Plan To Boost Academic Performance Of Rural Schools

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Bernama) -- The Education Ministry is coming up with a plan to improve the academic performance of rural schools which is far below that of the urban ones, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Wednesday. Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said the Rural Education Transformation Plan would focus on rural secondary schools and look into the aspects of teaching manpower, infrastructure, quality of education, financial allocation and the role of parents. He said he has requested Director-General of Education Datuk Seri Abdul Ghafar Mahmud to prepare a report on the matter, which was expected to be ready by the end of this year. "This is a decision I have made. This is an outcome of the analysis of the (2011 local SPM examination) results released today. Although I am satisfied that there has been an improvement in all subjects, there is a difference in the performance among students, such as among Malay, Chinese, Indian and Bumiputera students," he told reporters after chatting with 2011 SPM candidates and their parents at Sekolah Menengah Sains Alam Shah, here. Muhyiddin said it would be determined whether the teaching manpower can meet the needs of rural schools. The infrastructure of these schools would be looked into to determine whether the buildings were conducive, whether there was overcrowding and whether there were laboratories and other facilities, he said. "We will also look into the quality of education; how each subject is taught, particularly the core subjects such as Malay, English, Mathematics, Science and History," he said. He said the financial allocation to rural schools next year may be increased in accordance with the needs of the schools. "We will also consider the role of parents as the vicinity of the children's dwelling places also play a part in their education," he said, adding that the role of parent-teacher associations would also be looked into. Muhyiddin said he hoped that in 10 years, the performance gap between urban and rural schools would be narrowed, or bridged in terms of the National Average Grade (GPN). He also said that steps would be taken to bridge the gap in academic performance among Malay, Chinese and Indian students. "I feel Malay and bumiputera students must study harder. Generally, their academic performance is far below that of the Chinese and Indian students," he said. On the 2011 SPM examination results, Muhyiddin said the results were the best in five years, but there was room for further improvement in the performance of students as well as schools. -- BERNAMA