Goal 1 Early Childhood Care and · Web viewMonitoring and Evaluation of Early childhood Care and education 78 10.1 A standard procedure in the process of curriculum development 78

Curriculum Development CentreMinistry of Education Malaysia

Early Childhood Care and Education Policy Implementation Review

2007

24 Jan 2008

ppk/ups/nsb/ECCE Policy Review 24 Jan 20081

CONTENTpage

Executive Summary

Abbreviation Used 5

1.0 Introduction 6

2.0 Country Profile in ECCEPrescool Education for the 4-6 years old

2.1 The History of Preschool Education in Malaysia 82.2 Preschools in the Ministry of Education 92.3 Preschools set up by Ministry of Rural and Regional

Development9

2.4 Preschools set up by Department of National Unity and Integration

10

2.5 Preschool Education for the Special Children 112.6 Preschools run by Private Sectors and NGOs 11

Childcare centers for the 0-4 years old2.7 The history of childcare centers for children aged 0-4 122.8 Workplace Childcare Centers 122.9 Community Childcare centers 132.10 Permata Childcare Centres 13

3.0 Purpose of ECCE Policies Implementation Review 15

4.0 National Constitution, Policies, Laws and Legislation on ECCE

4.1 Convention on the Rights of the Child 164.2 Child Act 2001 (Act 611) 164.3 Childcare Centres Act 1984 and Childcare Centers Act 2007 164.4 The Early Childhood Care and Development Policy 2007 174.5 Education Act 1996 184.6 Education Act 1996 (Regulation of Special Education 1997) 194.7 The National Education Policy 204.8 The 9th Malaysia Plan – Education Development Master Plan,

2006-202020

4.9 The National Action Plan of Children 224.10 Healthcare Policy 244.11 National Child Protection Policy 254.12 National Policy on Disabled Child 254.13 National Policy on Indigenour Child 264.14 Financial Assistance to the Poor 26

Conclusion 26

5.0 Methodology 27


A) EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

6.0 Expenditure on ECCE 35

7.0 Accessibility of ECCE7.1 ECCE for the 0-4 years old 37

- Types of Childcare Center- National Participation/Enrolment- Participataion by sex

7.2 ECCE for the 4-6 years old 38- National Enrolment- Enrolment in Private Preschool- Enrolment by State- Primary One Students with ECCE Experience- National Enrolment by Locality: Urban and Rural- Participation by Sex

7.3 Participation of the Private Sectors in ECCE 44Conclusion 45

8.0 Equity – Early Childhood Education for the disadvantaged group

46

8.1 Children with disabilities 468.2 Indigenous children 478.3 Refugee children 538.4 Children of inmate 54

Conclusion 54

9.0 Quality of ECCE Program9.1 Early childhood care and development program for 0-4 years old 559.2 The national preschool curriculum for the 4-6 years old and its

implementation56

9.2.1 Implementation of NPC by the MOE preschools 579.2.2 Implementation of NPC by KEMAS 619.2.3 Implementation of NPC by PERPADUAN preschools 629.2.4 Implementation of NPC by the private preschools 63

9.3 National preschool curriculum for special needs children and its implementation

68

9.3.1 Implementation of the special needs children preschool curriculum

69

9.4 Training of Teachers and Helpers9.4.1 Training of childcare providers and childcare minders 709.4.2 Training of preschools teachers 719.4.3 Training of special education teachers 749.4.4 Training of community-based rehabitation workers 75

9.5 Teacher-Student Ratio 769.6 Teachers’ Salary 769.7 Physical facilities and materials in childcare and preschools 77

10.0 Monitoring and Evaluation of Early childhood Care and education

78

10.1 A standard procedure in the process of curriculum development 78


10.2 Inspection of implementation of National Preschool Curriculum 7910.3 Quality of Teacher training 7910.4 Human’s right 8110.5 The quality improvement accreditation system to rate childcare

center81

11.0 Integration in Implementation of ECCE Policies 8211.1 Procedure of registration 8211.2 Different implementating agencies 8211.3 Issue of planning for location of ECCE centers 8311.4 Publuic awareness and dissemination of information 84

Conclusion 84

B) HEALTHCARE

12.0 Accessibility to Early Childhood Health Care12.1 Primary Child Health Services 8512.2 Immunisation 8712.3 School health services 8712.4 Baby-friendly hospital 8812.5 Oral health 88

13.0 Equity – Early Childhood Healthcare for the Disadvantaged 13.1 Children of Poverty 9113.2 Children with special needs 9213.3 Children with HIV/AIDS 95

14.0 Monitoring and Evaluation of Early Childhood Healthcare14.1 Sanity and safety inspection of the childcare center 9614.2 Nutrition Surveillance 9614.3 Oral Health Indicators 9614.4 Health Outcome indicators 9714.5 Quality improvement accreditation system for the childcare

centers97

15.0 Implementation gaps, challenges and disparities15.1 Preschool education 9915.2 Special education 10115.3 Healthcare 10315.4 Childcare centers 105

16.0 Recommendations16.1 Disadvantaged children – Indigenours children 10616.2 Special children 10616.3 Healthcare 10716.4 Education 10816.5 National ECCE Policy Coordination Framework/Mechanism 109

17.0 Conclusion 110Reference 111Technical working group 113Instrument 115


ABBREVIATION USED:

CDC Curriculum Development Center

ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education

EFA Education for allEPRD Education Planning and Research Division

JNS School Inspectorate

KEMAS preschool

Preschool run by Department of Community Development, Ministry of Rural Development

MAPECE Association of Professional Early Childhood Educators

MOE Ministry of Education

MWFCD Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development

NGO Non-governmental Organisation

NPC National Preschool Curriculum

PERMATA ECEC Center

Early Childhood Education and Care Center set up through the project ‘Every Child is Precious as a Jewel’

PERPADUAN preschool

Preschool run by the Department of National Unity and Integration

PTM Association of Kindergartens Malaysia

TASKA Childcare center

NAECCEM

PPBM


1.0 INTRODUCTION

Goal 1 of the UNESCO initiated Education for All (EFA) calls for better and more possibilities to support young children (age 0-6), and their families and communities, in all the areas where the child is growing – physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually. It also lays special emphasis on children who suffer disadvantage or who are particularly vulnerable, for example those living in poverty, HIV/AIDS, orphans, rural and minority children, and in some situations girls as a whole.

