Form Six to be rebranded to raise image

YOGYAKARTA, July 6 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Form Six education would undergo rebranding to raise its image by being in tune with pre-university education as that of matriculation colleges and science foundation centres. He said among measures to be taken would be to separate Sixth Form students from regular schools and placing them in special studies centres. "We are thinking of bringing together the Form Six students but have them wear a different uniform, and having a different timetable for lessons and different teachers in a slightly different category (from regular schools)," he told journalists on Thursday. Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, was here since yesterday to attend the Asean Education Ministers Meeting and related meetings which ended Friday. He said in realising the proposal, Form Six students needed to be placed together in special centres as they were now scattered throughout the country by studying in one or two classrooms in certain schools. There are 83,000 Form Six students and 26,000 matriculation students in the country this year. He said the move to separate Form Six students from other students was also in line with their position as pre-university students. Currently, the general view of Form Six is that it is a continuation from Form Five, whereas Form Six students are in a different category and "more mature in their thinking", said Muhyiddin. He said rebranding was needed to show that Form Six was actually pre-university education that was comparative to the ministry's matriculation colleges and science foundation centres of the local public universities. The public perception today is that matriculation college education is better than Form Six while entry qualifications into public universities are the same for Form Six students. Muhyiddin said changes to Form Six education started this year with the introduction of a three-semester system but comparatively, matriculation students finished their studies six months earlier. On whether the duration of Form Six would be shortened by six months, he said the ministry would consider it. -- BERNAMA