young minds writing more creatively-NST

Students from various secondary schools at the New Straits Times NST-NIE creative writing workshop.



SETIU: The hall buzzed with muffled discussion as groups of students worked intensely on their projects, helped by teachers who circled among the tables, overseen by the coordinator at the front of the room.
Students from various secondary schools at the New Straits Times NST-NIE creative writing workshop.
Students from various secondary schools at the New Straits Times NST-NIE creative writing workshop.

Some 140 students from various secondary schools in the state were taking part in the day-long NST-NIE Creative Writing Workshop in the hall of Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Intergrasi, Batu Rakit, on Saturday.

The Form Four and Five students completed various modules, including caption writing and free-style writing.

Sixteen-year-old Nur Fatinnatilah Ibrahim, from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (Agama) Sheikh Abdul Malik, said she had learned to be more creative in her writing and also learned how to make the news more interesting.

"This will definitely be helpful when I write essays.


"I would consider myself a moderate writer, but I think I can do much better now. What I learned will also come in handy when I finish school.

"I plan to become a businesswoman and I can use the skills I picked up here to promote my products," she said.

SMK Seri Budiman student Mohd Suhail Abdul Rahin, also 16, said he had learned the trick to producing quality essays.

"I never thought about using my five senses when it comes to writing. I will do this in future," he said.

The session was more enjoyable because it was more interactive than lessons in the classroom, he said.

Mohd Suhail, who dreams of becoming a doctor, said the workshop would benefit students regardless of whether they are in the Science or Arts stream.

SMK Wakaf Tapai English teacher Nureimei Zaizah said writing skills were important, and the workshop was a good initiative to help the students improve.

"As well as improving their writing skills, it helped them to improve their vocabulary, which will come in handy when they go to university.

"But because of the large number of students in each session, it would be better if the organisers increased the number of facilitators."

UNESCO

The mission of the UNESCO Education Sector is to:

- provide international leadership to create learning societies with educational opportunities for all populations.

- provide expertise and foster partnerships to strengthen national educational leadership and the capacity of countries to offer quality education for all.

- work as an intellectual leader, an honest broker and clearing house for ideas, propelling both countries and the international community to accelerate progress towards these goals.

- facilitate the development of partnerships and monitors progress, in particular by publishing an annual Global Monitoring Report that tracks the achievements of countries and the international community towards the six Education for All goals.

Our framework

The priorities of UNESCO’s Education Sector are determined by goals adopted by the UN and UNESCO and include:

- The six Education for All goals adopted in the Dakar Framework for Action 2000-2015

- The UN Millennium Development Goals, see Goal 2 and Goal 3


- The UN Literacy Decade 2003-2012


- The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014


- The EDUCAIDS Global Initiative on Education and HIV/AIDS

Malaysia education

to know more about Malaysia education,
never hesitate to visit:

HeRe

history of Malaysia education

Education in Malaysia may be obtained from government-sponsored schools, private schools, or through homeschooling. The education system is highly centralized, particularly for primary and secondary schools, with state and local governments having little say in the curriculum or other major aspects of education. As in other Asian countries such as Singapore and China, standardized tests are a common feature, contributing to the high numbers of school dropouts.

Secular schools in Malaysia were largely an innovation of the British colonial government. There were four initial proposals for developing the national education system: the Barnes Report, Razak's Report, Ordinan Report and the Fenn-Wu Report. The former proposal was implemented through the 1952 Education Ordinance.

Many of the earliest schools in Malaysia were started in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Melaka, and Singapore. The oldest English school in Malaya is the Penang Free School, founded in 1816, followed by Malacca High School, and Anglo Chinese School, Klang. Many of these schools still carry with them an air of prestige although there is no formal difference between these schools and other schools.

British historian Richard O. Winstedt was concerned with the education of the Malays and he was instrumental in establishing Sultan Idris Training College. The college was established with the purpose of producing Malay teachers. R J Wilkinson, Winstedt predecessor on the other hand helped established the Malay College Kuala Kangsar in 1905 which aimed to educate the Malay elite.



Initially, the British colonial government did not provide for any Malay-medium secondary schools, forcing those who had studied in Malay during primary school to adjust to an English-medium secondary school. Many Malays opted to drop out instead.[1] Despite complaints about this policy, the British Director of Education stated:
“ It would be contrary to the considered policy of government to afford to a community, the great majority of whose members find congenial livelihood and independence in agricultural pursuits, more extended facilities for the learning of English which would be likely to have the effect of inducing them to abandon those pursuits.[2] ”

Malay representatives in the Federal Council as well as the Legislative Council of Singapore responded vehemently, with one calling the British policy "a policy that trains the Malay boy how not to get employment" by excluding the Malays from learning in the "bread-earning language of Malaya". He remarked:
“ In the fewest possible words, the Malay boy is told 'You have been trained to remain at the bottom, and there you must always remain!' Why, I ask, waste so much money to attain this end when without any vernacular school, and without any special effort, the Malay boy could himself accomplish this feat?[3] ”

Eventually, to remedy this problem, the British established the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. However, it was mainly intended as a way to educate future low-level civil servants, and not as a means to opening the doors of commerce to the Malays — the school was never intended to prepare students for entrance to higher institutions of education.[4]