Malaysia has always place great effort in ensuring education and care for all children. These efforts are manifested through the many sectors involving in ECCE and the amount of allocation given to ECCE each year. ECCE in Malaysia is broadly divided into two main groups, which is the 0-4 years old and the 4-6 years old.

In Malaysia, early childhood care and family development is the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (MWFCD). MWFCD is the coordinator for national programs on the growth and development of children. Through its Department of Social Welfare, MWFCD registers all Childcare centers (TASKA, an acronym in the local language). TASKA offers care and education for children in the age group of 0-4 years old.

Early childhood education for the 4-6 years old group falls under the responsibilities of three Ministries, i.e. Ministry of Education, Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, as well as Department of National Unity and Integration under the Prime Minister Department. Ministry of Rural Development is the pioneer in setting up preschools in Malaysia (beginning early 1970’s), currently there are 8307 preschools set up by this Ministry which are commonly known as the KEMAS preschool. KEMAS preschools are located in rural or suburban and are set up based on request by the local authority. In the late 1970’s Department of National Unity and Integration set up preschools in the urban areas where there are ‘Rukun Tetangga’, a friendly neighbourhood scheme, these preschools are generally known as the PERPADUAN preschools, PERPADUAN preschools must accept students from the different races, currently, there are 1496 PERPADUAN preschools. Ministry of Education (MOE) is the latest in setting up preschools. In the year 1992, preschool was set up by MOE in the form of pilot project as an annex to the existing primary school, in the year 2003, MOE preschool project was rolled out to whole nation; currently there are 5905 of these preschools which are situated all over the country. Other than MOE, KEMAS and PERPADUAN, other providers of preschool education include also the State Religious Department (JAIN) and the Islamic (ABIM).

Various names are given to preschool education in the local language, e.g. the MOE’s prasekolah, KEMAS Tabika, PERPADUAN Tadika, and the private kindergarten. To facilitate discussion, all would be known as preschool in this report. An overview of the composition of preschools according to the providing public agencies as of 2007 is given in Table 1. Diagram 1 and 2 provides an overview of percentage of preschool classes and students enrolled in the various type of preschools.


Table 1: Three Main Types of Public Preschools in Malaysia 2007

Types of preschool

KEMAS preschool

MOE preschool PERPADUAN preschool

Number of classes 8307 classes 5905 classes 1496 classes

Percentage (by class)

52.9% 37.9% 9.5%

Enrolment 198,275 147,625 38,952

Diagram 1: Number of preschool classes according to the providing agencies (EPRD Study, 2008)


(8,307) 30.95%

(1,500)5.59%

(11,434)42.61%

(962)3.58% (3,846)

14.33%

(788) 2.94% KPM

KEMAS

PERPADUAN

SWASTA

JAIN

ABIM

Diagram 2: Number of preschool students in the various providing agencies (EPRD Study, 2008)

2.0 COUNTRY PROFILE IN ECCE

PRESCHOOL EDUCATION FOR THE 4 – 6 YEARS OLD

2.1 The History of Preschool Education in Malaysia

Early childhood care and education in Malaysia existed before the 1960’s. The provider of this education then were mostly from the religious bodies or non-governmental organizations; private kindergartens were not a common feature then. In the year 1972, Ministry of Education Malaysia, MOE drafted the Kaedah-Kaedah Guru/ Kaedah-Kaedah Kindergarten dan Sekolah Asuhan (Pendaftaran) 1972 Warta Kerajaan P.U. (A) 414 which provided the procedures to be adhered to regarding the registration of kindergarten, teachers and its board of governors. This was the first legal document concerning the registration of early childhood education.

In the year 1971, Ministry of Rural and Regional Development started its first preschool known commonly as the Tabika KEMAS in accordance to an education act formulated by them and from then on they have expanded and today they are the biggest provider of preschool education in the country. In the year 1976, Department of National Integration and Unity too started its first preschool commonly known as the PERPADUAN preschools.

In the 1980’s preschools in Malaysia were built and managed by various government agencies such as KEMAS, FELDA, RISDA , Department National Unity, Religious bodies, Police and armies(Cawangan Pendidikan /Angakatan Bersenjata dan Polis), volunteering bodies and private sectors. Various programs were offered, different materials used, teacher’s qualification differs too (PPK & BPPDP, 1986). The various agencies and bodies conducting preschool education felt that there was a need of guidance and assistance from MOE. MOE too saw the need to standardize and regulate preschool education in Malaysia. MOE was pioneering two major


preschool projects at that time. These projects were the Projek Pendidikan Imbuhan managed by Curriculum Development Centre with help from the Yayasan Bernard Van Leer, a Dutch body. The other project is the Projek Kajian Pendidikan Prasekolah managed by Education Planning and Research Division with assistance from UNICEF. Experiences from conducting these projects culminated in the formulation of the 1986 Preschool Guidebook (Buku Panduan Prasekolah Malaysia 1986), the first formalized curriculum document of early childhood education in Malaysia. The aim was to provide guidance and assist coordination between kindergarten minders and to enhance the standard of Malaysia preschool education to be in line with global development at that time (PPK & BPPPP, 1986).

On 13 Feb, 1992, the Permanent Committee on the Coordination of Preschool Education (Jawatankuasa Tetap (Induk) Penyelarasan Hal-Hal Pendidikan Prasekolah) decided that the 1986 Guideline should be reviewed to suit the current needs and development (KPM, 1993), subsequently the 1993 Guideline (Garis Panduan Kurikulum Pendidikan Prasekolah Malaysia, 1993) was produced. A package of preschool curriculum guidebooks were produced in 1992 too, this package consists of general guidelines, specific guidelines, detailed activities covering various areas, students activity books, reading materials, cards and building blocks. In 1992, 1131 preschool classes under MOE were set up as pilot project annexed to existing primary schools. Subsequently MOE started to build more preschool and in 2007, the number of MOE preschools classes stand at 5905, the second largest preschool providers after Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KEMAS preschools).

In 2003, circulars were sent out to all preschools, public and private that they are required by the law to follow the National Preschool Curriculum developed by the Ministry of Education.

