NILAI, June 24 — Form Six education in the country should not be too bound by school rules but be given some space even though it is conducted on school grounds, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.
The Form Six environment needed to be changed as it was really post-school like matriculation as school sessions ended in Form Five.
“I will bring it up with Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek so that Form Six isn’t treated like school, the culture and environment. I agree because I also went to Form Six.
“For Form Six, we need to determine the methods so that the way teachers treat (students) and the environment needs to be given more space so they can be free, to interact, unlike school rules,” he said during an interview session at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) here today.
He added that many Sixth Formers have complained about the rules and culture and urged for it to be changed during previous dialogue sessions.
On suggestions to change Form Six curriculum to the semester method, Anwar said the matter should be discussed with education experts, as well as teachers and students.
He also urged university leadership to reshuffle new knowledge-based curriculum such as Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) quickly to suit current changes if Malaysia wanted to be a first-class country.
“It doesn’t need to wait for the Convention Board of Studies, two-year studies, and be brought to the Senate. You can’t. Change has to be quick and fast,” he said, while sharing that world-class universities such as Oxford University, the United Kingdom and Georgetown University, Washington, moved very rapidly in education transformation, based on his teaching experience there.
In addition, he said industrial training was needed so that there was no mismatch and overdependence on old curriculum to reduce unemployment rates.
“That’s why Petronas is now involved in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes in Batu Rakit, Kimanis and Pengerang; Proton has taken over TVET in Pekan and several other big companies have taken over,” he said.
He also said local graduates had extraordinary skills, so the government will ensure the capacity will increase in accordance to industry needs.
