TEACHER TRAINING IN MALAYSIA






Country Profile
Official Name: Malaysia
Capital: Kuala Lumpur
Independence: August 37, 1957.
Geography: Area: 329,748 sq. km. (127,315 sq. mi.)
Famous Cities--Penang, Ipoh, Malacca, Johor Baru, Shah Alam, Klang, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Kota Baru, Kuala Terengganu, Miri, Petaling Jaya.Terrain: Coastal plains and interior, jungle-covered mountains. The South China Sea separates peninsular Malaysia from East Malaysia on Borneo.

Climate: Tropical.

Population (2009): 28.3 million.Annual growth rate: 2.0%.Ethnic groups: Malay 53.3%, Chinese 26.0%, indigenous 11.8%, Indian 7.7%, others 1.2%.

Religions: Islam (60.4%), Buddhism (19.2%), Christianity (9.1%), Hinduism (6.3%), other/none (5.0%).

Languages: Bahasa Melayu (official), Chinese (various dialects), English, Tamil, indigenous.Education: Years compulsory--6. Attendance--90.1% (primary), 60.0% (secondary). Literacy rate: 93.5%.
Services: 57%; industry--28% (manufacturing--19%, mining and construction--9%); agriculture--15%.

Government Type: Federal parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch. Annual real GDP growth rate: 1.7% (2009).

Natural resources: Petroleum liquefied natural gas (LNG), tin, minerals.

Agricultural products: Palm oil, rubber, timber, cocoa, rice, tropical fruit, fish, coconut.

Industry: Types--electronics, electrical products, chemicals, food and beverages, metal and machine products, apparel.