2.2 Preschool in the Ministry of Education Malaysia(MOE)

MOE sets up preschools to give opportunity to children whose family are with very low income in the sub-urban, rural and remote areas. It has been decided by policy makers that 80% of the classes are to be built in the rural areas, Classes are built annex to the public primary school building with the expenditure borne by Ministry of Education. This opportunity is given to children with the age 5+ years. Besides the launching grant given to start a class, MOE provides a yearly allocation of the following:

Each child is given an allocation of RM 1.50 every school day for food, food is prepared by school

RM 100.00 yearly per child for learning materials, each preschool class can receive up to 25 children, thus yearly, school can get up RM2,500 to buy teaching and learning materials

Preschool education was not regarded officially as part of the bigger system of national education system until 1996. Through the “National Education Act 1996 (Akta Pendidikan Kebangsaan 1996- Akta 550, 2005), preschool education is finally officially declared as part of the school system. All preschools/kindergartens regardless of public or private are required to implement the National Preschool Curriculum formulated through the Curriculum Development Centre, Ministry of


Education beginning January, 2003. In addition to the National Preschool Curriculum, any private preschools wanted to implement any other curriculum or program need to seek permission from the Head of Registrar, which is the MOE. Medium of instruction used in any registered preschool can be the National language or any other language but the national language must be taught as a subject. A minimum requirement of 10 children age 4-6 years old has been set by Ministry of Education for starting a preschool class in public school. Preschool classes in MOE is still expanding and it is targeted that ultimately all National Primary School will have their own preschool class in near future.

2.3 Preschool set up by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development

(KEMAS preschool)

KEMAS preschools are set up by the Department of Community Development (Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat)to give opportunity to children that comes from sub-urban, rural and remote areas with family of very low income. Classes are conducted at the community halls (rented or provided free), housing estates, private property, shop houses (rented) or separate building built by the Ministry. This opportunity is given to children with the age 4-6 years. The minimum requirement for enrolment is 10 children per class and the maximum requirement is 30 children.

The operating budget for KEMAS preschools comes from the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development. The allocation for each child is RM1.50 per day for food and RM100 per year for learning materials. An extra RM150.00 per year is given for extra food for very poor family.

KEMAS preschools use the National Preschool Curriculum since 2003. Tadika KEMAS emphasises on reading, writing and arithmetic, developing individual potentials, instilling moral values, building character and self awareness, developing physical skill, health skill, cleanliness skill as well as safety skill. KEMAS preschools also place importance in creating conducive, cheerful teaching and learning ambiance as required in the National Preschool Curriculum.

2.4 Preschool set up by the Department of National Unity and Integration, (PERPADUAN Preschools)

PERPADUAN preschool was first set up in 1976 beginning with 25 classes. PERPADUAN preschools are not required to be registered under the Education Act 1961 because they are exempted under Warta Kerajaan P.U. (A) 276 dated 15 September, 1977. PERPADUAN preschools are set up in urban and suburban areas specifically in areas covered by ‘Skim Rukun Tetangga’ – a friendly neighbor scheme. A Preschool Coordinating Committee made up of members of the local community is set up for each preschool class. This Preschool Coordinating Committee provides advice to the running of the preschool and at the same time organized various activities for the parents. Department of National Unity and Integration is currently under the care of the Prime Minister Department.

The aim of PERPADUAN preschool is to nurture unity values from early stages to develop children who love their motherland and able to adapt themselves to live harmoniously in a multi-racial community. It also aims to encourage and give


opportunity to young children’s parents to interact and increase understanding among them.

The general objective of PERPADUAN preschools are as below:o To nurture and foster the spirit of harmony, neighborliness, unity and nationality

among children from different races.o To inculcate positive spiritual and moral values in the children’s everyday lives

thus creating perfect personalities and characters to become good and valuable family members.

o To encourage the comprehensive, integrated and balanced development of children aged 5 and 6 years old via informal learning processes – “learning through play”.

o To strengthen relations and cultivate unity among parents and the community on the whole, through the PERPADUAN preschool Coordinating Committee and co-curriculum activities.

Classes are conducted at the community halls (rented or free of charge), housing estates, private property, shop houses (rented) or built by the Ministry. This opportunity is given mainly to children with the age 5+ years. The minimum requirement for enrolment is 20 children and the maximum requirement is 35 children. The budget for the classes comes from the Department of National Unity and Integration which include RM1.50 for each child every school day for food, RM100.00 yearly for learning materials. PERPADUAN preschools use the National Preschool Curriculum since 2003.

2.5 Preschool Education for the special children

Cabinet Committee Report 1979 stated that special children education is the responsibility of the government and NGOs are to be involved in this endeavour. Education for the special children are taken care of by both the Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development as well as the Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education is in charge of program in the special schools and also in the special integrated primary schools for children. Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development take care of the other special programs.

Since 2000, the existing special schools then have started early intervention program for the 4-6 age group on their own initiative. These programmes run without any allocation or training for the teachers specifically to teach preschool. In the year 2003, MOE has approved the conversion of these early intervention programs in the 28 special schools to preschool programs for special need children. These 28 programs made up of 22 for the hearing impaired, 5 for visually impaired and 1 for learning disability

The program run by the Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development are specially for the severely disabled children. The purpose is to enhance the quality of life of these people. The National Welfare Policy and National Social Policy has been introduced to serve this purpose. There are also special grant given to the NGO’s to help run these special programs for special children below 4 years old.


A National Board of Advisory and Legislation for the People with Disabilities (Majlis Penasihat dan Perundingan Kebangsaan Bagi OKU) has been set up and chaired by the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development. It is a national coordinating body formed to study, develop and coordinate various issues and actions related to people with disabilities. Multi-sectoral Collaborative Action Plan are set up.

2.6 Preschools run by private sectors and NGOs

Preschools set up by the private sector have always been seen by the government as an alternative to give quality education to children especially by affordable parents. Children going to these preschool education age from 4-6 years.

These preschools are required to use the National Preschool Curriculum as stipulated in the National Education Act 1996. Medium of instruction can be the National Language, Chinese, Tamil or English. The curriculum emphasise on communication skills, social skills and other skills to prepare them to the primary (formal) education. Private preschools can offer additional program upon approval from MOE. Fees charged varies from as high as RM 1000 or more per month to as low as RM 10 or RM 20 per month.

