MIRI, August 29: Malaysia will be able to produce better students if the education system is flexible and the teachers are passionate about their profession. Since the current education system is basically old school, it is time for change.
In making the call, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong opined that a flexible system would provide room for creative teaching and allowing more teacher-student interactions. The overall result would be even more outstanding if the students are taught by teachers who are passionate about teaching.
“Teachers with passion for teaching inspire students; they get the students interested and excited about the learning process,” he said when closing the Sarawak English Language Education Symposium 2018 (Seles 2018) held here today.
Hence, he urged the teachers present to get their students to “talk with confidence rather than follow the old ways”.
Manyin said to implement this “ideal” education system in the country, there was no need to reinvent the wheel as Finland already has such a system in place.
“The schools in Finland have flourished in terms of freedom and flexibility in their teaching. Students there are not taught in terms of traditional subjects or subject-based teaching: They learn to solve real-life problems instead, helped by their teachers,” he said.
More than 2,000 teachers and education officers in the state attended the three-day symposium. Also present at the closing ceremony were state Education Department acting director Abang Mat Ali and Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research Deputy Permanent Secretary Dr Abdul Rahman Deen. — DayakDaily