Trade: Electronic products, manufactured goods, petroleum, palm oil, liquid natural gas,
HISTORYT: The country has its roots to ancient Buddhist Malay kingdom of Srivijaya from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. In 14 century it was captured by a powerful Hindu kingdom of Majapahit. Conversion of the Malays to Islam accelerated during 15 century with the rise of the state of Malacca under the rule of a Muslim prince. This was a main regional commercial center, where Chinese, Arab, Malay, and Indian merchants traded precious goods. In 1511 a Portuguese fleet conquered Malacca in 1511. The Dutch ousted the Portuguese from Malacca in 1641. The British gained lasting possession of Malacca from the Dutch in 1824, through the Anglo-Dutch treaty, in exchange for territory on the island of Sumatra in what is today Indonesia. British control was interrupted by World War II and the Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945. British control was interrupted by World War II and the Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945.
PEOPLE:Malaysia's multi-racial society contains many ethnic groups. Malays comprise a majority of just over 50%. By constitutional definition, all Malays are Muslim. About a quarter of the population is ethnic Chinese, a group which historically played an important role in trade and business. Malaysians of Indian descent comprise about 7% of the population and include Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians. Non-Malay indigenous groups combine to make up approximately 11% of the population.Population density is highest in peninsular Malaysia, home to some 20 million of the country's 28 million inhabitants. The rest live on the Malaysian portion of the island of Borneo in the large but less densely-populated states of Sabah and Sarawak. More than half of Sarawak's residents and about two-thirds of Sabah's are from indigenous groups.
Education in Malaysia
Education in the country consist of pre-school, primary school, secondary, tertiarty and postgraduate. The Kementerian Pelajran Malaysia is responsible from pre-school to secondary school while Ministry of Higher education is liable for tertiary education.
The centralized Malaysian school system has 6 years of primary, 3 years of lower
secondary, 2 years of upper secondary, and one to two years of pre-university or
matriculation education (6+3+2). There are three types of primary schools, each providing education in 3 different medium of instruction namely Malay, Chinese and Tamil (Indian). Children start school at the age of 6, and most choose schooling in their own mother tongue particularly at the primary level. The majority of the primary school pupils continue their education at government secondary schools where the medium of instruction is Malay. The first 9 years of education is free and compulsory and pupils progress across the grade levels by automatic promotion.
Preschool Education
There is no fixed age limit however commonly children start preschool education at the age of 5 years. Schooling can begin earlier, from 3-6, in Kindergarten. Preschool education usually lasts for 2 years, before they proceed to primary school at age 7. There is no formal preschool curriculum except a formal mandatory training and certification for principals and teachers before they may operate a preschool. The training covers lessons on child psychology, teaching methodologies, and other related curricula on childcare and development. Preschool education is mainly provided by private for-profit preschools and is very expensive. However there are public institutions also provide it.
Primary
Primary Education in Malaysia consists of 6 years of education and is also referred as Standards 1 through 6. Students enter primary schools at the age of 7 and leave at the age of 12. Students are promoted to the next Standard without any examination. Until 2000, the Penilaian Tengah Sekolah (PTS) or Middle School Evaluation test was given to students in Standard 3 who passed a qualification test. Excellence in this test allowed students to skip Standard 4. However, the test was removed from 2001. At the end of primary education, students in national schools are required to undertake a national standardised test known as the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) or Primary School Evaluation Test. The subjects tested are Malay comprehension, written Malay, English, Science and Mathematics.
The primary education system is divided into the national schools (Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan) and vernacular schools (Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan) (literally national type school). The official medium of instruction in national schools is Malay. Vernacular schools generally conduct classes in Mandarin for Chinese vernacular schools and Tamil for Tamil vernacular schools. Participation in the UPSR is not compulsory, but many vernacular schools also administer the UPSR to their students as this allows for re-integration of their students into national schools for secondary education. Recently, attempts have been made to establish (Sekolah Wawasan) or vision schools. Vision schools share facilities with one or more national schools, ostensibly to encourage closer interaction.
Secondary
Secondary schooling consists of 5 years of schooling and this is referred to as Form 1 to Form 5. Public secondary schools are considered as extensions of the national schools. In Form 3, the Penilaian Menengah Rendah or Lower Secondary Evaluation is taken by students. Depending on their results, they will be streamed into either the Science stream or Arts stream. The Science stream is generally more desirable, and students are allowed to elect to go to the Arts from the Science stream, but not vice-versa. In Form 5, students are required to take the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or Malaysian Certificate of Education examination, before graduating from secondary school. The SPM is the equivalent of the British General Certificate of Education 'O' Levels examination.
The UEC is available in three levels: UEC - Vocational Unified Exam (UEC-V), UEC (Junior Middle Level-JML) and UEC (Senior Middle Level-SML). The syllabus and examinations for the UEC-V and UEC-JML are only available in the Chinese language. The UEC-SML has question for mathematics, sciences (biology, chemistry and physics), book keeping, accounting and commerce are available in both Chinese and English.
Matriculation
After SPM, students would have a choice of either studying Form 6 or the matriculation (pre-university). Should they choose to continue studying in Form 6, they will also take the Sijil Pelajaran Tinggi Malaysia or Malaysian Certificate of Higher Education examination (its British equivalent is the General Certificate of Education 'A' Levels examination). Form 6 consists of two years of study which is known as lower 6 and upper 6. In general, the STPM is only useful if one desires to attend a public university. The matriculation programme has undergone some criticism as it is a general consensus that this programme is much easier compared to STPM and serves to help Bumiputeras enter the public university easily.
Tertiary
Tertiary education in the public universities is heavily subsidised by the government. Applicants to public universities must have completed the matriculation program or have an STPM grade. Excellence in these examinations does not guarantee a place in a public university. The selection criteria are largely opaque as no strictly enforced defined guidelines exists. The country has 10 local public universities, 6 private, 1 international university and more than 500 Public Higher Education Institutions. These PHEIs are private sector institutions. Higher Education includes certificate, diploma, undergraduate as well as postgraduate studies. Undergraduate studies consist of Bachelor's degree levels and professional studies while postgraduate studies consist of Master's degrees and PhD levels. Generally, higher education at the diploma level is for secondary school certificate (SPM) holders from the age of 1 7 onwards and the Bachelor's degree is for students from the age of 1 9 onwards with post-secondary qualifications such as STPM (which is equivalent to the GCE A'Level) or pre-university qualifications.