CHILDCARE CENTERS FOR THE 0 – 4 YEARS OLD

2.7 The History of Childcare centers for children aged 0-4 (TASKA) in Malaysia

In the year 1982, the then Ministry of Social Welfare conducted a study together with UNICEF. The outcome of the study indicated the need to enhance the quality of childcare among the nursery/childcare provider especially in the area of food, healthy environment, mental development and training for the child minders. Subsequently, in early 1984, the government sets up a special unit to initiate the formulation of the Childcare Center’s Act, this project was under the funding of Bernard Van Leer Foundation. During phase 1 (1984 – 1987) of this project, the team looked specifically on the advocacy matter and the dissemination of information while phase 2 (1988 – 1991), the team tackled the issue of registration and enforcement. In 1 Mac 1985, the Act was first implemented in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur followed by the other states from 1 Feb 1986. The aim of the Act is to maintain the stated minimum standard of the childcare centers. It covers issues on registration, monitoring and inspection of the Childcare Centers. The philosophy behind the Childcare Center Act 1984 is firstly to provide care and education for children in the preschool years especially those below 4 years old. Secondly to enable mothers to work and to provide support to them. According to this Act, every Child Care Centre must be registered with the Department of Social Welfare. The stated aim of this Act is to protect the interest of safety of the children against any form of abuse or neglect.

The Childcare Center Act 1984 has been reviewed in recent years and its amended version has just been passed by the Parliament giving rise to the Care Centers (Amendment) Act 2007. There are various amendments in this new Act which will be explained in later sections in this report.


Childcare centers have undergone many changes in the last few years and many more changes is expected in the next one or two years. Among the changes are the setting up of government supported Community Childcare Center, the subsidised Work-place Childcare Center and the formulation of the Quality Improvement Accreditation System (QIAS).

Currently, childcare centers in Malaysia is mainly run by the private sectors. The biggest government sector providing childcare centers is the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, specifically the KEMAS. Besides running preschool classes(for the 4-6 years old), KEMAS also run a total number of 290 TASKA(for the 0-4 years old) with an enrolment of 4033 as of 2007.

2.8 Workplace Childcare Centers

Women accounted for 48% of the working age population of 15 to 64 years, and the female labour force participation rate has increased from 44.8 % in 2000 to 46.1% in 2006. The number of women employed during the same period increased from 3.3 million to 3.6 million. Its share to total employment also increased from 35.6% in 2000 to 36.7% in 2006. With the rapid expansion of the country economy, the country needs the participation of women in its economic activities. With the in mind, MWFCD is promoting the setting up of childcare at the workplace. Currently statistic shows that there are only 112 childcare centers set up by employers in workplace, 26 of these set up by the private sectors, 86 by federal government, state government or statutory body.

The government has agreed to provide incentives in the form of a RM80,000 grant for renovation and furnishing childcare centre which is set up within the government officers. A subsidy of RM180 per month would be given to government servants with monthly salary <RM2000 who send their kids to these centers. MWFCD is also campaigning the private sectors especially the corporate giants to provide childcare facilities at the workplace for their employees. Insentives includes the 10% tax exemption on the cost of building the childcare centers for a period of 10 years (Circular JHDN 01/35/(S)/42/51/60-1 dated 15 Feb 1996)

2.9 Community Childcare Centers

Accessibility and affordability have been identified as the two major issues pertaining to early childcare education. MWFCD has set up Community Childcare Centers in Malaysia to provide quality childcare to families from low income groups, both in urban and rural areas. Community Childcare Centers is defined as ‘childcare centers managed by organisation appointed/approved by the government, receive assistance from federal or state government, with 10 or more children’. All these centers use a similar curriculum set by MWFCD. These centers would provide benchmark to the other childcare centers. Community Childcare Centers is conceptualised based on the active participation of local community, parents, children, governmental agencies as well as the private organisations. MWFCD envisions that these Community Childcare Centers would managed by voluntary associations in collaboration with or on a joint venture basis with the private sectors.


MWFCD plans to set up ten new Community Childcare Centers throughout the country every year. As of July 2007, 4 centers is already in operation. An amount of RM119,000 x 10 centers is being budged yearly for the setting up of these centers. To hasten the process of setting up more community childcare centers, MWFCD is currently preparing a paper to suggest that each parliamentary area sent up a Community Childcare Centers. Once this materialises, each district would have a Community Childcare Centers, this would definitely encourages more parents to send their children there.

As in the Workplace Childcare Centers, families who send their children to Community Childcare Centers would receive a subsidy of RM 180 per child if the family income is below RM 2000 in the urban and below RM 1200 for those in the rural area. A launching grant of RM55,000 will also be given to interested party.

2.10 Permata Early Childhood Education and Care Centers

Permata Early Childhood Education and Care, ECEC is the latest entry to the childcare centers of Malaysia. On 21st June, 2006, the Cabinet has approved the program ‘Every Child a Jewel’(Setiap Anak Permata) which is placed under the purview of Deputy Primary Minister Office. An amount of RM 20 million under the 9th Malaysia Plan has been put aside for this project. Under this program, Permata ECEC Centers (subsequently will be referred as the Permata Centre) will be built. The founding principles of Permata ECEC Centrers are as stated below:

- Every child is a jewel for the country- Every child is precious- Every child is a part of the human capital of the country- Every child needs the best education- Education must start from young/birth- The first 3 years is crucial for development of the child

Permata ECEC Centers aim to provide integrated quality care and early education services based on the need of the local community to children below 5 years old and their family. Permata ECEC Centers adopt the community-based integrated approach practiced by Pen Green Corby United Kingdom under the SureStart Program. Thus, besides the childcare centre, these centers also prepare out-reach program, parenting courses, counselling, healthcare services to help local community to build healthy and safe life style. There would be community resource centre, library and might entail the services of speech therapy, nutritionists etc to provide community services.

Four centers with a total of 94 children are in operation since March, 2007 and a new additional centre will be operated beginning May, 2007. It has been agreed by the Menteri Besar of each state that one Permata ECEC Centre will be built in each state before the end of 2007. At the end of two years of pilot project, an evaluation report would be sent to the Cabinet to decide upon the possibility of its expansion to the whole country.

In the Permata ECEC Centers, children explore and play as they like, everything in the centre can be used as learning objects. Children are empowered to


learn on their own through discovery. Teachers are trained to use ECEC modules adopted from the UK.

3.0 PURPOSE OF ECCE POLICIES IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW

Within the last two decades, much has happened in the field of ECCE in Malaysia. Various Acts and Policies have been drafted and implemented. Have these Acts and Policies been transformed into action plans? To what extent are these Acts and Policies effectively implemented? Are there any gaps in implementations? What are the bottlenecks, if any, that have been encountered? The answers to these questions could help policy makers in making decisions about the need to adjust, fine tune or enhance the implementation of these policies. This ECCE Policies Implementation Review is conducted for this purpose.

