came to class, especially the bottom classes...,” she wrote.Similarly, Omar Ewin said the claims stated in the lawsuit were true.“In a year, the teacher would only come into our class two or three times,” he added.Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that Nafirah Siman had sued her Form Four English teacher Jainal Jamran for failing to ensure she was taught the language and violating her constitutional right for access to education.In her lawsuit, Nafirah claimed that Jainal had failed to turn up to teach English from February 2015 until October 2015, except for one week when the Education Ministry and state Education Department officials visited the school.Despite multiple complaints, she claimed the authorities - the Education Ministry, the state Education Department and headmaster Suid Hanapi - had failed to take action.Nafirah further claimed that the headmaster had tried to cover-up Jainal’s absenteeism by asking the latter to “fabricate” his attendance to show he was only absent for two months.The headmaster was also alleged to have intimidated students to give favourable comments about Jainal.The suit named the headmaster, school, Kota Belud district education officer, Sabah education director-general, Education Ministry and the government of Malaysia as defendants.Deputy minister awaiting reportMeanwhile, Sabah Education director Maimunah Suhaibul told The Star Online that her department was looking into the case but declined further comment as it had become a court matter."This has become a court case, and I cannot comment further. Rest assured that we are doing what is necessary,” she said.Whereas state education and innovation minister Yusof Yaacob said he was monitoring the case closely despite it being under the purview of the federal Education Ministry.Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching told newswire Bernama yesterday that she was awaiting a detailed report about the lawsuit from Maimunah’s department."If indeed there was a complaint filed but was not given due attention, I feel we should check where the mistake or wrongdoing was committed, if any,” she said.Checks with the Education Ministry found that the report in question had yet to be presented to Teo or minister Maszlee Malik.
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