History of Teacher training in Malaysia

Emergence of Teacher Education
Prior to the establishment of existing school system focus was on religious education which was provided mainly by the mosques and at homes. After the arrival of British in 19th century existing system was replaced by Pondok schools. Establishment of these schools demanded the establishment of teachers training colleges. For this purpose many institutes like the Kolej Latihan Melayu were established in Signapore in 1878-1895. Another institute named Sekolah Latihan Guru Melayu was also opened in Taiping in 1898, but was closed soon by the establishment of Kolej Latihan Melayu was opened in Melaka in 1900. Likewise a new college named Kolej Latihan Melayu was established in Matang in 1913 and was closed after the establishment of Sultan Idris Training College (SITC) in 1922. Johor also established a teacher training institute named “Malay Teacher College” in 1919 but this was also closed in 1928 and its trainees were transferred to SITC. In 1929 a training school was established in Kota Bharu to prepare teachers for SITC. The number of trainees was low in all above institutes except for Melaka College where almost 700 teachers were trained. All of these institutes were for male and in 1921 first college was established for female teachers and this was proceeded by Johor college for female teachers in 1928. In 1935 first separate training college was established for female teachers and was named as Malay Women Teacher Training College. To cater the needs of Chinese teachers British government provided financial add for their training. Tamil teacher training institutes were also established in 1937 to gratify the needs of Tamil community. For the training of teachers of English schools two schools for established one in Kuala Lumpur in 1905 and the second in Penang in 1907.
Earlier than the Second World War, there were only two teachers training colleges for vernacular Malay education. In 1948 the Batu Lintang Teacher College, Kuching was established and the Sarawak Teachers College was established in Sibu in 1957. In addition to these the Rejang Teachers College was also established in 1966. In 1954, a Malayan Teacher Training College was established in Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
After independence to fulfill the need of increasing demand of trained teachers and to prepare for development in education sector malysian government established two Teachers Training Colleges in Britain, known as the Kirkby Teacher College (1951-1962) and the Brinsford Teachers College (1955-1964). Through the epoch of 1946-1955 there were numerous modalities of teacher education such as Simplified Normal Training Course, Weekend Teacher Training Course, Vocational Teacher Training Course and Senior Normal Class. All of these programs were closed with the establishment of twelve Day Training Centers in collaboration with Malayan Teachers Training Colleges. Now a days the Malayan Teachers Training Colleges offer several specialized courses like : The Malayan Teachers College , Penang (Mathematics and Science); The Malayan Teachers College Lembah Pantai (English, Chinese, Geography, Music); the Technical Teachers College , Kuala Lumpur (Industrial Arts and crafts); The Malayan Teachers College, Johor Bharu (Agricultural Science and Home Science); The Language Institute (Malay, History, Geography and Music).; the Specialist Teachers Training College (Commerce, Art and Crafts, Home Science, Physical Education, Audio Visual Aids and Special education for the Deaf and blind).
Afterward the Islamic Teachers Training College in addition to other colleges like the Seri Kota Training Colleges were established, responding to the expansion of schooling and need for teachers.
A school of education was established in 1963 in University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, to provide training for graduate teachers. In 1969, the Science University, in 1970, the National University and in 1971, the University of Agriculture also begun to establish Centers, School and Faculties of Education to train graduate teachers.
The Teacher Education Division and Teachers Colleges
The Malaysian Ministry of Education, Teacher Education Division (TED) is the department within the government which has responsibility for teacher education. It offers initial Teacher Education Programme, in-service teacher training, short courses and workshops for specialized groups. Almost all teacher trainees acquire the corpus of professional language register pertaining to teaching-learning. While primary school teachers from the national and national-type schools receive their initial training from one of the Teacher's Colleges, secondary school teachers are typically trained in one of the Faculties or School or Centers in public universities. For several decades Teacher Training Colleges focused on training non graduate teachers. Around 1989, Teacher Training Colleges began providing training for graduate teachers under the Graduate Teacher Training Scheme known in Malay as the Kursus Perkhidmatan Lanjutan Ijazah (KPLI).
Teacher Training at all levels have always been offered free for those intending to serve or those serving in public schools. While pre service teacher training candidates are paid monthly stipends, in service teachers continue to receive their salaries while in training. In the last decade or so more of the teachers who intend to serve in private schools are admitted to teacher education programmes but these candidates are charged nominal fees.
Pre service Diploma Programmes are the Malaysian Diploma in Teaching (MDT) which replaced the Certificate in Teaching in 1996, and the Postgraduate Diploma in Education. In service programmes include a Special Degree Programme, A One year specialist Certificate Course, Professional Development Programmes, the Malaysian Trainers development Programme, Special Smart School Courses and Computer Maintenance Courses. These various Programmes are also offered to participants from the private sector. Typically, assessment is continuous, based on course work and on final written examination as well as practical teaching. The contents of the Teacher Education programme include content knowledge and teaching methodology or pedagogy and Practicum. The knowledge specializations in school subjects include mathematics, science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Civil, mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering and Information Technology. Other subjects specializations include, Physical education, Living Skills, (Agricultural Sciences), Art education, Home Economics, Geography, History, Commerce, Accounting and Economics. Languages offered are Bahasa Melayu, English, Arabic, Chinese language. General or Global Skills are communication, Thinking Skills, IT skills and Pedagogical skills.
In 2004 the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) on 27 March 2004 was established. Prior to this education and training in Malaysia was entirely organized by the Ministry of Education (MOE). From 2004 on, the secondary and primary school teacher education and training were separated and given to MOHE and MOE respectively. MOE trains primary teachers via the Institute of Teacher Education (ITE) (previously known as Teacher Taining Colleges) and MOHE trains the secondary teachers via the government-funded universities.
Teacher Education Division (TED) is a section in the Malaysian Ministry of
Education, which oversees teacher training in Malaysia. The TED has various