The objectives of this review is to:• Analyze the existing policies.• Identify possible gaps within and between these policies.• Assess how well the existing policies are being implemented.• Find out gaps of implementation.• Assess the sufficiency of present ECCE policies.• Assess the integration of all ECCE policies.


4.0 NATIONAL CONSTITUTION, POLICIES, LAWS AND LEGISLATIONS ON ECCE

4.1 Convention on the rights of the child (CRC)

Convention on the rights of the child (CRC) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 November, 1989. This landmark treaty places the care and protection of every child (defined as person under 18 years old) as a priority for everyone especially government. Malaysia has signed for the convention. The progress on implementation of CRC is monitored by the UN committee on the Rights of the Child and also NGOs. Specialized agencies, such as UNICEF are invited to submit their observations.

There are four principles in CRC, these are: children must not suffer discrimination, children have a right to survival and development, the best interest of the child must be a primary consideration and children must be allowed as active participants in all matters affecting their lives and be free to express their opinions

CRC can be discussed under the headings of Children’s Right to Basic Health Welfare, the Rights of Children and their families, Children’s rights to education, leisure and cultural activities, Children’s rights to special protection, and The civil rights and freedoms of children. In general, CRC talks about rights in term of accessibility to education, healthcare and protect; quality of the care and education as well as respect for the children.

4.2 Child Act 2001 (Act 611)

In fulfilling Malaysia’s obligation under the CRC, Malaysia enacted the Child Act 2001 (Act 611). Act 611 repealed the Juvenile Courts Act 1947(Act 90), the


Women and Girls Protection Act 1973 (Act 106) and the Child Protection Act 1991 (Act 468). The provisions of Act 611 are based on the four core principles of the CRC that is non-discrimination, best interest of the child, the right to life, survival and development and respect for the views of the child.

Act 611 provides that every child is entitled to protection and assistance in all circumstances without regard to distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, social origin or physical, mental or emotional disabilities or any status. Act 611 has specific documentation on instruction and rules on the care and protection of children including the Court for Children.

4.3 Childcare Centers Act 1984 and Childcare Centers Act (Amendment) 2007 (Act 308)

Act 308 is intended to ensure quality childcare for children below the age of four years at childcare centers. Childcare centers according to this Act are premises where 4 or more children below the age of 4 years old from more than one household is accepted for care with a fee.

Part II of the Act stipulated that every Childcare Centre must be registered under this Act. The caretaker of this Act is the Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development. Thus, all centers that take in children for a fee are required to register with Department of Social Welfare. Through the issuance of a Certificate of Registration, which has to be renewed yearly, the Department of Social Welfare monitors the operation of the childcare centers to ensure compliance with Act 308 and other regulations that come together with it.

Act 308 also stipulates that all Childcare Providers must themselves undergo and obtain the basic Childcare Certificate accredited by the Department of Social Welfare. This is to ensure the quality of childcare providers. Childcare centers are also required to employ qualified child minders for the benefit of the children. Childcare minders must undergo a basic childcare training course before or while they are employed.

The Childcare Centre Act 1984 has been reviewed, amendments to this Act were approved by the Parliament giving rise to the Care Centers (Amendment) Act 2007. The amended Act aims to regulate and stimulate the growth of the childcare industry. The validity period for a registered childcare centre has been extended from 12 months to 60 months, this mean that the childcare centre providers do not need to renew their licence yearly. This is to encourage more currently unregistered childcare centers to register themselves. Data shows that as of 2004 only 1688 childcare centers have been registered. The amended Act also reiterated that it is the requirement of the law that all childcare providers and minders need to undergo a basic childcare training course before or while they are employed. Failure to this do can cause closure of the centers, MWFCD is seeking for greater legal power to do so.

4.4 The Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Policy 2007


MWFCD is in the midst of forwarding the Early Childcare and Development Policy with its plan of actions to parliament for approval. It is expected to be endorsed by the Government by middle of 2007.

The aim of this ECCD policy is to advocate holistic development and quality care for new born to 8 years old children based on Malaysia context to develop human capital in line with the objectives of Vision 2020. This policy aims to concretise and complement others existing national policies on early childhood. This policy will be monitored through the setting up of law and regulations enforcement mechanism and a special accreditation body. The purpose is to ensure a quality standard in training and services of early childhood care and development.

The general objectives of the ECCD 2007 policy is to “prepare quality care facilities and services in a conducive environment to stimulate early development of each child so that he or she can achieve optimum development in line with the national aspiration.”

An action plan on ECCD accompany this ECCD 2007. Among the action plans are preparation of minimum standard of childcare services in accordance to the Child Act 2001 and Childcare Center Act 1984 (amended in 2006) as well as a Code of Ethics for Childcare Centers based on Covention of the Rights of the Child and other related Acts. Other plans include the setting up of more childcare centers and Community-based Rehabilitation Centers based on needs of the local community. Grants and subsidies would be provided through this policy. Outreach programs aim to educate and raising awareness of parents, community, family members, childcare providers and operators and the society at large.

MWFCD is also in the midst of forwarding the Early Childcare and Development Policy with its plan of actions to parliament for approval. It is expected to be endorsed by the Government by middle of 2007.

4.5 Education Act 1996 (Act 550)

Under Part IV, Chapter 1 of the Act: National Education System, it is stipulated that:

The National Education System is made up of the following:(a) Preschool education(b) Primary education(c) Secondary education(d) Post secondary education and(e) Higher education

Under Chapter 2 (Preschool Education), it is stated that no kindergarten (preschool) can be set up and managed without being registered under this Act. Anyone found to do so have contravened the law and can be punished. The power of setting up kindergarten (preschool) lies with the Minister of Education. Minister of Education can delegate the authority to the Director General of Education as registrar of schools.


Chapter 2 also stated that the “Minister shall prescribe a curriculum, to be known as the National Pre-school Curriculum, that shall be used by all kindergartens in the National Educational System” (Education Act 1996, p. 23). This curriculum will specify the knowledge, skills and values expected to be acquired by the pupils at the end of their respective preschool education.

