MOE to discontinue competitions, celebrations which only burden teachers - Fadhlina

KUALA LUMPUR - The Education Ministry (MOE) will discontinue any form of competition, celebration or ceremony at all levels, which do not have a major impact on student learning and only increase the workload of teachers, from the 2023/2024 school session.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, cited examples of the resource centre cheerfulness competition, the best toilet, the best textbook loan scheme (SPBT) and so on.

She said the decision was among the seven immediate steps taken in the fifth thrust of the MOE, which focuses on the welfare of teachers, including the pressure faced by teachers, based on the initial report received.

"All these steps will be detailed by the top management of the MOE and will be implemented from the 2023/2024 school session. The ministry is always committed to ensuring the well-being of teachers,” she said in a statement, yesterday.

She said among other measures which were decided, was to reduce the frequency of the review of school management elements of the Malaysian Education Quality Standard (SKPM) involving teachers, to only once a year.

"Another measure is to set a more flexible lock-in time for student attendance records for teachers, which is 12 noon for morning sessions and 5 pm for afternoon sessions, to avoid congestion in the system," she said.

In addition, Fadhlina said that the appointment of public examination invigilators by the Examinations Board and the Malaysian Examinations Council is open to those other than serving teachers, such as government retirees, students from the Institute of Teacher Education (IPG) or Institutions of Higher Learning (IPT).

However, they still need to meet the set criteria, said Fadhlina.

The ministry will also limit the organisation of the annual Teacher's Day celebration to the national and school levels, in addition to setting a summary of the daily lesson plan (RPH) at the MOE level, to ensure that it meets the requirements of the ministry’s Circular No. 3/1999, which includes elements of objectives, teaching and reflection.

She added that the seventh measure is to strengthen the autonomy of teachers in the planning and implementation of teaching and learning, as well as classroom-based assessment (PBD), by using the Standard Curriculum and Assessment Document (DSKP) as a reference. - BERNAMA