units that help in its operations. For example, the Planning and Policy Unit plans
and determines the direction of teacher education in Malaysia. The Curriculum
Unit determines the curriculum for the different courses offered in the teacher
training colleges − the Assessment Unit handles the setting of examination
questions and marking of answer scripts as well as the awarding of the student
teachers’ grades, the Student-selection Unit conducts the aptitude tests and the
interviews and selects the candidates for the teacher training colleges. Basically,
all administrations with regards to teacher-education other than the training are
administered by the TED.
The TED is headed by a director and three deputy directors who manage the
administration of the division. There are also several assistant directors who head
the various units and these heads of units are supported by senior academic and
clerical staff. Though MOE is solely responsible for primary school teachers’
education and training and MOHE is responsible for secondary school teacher
education and training, all other affairs in relation to schools and teachers, whether
it is secondary or primary schools or teachers, fall under the jurisdiction of MOE.
Over the years teacher education in Malaysia has gone through many changes to
meet the challenges of modern times. Thirty years ago, college graduates were
conferred certificates in teaching after attending a two-year pre-service training
program. Twenty years ago the training as extended to three years and the students
were awarded a Diploma in Teaching. In the last five years efforts have been made
to award a degree for those students who pass the courses and the training program
has been extended to five and a half years. Tamil language as their medium of
instruction and the privately managed Islamic.
Apart from the MOE and MOHE, there are many other educational networks and
organizations in Malaysia that have significantly contributed to the development,
progress and quality of education in this country. These networks and Apart from the MOE and MOHE, there are many other educational networks and organizations in Malaysia that have significantly contributed to the development, progress and quality of education in this country. These networks and organizations are basically nongovernmental organizations and nonprofit-oriented bodies. These networks and organizations have contributed considerably to the national educational settings in terms of professional development of teachers by organizing various programs, activities and events.
Teacher Education Institutions
Mainly two types of teacher training institutes are providing training to teachers in Malaysia;
1. Pre-service teacher training institutes in Malaysia
In Malaysia, the training of pre-service teacher for both primary and secondary schools is mainly provided by the 28 teacher training colleges which are under the Teacher Education Division of the Ministry of Education, as well as the 11 public universities.
There are 29 Teacher Education Colleges within Malaysia providing pre-service and –in-service programmes. Most of the Teacher Colleges are generalist in nature, although there are specialist languages institutes, vocational and technical colleges, Religious Colleges, Women’s Colleges and one Science College.
There are two main types of pre-service programmes:
The Malaysian Diploma of TeachingMDT)
and the Postgraduate Diploma of Teaching (PDT).
There are also a number of twinning programmes between local and overseas universities
where selected students train to be teachers. Across Malaysia, about 4000 teachers graduate each year from the MDT and about 3000 from the PDT.
In Service Programmes
Training for in service teachers on the other hand is divided into the following
programmes
(i) Special Degree Programme (For non graduates teachers)
(ii) Special Teaching Certificate (KSPK) and, (iii) Professional Development Courses.
In service teachers who follow these training programme usually will be given a full-paid salary and training allowance (for Special Teaching Certificate Course and Professional
Development Courses) or a half-pay leave.
Admission criteria for TTIs
The postgraduate diploma of teaching entry requirements includes a Bachelors Degree from a local or overseas university or institution of higher learning and a credit in Malay Language at the School Certificate level. Malaysia is in the process of upgrading the qualification of its teachers. By 2005, all secondary teachers are expected be university graduates, and that by 2020 all teachers will be graduates. For teachers who have a three-year teaching diploma based on “O” level educational qualification, the pathway to the degree is through a pre-course 14 week in-service programme in the subject matter plus one full-time year at a teacher training college and three full-time years at a university.
Number of institutes
Pre-Service: There are 27 ITEs which are strategically located in all 14 states of Malaysia which provide both pre-service and in-service courses. In the past, the teacher training institutes were referred to as teacher training colleges. However, with the upgrading of the teacher training programs from holding diplomas to degrees, the status of the colleges has been raised to higher education institutes, and since 2006 they have been referred to as teacher training institutes.
In-Service: The 27 teacher training institutes. As for in-service training for practicing teachers, some of the universities do plan and organize short-term courses, seminars and conferences for these teachers to enhance their teaching abilities and their professional and personal development, as well as increase their knowledge. For example, the School of Educational Studies of USM conducts workshops, seminars and short courses for pre-school teachers. The Faculty of Educational Studies of UPM organizes off-shore and distance education programs
for busy teachers who are unable to attend campus-based academic programs. Almost all faculties/schools of education of the 13 universities have organized national and/or international conferences, where in-service teachers have either presented papers or participated in the conferences. This is State of Teacher Education in the Asia-Pacific Region 78 a recent trend of engagement in professional development activities by teachers in Malaysia.
Curriculum of TTIs
As Teachers Colleges were established, the colleges had their own curriculum which reflected the curriculum content of school subjects and the related respective corpus in the pedagogical fields. R. O. Winstedt, Assistant Director of Education submitted a report with suggestions for curriculum in the following categories; 1] Curriculum; 2] Vocational and Agricultural Schools; 3] Administration; and 4] Teacher Training Colleges. The curriculum for Teachers colleges includes the following proposals:
A] English should be taught to trainee teachers so that they can teach the subject in Malay schools
B] History and geography should be taught using the new text book.
C] Agricultural Science should be introduced in the teacher Training curriculum.
D] Textbooks should be written for subjects such as Geography, History, Agricultural Science and health Education.
E] To establish a teacher Training College in order to save expenses. In addition, expertise would be centrally mobilized. It was also proposed that the college provide a three year study programme for trainees' teachers.
The table provide and overview of the courses taught in Malaysian teacher training institutes over the century.