Education Act 1996 (Act 550) has permitted the setting up of preschools formally in government schools. Although preschools classes has started in government Primary School since 1992 (only 1131 classes), it was under a program. With Act 550, Ministry of Education started to build and open preschool classes at an average of 796 classes per year (from 2002 to 2007).

Taking into consideration the private preschools who might want to implement extra programs, the Education Act 1996 states that ‘any kindergarten intending to implement any curriculum in addition to the National Pre-school Curriculum shall, before implementing such additional curriculum, inform the Registrar General of such intention” (Education Act 1996, p.23). Any person who contravenes this Act is guilty of an offence and upon conviction can be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both term.

Education Act 1996 under Chapter 8 – Special Education, stated that the Minister shall provide special education in special schools, and the Minister may by regulation prescribe:

the duration of primary and secondary education suitable to the needs of pupils in receipt of special education

the curriculum to be used in respect of special education The categories of pupils requiring special educations and the methods

appropriate for the education of pupils in each category of special schools.

It is also stated that the curriculum shall comply with the requirement of the National Curriculum in so far as it is reasonably practicable.

The Education Act 1996(Act 550) was amended in 2002 to provide compulsory primary education. It stipulates that every parent is obliged to enroll their child upon attaining the age of six years in primary school and the child shall remain as a pupil in a primary school for the duration of the compulsory education for six years. Although education is compulsory by law, the current policy in Malaysia still requires students to pay a certain amount of fees upon enrolment in primary school. Although a minimal fee is imposed, financial assistance is provided by various Government agencies to needy children to ensure their rights to education. However, preschool education is not included in this part of the Act, thus preschool education is not compulsory.

The Education Act 1996 stipulated that all preschools need to provide a minimum of 3 hours of teaching and learning per day. It also required teacher to keep a teaching record as well as conduct continuous assessment and keeping student’s


progress record. The Act also empowers the School Inspectorate to conduct inspection for ensuring an adequate standard of teaching.

4.6 Education Act 1996(Regulation of Special Education 1997)

The Special Education Regulation 1997 was enforced since 1st January, 1998. It is stated that `pupils with special needs’ means pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities, whereas `special education programs’ means:

A programme provided in special schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment

An integrated programme in regular schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities

An inclusive education programme for pupils with special needs and who are able to attend normal classes together with normal pupils.

Based on this regulation, the preschool program for special need children can be set up either in special school, integrated programme or in inclusive program.

Not all children are eligible for special education programme under Ministry of Education. Those who are physically handicapped with the mental ability to learn like normal pupils are supposed to be in main stream class, while those pupils with multiple disabilities or with profound physical handicap or with severe mental retardation will be under jurisdiction of Social Welfare Department, Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development.

In term of curriculum, teachers are allowed to modify the teaching or learning methods or techniques, the time for and sequence of activities, the subjects and the teaching aids in order to achieve the objectives and aims of special education. This is due to the various learning needs among the special needs children.

4.7 The National Education Policy

Since independence, various educational policies have been formulated to translate the country’s main development policies such as Vision 2020, National Development Policy, National Mission, as well as Malaysia’s Five-Year Development Plans which is formulated every five years. Education policies are continually being formulated, reviewed and refined in response to the changes that are taking place at the national level and the global level.

As of 2007, educational policies related to preschool education can be summarized as below:

- Institutionalize pre-school education in order to provide education for children aged 5+ children.

- Preschool education prepares a strong foundation for formal education, enables children aged 5+ to possess a strong foundation in communication, social and other skills as a preparation for primary school education.

- Enforcing the usage of National Pre-School Curriculum in all educational institutions except at expatriate pre-schools.


- Enhancing the monitoring and enforcement mechanism of pre-school programmes conducted by all governmental, non-governmental and private agencies.

- Expanding pre-school classes of the Ministry of Education.- Producing sufficient well-trained teachers and training facilities to fulfil the

preschool education needs.- Ensuring the implementation and supply of pre-school facilities in line with

the policy and objective of the National Pre-School Curriculum.- Providing an alternative pre-school curriculum for special education.

These policies are translated into action plans such as the Education Development Master Plan 2006-2010.

4.8 The 9th Malaysia Plan – Education Development Master Plan (Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan), PIPP 2006 – 2010

The Education Development Master Plan for Malaysia (2006-2010) (PIPP) concretizes the aims and aspirations stated in national policies such as the National Vision Policy (Dasar Wawasan Negara), National Mission (Misi Negara). One of the aims of the master plan is to ensure all children have the opportunity of education in terms of access, equity and quality. There are six thrusts in PIPP, these are Nation Building, Developing Human Capital, Consolidating the National School, Bridging the Education Gap, Elevating the Teaching Profession, Spurring the Excellence of Education Institutions. Plans for preschool education are found specifically in the thrust of Consolidating the National School.

PIPP spells out the action plans of MOE in the next 5 years. From 2006 to 2010, MOE intends to extend preschool education to all National School especially those in rural and interior areas. MOE also plans to ensure that special needs children obtain opportunity to education. Besides this, it is also in the plan that MOE would make sure sufficient teachers as well as teacher assistants in the MOE preschools. In this direction, MOE is planning to recruit more graduate teacher to teach in primary school including preschool. MOE intends to increase the per capita grant allocation for preschool. Per capita grant is given yearly to all MOE preschool to purchase teaching and learning materials. Currently, all MOE preschools get a RM 100 per child per year allocation.

The 9th Malaysian Plan has allocated RM 327.3 million to run preschool expansion programme including program for special needs children in MOE schools. This allocation includes expenses for building or renovating for new classes. Table 2 indicates the number of classes planned and budget allocated for expansions of preschool classes under Ninth Malaysia Plan. Table 3 gives information on the number of preschools built from 1999 onwards.

Table 2: Number of Preschool Classes to be built under 9th Malaysia Plan

Project Number of Classes to be Built (RM) Million

Urban Rural Total Urban Rural TotalPreschool 491 2135 2626 66.4 260.9 327.3


Table 3 provides information on the number of preschool classes built by MOE from the year 1992 to 2007. Data for the year 2008 – 2009 are preschool classes planned to be built.

