Preliminary-Blueprint-Eng

» National student survey: to understand students’ perceptions
of their education and classroom experience, as well as their
language proficiency. Approximately 22,000 students responded
to this survey;
» National teacher survey: to understand teachers’ perceptions
of their working environment, teaching practices, teacher
workload, support received, and issues faced. Around 15,000
teachers responded to this survey; and
» National principal survey: to understand principals’
perceptions of skills required, training received, and time
allocation. 570 principals responded to this survey.
» Ministry focus groups and interviews: Officers from the
Ministry at the Federal level were engaged to obtain a firsthand
understanding of the critical elements of delivery. This process
of gaining deep perspectives on the system was key to the
development of the Blueprint. Focus groups were conducted
across the Ministry, including with the following:
» Research and Evaluation Sector, EPRD: student
participation and performance in international assessments
including PISA and TIMSS;
» Public School Management Division: deployment of teachers
to national schools, both at primary and secondary level;
» Financial Assistance Unit, Finance Division: understanding
the 22 financial assistance programmes available for schools
and students, the allocation mechanism and challenges, and
perspectives on effectiveness of financial aid handouts, especially
to students;
» Teacher Unit, Human Resource Division: understanding
compensation schemes of teachers and average starting pay of
graduate teachers; and
» Maintenance Unit, Development Division: conditions
of infrastructure in schools and challenges in conducting
maintenance and repair works.
state visits
The Ministry undertook field research in schools and districts via five
state visits. These visits were to Selangor, Sabah, Terengganu, Johor,
and Kedah.
Selection criteria: Target states were determined based on rigorous
selection criteria to form a representative sample of the education
system (Exhibit II-2) across dimensions of:
» Variability in performance journey;
» Mix of urban-rural settings;
» Size of state by number of schools and student population; and
» Geographical zone in Malaysia.
Exhibit ii-2
Evaluation of states for selection for state visits
Selection criteria
Variability in
1 performance
journey
▪ School
performance
– Band 5-7
– Band 3-4
– Band 1-2
2
▪ % urban pop.
3
▪ # of students (‘000)
▪ # of schools
[xx] denotes rank
across 14 states
4
Mix of urbanrural
Larger state
Good zone
coverage
Johor Terengganu
Best performing Best performance
state for primary and at secondary level
among the top for and strong at
secondary
primary
Mixed urban,
with a good mix of
rural areas
66.2%
Among the
larger states
▪ 657 [2]
▪ 1,130 [3]
Substantial rural
population, with
almost equal
distribution
51.2%
Average in terms of
state size
▪ 261 [10]
▪ 484 [9]
Sabah
Lowest performing
state at both
secondary and
primary levels
Substantial rural
population, with
almost equal
distribution
49.3%
Also among the
larger states
▪ 497 [4]
▪ 1,277 [2]
▪ South ▪ East coast ▪ East M’sia
Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 - 2025
Appendix II. Methodology
Selangor
Among the
average at primary
and among the top
for secondary
Primary Secondary Primary Secondary Primary Secondary Primary Secondary
▪ 1% ▪ 56% ▪ 1% ▪ 61% ▪ 36% ▪ 78% ▪ 5% ▪ 47%
▪ 58% ▪ 34% ▪ 71% ▪ 24% ▪ 60% ▪ 21% ▪ 71% ▪ 44% ▪ 82%
▪ 40% ▪ 10% ▪ 27% ▪ 14% ▪ 4% ▪ 1% ▪ 24% ▪ 9% ▪ 15%
SOURCE: Education Statistics 2011; Economic Planning Unit
Highly urbanised,
with a small mix of
rural areas
88.4%
Largest state in
terms of # of
students
▪ 930 [1]
▪ 903 [5]
▪ Central
Key deciding
factor
Kedah
Average
performance at
primary level and
poor at secondary
Primary Secondary
▪ 3% ▪ 74%
Mostly rural
population
40.8%
Average in
terms of state
size
▪ 415 [6]
▪ 712 [7]
▪ North
▪ 16%
▪ 10%
▪ School types: With over 20 categories of schools in the Malaysian
education system, the five states were also selected to represent the
diverse mix of school types. The different types of schools visited
include:
» National primary and secondary schools;
» Fully residential schools;
» Vocational schools;
» Private schools including Independent Chinese Schools and
private religious schools;
» Indigenous schools (for Orang Asli), in Selangor;
» Sekolah Pondok in Kedah; and
» Ethnic minority schools in Sabah.
▪ Key research activities: The Ministry conducted extensive focus
groups and interviews during their visits to the five states. The
stakeholders engaged and interview objectives include:
» Teacher and principal interviews and focus groups: to
understand practices in schools, in terms of experiences as well as
challenges in implementation of key policies. These were attended
by around 330 teachers and principals;
» Parent focus groups: to understand the extent of parents’
involvement and engagement in their child’s education and what
their main concerns are. These were attended by over 100 parents;
» JPN, PPD and Sector Head focus groups: to understand
the roles and responsibilities of these “middle layers” as the
buffer and linkage between policy makers and schools, in terms
of the experiences and challenges in executing recent policies
and initiatives such as LINUS and KSSR. These were attended by
around 165 officers; and
» School visits: to observe the teaching and learning practices in
schools, targeted at rapidly improving schools to identify good
practices and key challenges, covering around 15 schools.
A-8