Pre service Curriculum
Program name Curriculum Major Subjects Period
Malaysian Diploma Teacher dynamics Malaya Studeis/ 6 smesters
in Teaching , English language/ 3years
professional knowledge, Islamic
major subjects, Studies/music/
teaching practice mathmetics/
science/living skills
self enrichment,

Post graduate Teacher dynamics, Malaya Studeis/ 2smesters
diploma in professional knowledge, English language/ 1year
Teaching self enrichment, Islamic Studies/
KPLI major subjects, music/mathmetics/
science/living skills/
economics/malay
literature/economics
Engineering and technology

Curriculum for in service Teacher Training





Special degree program Malaya Studeis/English 2 semesters
language/Islamic 1 year
Studies/music/
mathmetics/
science/living skills
for non graduate
teachers
Guidance and
counseling
KSPK Malaya Studeis/ 2 semesters
English language/ 1 year
Islamic Studies/
music/mathmetics/
science/living skills/
economics/malay
literature/home
economics
Engineering
technology

Professional The curriculum, Drama in Malay 14 weeks
development teacher Subject Malay language education/ courses major, Computer studies
projects dynamics Music
Teacher training
for smart schools

Conclusion
Above discussion shows that in spite of many efforts, made by the ministry of education of Malaysia, to increase efficiency of education and particularly teacher education many hindrances are still there to be removed. Malaysia is a multicultural society and this diversity has increased the complexity of the nature of teacher training programs. Although Pre service and In service teacher training is provided but there is no concept of Induction. However in addition to certain other in service training courses numerous short courses are also offered for continuous professional development. To increase productivity and feasibility of CPD the Malaysian government has established an Malaysia Open university so that the teachers can be trained at their on schools.
Refrences
Keith, M. Lewin. (n.d) The pre service training of teachers-Does it meet its objectives and How can it be improved? Back ground paper for EFA global monitoring report 2004. Retrieved December. http://www.oest.oas.org/
Hassan.Bin,Muhammad. Information and Communication technology: the role of teacher education division. Retrieved December 5, 2010. www. Unpan1.org
Sam. Chap, Lin. (n.d) A comparison of pre service Mathematics Teacher education between Malaysia and China. Retrieved December 5, 2010. www.icme11.org
USAID. Good practices and international trends of teacher accreditation and certification with analysis and recommendations for Pakistan under the Strengthening Teacher Education in Pakistan (STEP) program. www.teachereducation.net.pk
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