Table 3: Number of Preschools Built from 1992 to 2007 and will be Built from 2008 to 2009

Num. Year

Number of Preschool

Classes

Total

(accumulate)

1. 1992 1131 1131

2. 2002 100 1231

3. 2003 1500 2731

4. 2004 500 3231

5. 2005 700 3931

6. 2006 652 4583

7. 2007 1322 5905

8. 2008 1012 6918

9. 2009 800 7717

Total 7717Source: EPRD & BS

Under PIPP, the government has given specific attention to boost rural education with the hope of bridging the gap between rural and urban areas. With cooperation from National Implementation Task Force and National Implementation Directorate, MOE will implement projects that are identified as High Impact Projects (HIPs). Under HIP, MOE will expand its preschool education programme by providing more than 2400 classes in rural areas to 61,000 preschool children aged 5-6 Project under HIP includes providing preshool with computer and software facilities.

4.9 The National Action Plan of Children

The World Summit for Children (1990) made declaration concerning the need to uphold rights of children’s life, protection, development and participation. Malaysia has accepted the declaration on 19 July, 1991. Subsequently, the First National Action Plan of Children, 1990 - 2001 (Pelan Tindakan Kanak-kanak Negara Pertama) was formulated. A committee made up of governmental agencies, UNICEF, WHO was set up. The National Population and Family Development Board (Lembaga


Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara, LPPKN) was the secretariat for this plan. The theme of this plan was ‘Caring for the Children of Malaysia’. It focuses on children’s health, mother’s health, family development and planning, nutrition, accessibility and quality of healthcare, basic education and literacy, children with problem, role of woman and family, mass media.

At the end of 2000, the 3rd Consultative Forum on “Caring for the children of Malaysia” was organized (31 Oct – 1 Nov, 2000). This was followed by workshop on preparation of the Second National Action Plan of Children, 2001 – 2020. A workshop on children also took place on Mac, 2001. These forum and workshops aimed to review the First Action Plan and to formulate the Second Action Plan. Department of Social Welfare was appointed as the secretariat. The proposed committee for this action plan is to made up of Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, Department of Social Welfare, LPPKN, Labour Department, Department of Orang Asli Affairs, National Unity and Integration Department, Police, Statistic Department. The Second National Action Plan was drafted and waited to be approved by the government. However a hiccup happens, the government wanted to pass the Convention on the rights of the child, CRC country report first as the Second National Action Plan on Children is to focus on the CRC. CRC report was finally passed by the Cabinet in 2006.

While waiting for the CRC report to be passed and as an interim between the two National Action Plans, a National Committee on the Development and Expansion of Children’s Program (Jawatankuasa Program Perkembangan dan Pembangunan Kanak-kanak Negara) was set up with the Department of Social Welfare as the secretariat. From the year 2002 to 2007, this committee took over the task of coordination and monitoring of progress of programs in six areas as below:

• Care and development of early childhood• Basic Education and Literacy• Children with problem• Disadvantaged children• Parental education and function of family• Children and his/her environment

This committee is chaired by the Director General of Social Welfare Department and conducts meeting twice a year. This committee is answerable to the National Advisory and Consultative Council for Children under the care of Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development. Members of this committee made up of officials from 20 governmental agencies as listed below.

• Prime Minister’s Departmento National Unity and Integration Departmento Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM)

• Ministry of Informationo Department of Information

• Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication• Ministry of Education

o Education Planning and Research Divisiono Curriculum Development Centreo School Division


o Department of Special Educationo Division on Private Education

• Ministry of Healtho Division on family health development

• Ministry of Internal Securityo Royal Police Malaysia o Prison Department of Malaysiao Department of National Registrationo National Anti-Drug Agency

• Ministry of Rural and Regional Developmento Department of Community Development (KEMAS)o Department of Orang Asli Affair

• Ministry of Human Resourceo Labour Department

• Ministry of Housing and Local Governmento Department of urban and rural planning

• Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Developmento Department of Social Welfareo The National Population and Family Development Board

4.10 Healthcare policy

Child health services in Malaysia started since 1950s as one of the programme within the maternal and child health policy under the jurisdiction of the Public Health Department, Ministry of Health. Policies on health and health services for early childhood are either explicitly stated or implicit within the other general health policy as stated below.

Child Health Services Policy

Child health services in Malaysia started since 1950s as part of the maternal and child health programme. Since then the programme has been gradually rolled out to all Health and Community Clinics in rural and urban areas. After the country adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989, specific programs on child health services began to roll out as a response of the government’s commitment to provide adequate health infrastructure and programmes which are accessible and affordable to all children.

Article 24 in CRC stated that ‘The child has a right to the highest standard of health and medical care attainable. States shall place special emphasis on the provision of primary and preventive health care, public health education and the reduction of infant mortality. They shall encourage international co-operation in this regard and strive to see that no child is deprived of access to effective health services.” Policies and programs on child healthcare in Malaysia henceforth are formulated based on this overarching Article.

Among the child health services available currently are routine visits and examination for children, immunization, assessment of child growth and development, assessment of nutritional status which includes measurement of weight and height. Health education to the parents is carried out during child health clinic


sessions whenever necessary. Child health programmes are being planned continuously according to the changing needs of the children

National Nutrition Policy

National Nutrition Policy was formulated in 2003 to ensure public access to safe and quality food regardless of location as well as ascertain that nutritious food is crucial for optimal growth, development and the health of the family. In order to achieve this, one of the measure is the amendment of the Food Regulation 1985 in 2004 to include the implementation of mandatory labelling of food content with relevant nutrition information to assist consumers in making informed choices when purchasing food product. The Plan of Action on Nutrition started in 1986 included the improvement of food quality and safety, breast feeding promotion, promotion of appropriate diet and healthy lifestyle.

Safe Water and Sanitation Policy

Provision of safe water and proper sanitation has been an on-going effort by the government since independence. In 2002, enhanced effort have been made which include the construction of water supply system, sanitary well, rain water collection schemes have been . The Safe Water and Sanitation Policy also emphasise on prevention and reduction of waterborne diseases to improve the health status of the population, especially in the rural areas.

Studies have indicated high prevalence rates of endemic goitre in isolated parts of Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah and Sarawak. Measures have been made to reduce this incidence by giving iodised salts and iodinated water in the affected states. Legislation for iodised salt was gazetted in December 1999 and implemented in June 2000. Additional efforts include installation of iodinators in the water supply to schools and longhouses in the areas known to be endemic for iodine deficiency disorders.

4.11 National Child Protection Policy

Child Act 2001 (Act 611) provides that every child is entitled to protection and assistance in all circumstances without regard to distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, social origin or physical, mental or emotional disabilities or any status. Under Article 19, 20, and 22 of CRC, state parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents or other responsible for the care of the child.

