ON COURSE: Improvements already seen; more to come from National Education Blueprint
KUALA LUMPUR: THE National Education Blueprint 2013-2025 has yielded the initial results hoped for.
Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the gap between rural and urban students had been narrowed and the blueprint was on track to achieve its 50 per cent target.
“The effort is ongoing and we will see an improvement gradually, in phases.”
Muhyiddin was speaking at a ceremony to honour 30 students, 20 schools and 15 teachers for their outstanding performance in last year’s Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia.
In his speech, Muhyiddin congratulated the students and teachers, who he said were responsible for those who excelled emerging as the creme de la creme of Malaysian students, both academically and in co-curricular activities.
“From the 30 outstanding students who had scored all A+ (the highest grade) for all subjects, a portion will be selected as beneficiaries of the 2014 National Scholarships.
“The 20 schools who are celebrated recorded a higher academic excellence compared to 2012 in their Average School Grade (GPS).”
Muhyiddin said the teachers who had received the award were selected based on their ability to create a conducive learning environment between them and their students, resulting in better academic performances.
Among the schools selected in the top 20 list were Sekolah Tun Fatimah, Johor Baru; SM Sains Sabah, Kota Kinabalu; SMK Victoria, Kuala Lumpur; SMK Agama Naim Libanat, Kota Baru; SM Imtiaz, Besut; and, SMK Tinggi Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
On March 21, Education Ministry director-general, Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof announced an improved overall 2013 SPM achievement with the National Average Grade (GPN) of 4.93 compared with 5.08 in 2012.
Later, Muhyiddin said Asean member nations continued to maintain close ties with each other, earning the regional grouping acknowledgment as a platform to foster and promote peace and stability from the global community.
He said Asean was also a forum for engagement with Asian superpowers such as China, India, Japan and Korea.
“It is a known fact that since the formation of Asean in 1967, there had not been any open conflict amongst its member countries.
“The Asean way of resolving problems and crises through consensus and mutual respect has indeed gone a long way towards avoiding unnecessary conflicts and tensions,” Muhyiddin said in his closing address at the 2014 Putrajaya Forum, which has entered its third year.
He called for continuous and greater collaboration when Malaysia becomes the chair of Asean countries next year.
“There will be more challenges that we need to face collectively amongst the Asean family and beyond.
“As an example, the Asean Region Forum (ARF), which now comprises 27 members countries, continues to complement the various bilateral and multilateral arrangements in place,” he said adding that the ARF would also serve as an avenue to address security threats in the region.
On Malaysia’s bid to vie for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) next year, Muhyiddin said the move augurs well for Asean countries and other Asian nations.
Muhyiddin said placement in the UNSC would allow Malaysia to speak on behalf of Asean members on the importance of diplomacy and moderation in all aspects of international relations.
On this year’s two-day forum, organised by the Malaysian Institute of Defence and Security, Muhyiddin said he was pleased by the call to improve military doctrine by taking into consideration the pattern of non-traditional security threats.
“I believe that the military of any country remains one of the most effective means of addressing a security threat.
“Thus, (military) doctrines that are being formulated must take into account growing non-traditional security threats, which may need a different approach to the more conventional art of war.”
Present yesterday was Defence Minister
-NST