Legal provisions servicing the National Child Protection Policy includes the following:

• Penal Code (Act 574) which cover offences affecting the human body. • Domestic Violence Act 1994 (Act 521) protects a child against any form of

abuse committed within the householdWhereas establishments and efforts serving the National Child Protection Policy includes the following:

• Court for Children


• Child Protection Teams• Child Activity Centers• Orphanage• Rehabilitation Centers/Schools

Any reports by public on maltreatment would be investigated by the Department of Social Welfare.

4.12 National Policy on Disabled Child

Article 23 of CRC recognised that a disabled child has the right to special care, education and training to help him or her enjoy a full and decent life in dignity and achieve the greatest degree of self-reliance and social integration possible. The Division on Persons with Disabilities under the Department of Social Welfare is responsible for the database on the disabled people as well as setting up the Community Based Rehabilitation centers providing diagnosis and rehabilitation services.

4.13 National Policy on Indigenous Child

Article 30 in CRC stipulates that children belonging to the minority group or the indigenous children have the right to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language. In response to this, curriculum of the native languages such as Iban, Kadazan-Dusun and Semai have been formulated and offered as subjects in schools in the native communities.

Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 (Act 134) places the responsibility for the general administration, welfare and advancement of Orang Asli on the Commissioner of Aboriginal Affairs. Various programs such as ‘Woman Motivator’(Penggerak Wanita) (since 2000), and Orang Asli Preschool (since 1992) have been designed.

4.14 Financial assistance to the poor

Established since 1946, the Department of Social Welfare has formulated various policies and subsequently programs for the social development and welfare of the people.

For the poor, there are three kinds of assistance, namely the General Assistance (Bantuan Am), Child Assistance (Bantuan Kanak-kanak) and Schooling Assistance (Bantuan Sekolah). Poor is defined based on the combined family income and differs according to areas or states, for example in the Federal Territorial, the poor who are able to get financial assistance are those with combined family income of below RM 713 for a family of four. The financial assistance ranges from RM 350 to RM 400. General Assistance is given to singles or couples without children. Child Support Assistance is given to family with children to cater for the living expenses whereas Schooling Assistance is given to school going children for school fees, school uniform, bus fare etc. In the year of 2005 a total of RM 85,456,351 has been given to a total of 95,345 cases as General Assistance. In the same year, RM 43,660,680 has been given as Child Assistance to a total of 19,346 cases.


Summary

In general, ECCE policies explained in this section encompasses the following areas:o Accessibility to ECCE – ensuring all children have access to ECCEo Equity of ECCE – ensuring all disadvantaged children have access to ECCEo Ensuring standards and quality program

o using of a standardized curriculumo qualified teachers/carers

Analysis and discussion will be based on these areas: Accessibility, Equity and Quality

5.0 METHODOLOGY

This study (the ECCE Policy Review) used both quantitative and qualitative methodology. While the quantitative data provides a comprehensive situation analysis of the current status of ECCE policies implementation, the qualitative data seeks for explanations and reasons for certain performance revealed through the quantitative data.

ECCE policies in Malaysia especially those related to the preschools have already been implemented for at least 5 years. As a common practice, the related government agencies have planned to study the implementation of these policies. This study do not intend to reinvent the wheel but rather consolidate on findings from various on-going studies and reports given in Table 4. Brief overview of each of these studies are provided in the same table.

Table 4: Overview of recently completed and on-going studies on ECCE in Malaysia

No. Research/Study Acronym Overview of the research/study

1 Mid Decade Assessment of Education for All – Goal 1: Expand early childhood care and education

- A UNESCO project. Conducted by Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) in 2006/7

EFA-Goal 1 Study

Ministries, divisions, departments, as well as major non-governmental organizations, professional bodies involved with the care and education for children in Malaysia cooperated in this mid-decade assessment. Data was collected extensively from existing documents and focus groups discussions.

2 Evaluation of Preschool EPRD Areas of concern:


No. Research/Study Acronym Overview of the research/study

Program

- conducted by Education Planning and Research Division (EPRD) in 2007/8

Study - Participation of children (age 5+) in preschool program

- Quantity and quality of basic facilities of preschools

- Teachers and helper- Implementation of National

Preschool Curriculum

Respondents:- A total of 890 respondents (444

MOE, 170 KEMAS, 174 PERPADUAN, 102 private).

- Respondents made up of teachers, assistants and principles.

- Respondents came from various localities covering all the zones in Malaysia.

- 67.72% of the students in the sample are from parents with income below RM1,000 and 24.44% of them are from parents with income below RM2,000. The GNP of Malaysia is

Instrument:- Questionnaires-

3 Implementation of National Preschool Curriculum

- conducted by CDC in 2007/8

CDC Study

Areas of concern:- Implementation of National

Preschool Curriculum- Classroom teaching and learning- Use of teaching and learning

material

Respondents:- All preschool teachers from West

Malaysia, all states.- Approx. 70% of preschool teachers

from East Malaysia

Methodology:- Questionnaires (3700 respondents)- Classroom observations (20

observations)- Interview (20 interviews)


From the findings of the above studies, especially the EFA Goal 1 Study, various issues of concern were discovered. Examples are the prevalence of not-registered private ECCE providers, integration and coordination during implementation of various policies. More in-depth data is deemed as necessary in order to shed lights onto these issues. The following smaller scale studies as listed in Table 5 were then conducted.

Table 5: Additional studies conducted to supplement data obtained from research conducted in Table 4

No. Studies Acronym Overview of the research/study

1 Participation and implementation of National Preschool Curriculum by private preschools

Private preschool Study

Respondents:- Private preschools teachers and

operators- Officers involved in ECCE- Members of NGOs involved in

ECCE: (a)Association of Kindergarten Malaysia (PTM), (b)National Association of Early Childhood Care and Education Malaysia, (c)Association of Professional Early Childhood Educators, (d)Association of Registered Childcare Centers.

Areas of concern:- Teaching and learning

approaches- Understanding of National

Preschool curriculum- Issues faced by private

preschools

Methodology:- Questionnaire (More than 100

questionnaires were sent out to private preschools teachers and operators, only 19 replied)

- Interviews (4 preschools teachers/operators)

- School visits (2 preschools)- Focus groups discussions (3

discussion sessions: PTM 1, ECCE 1, ECCE 2)

- Document analysis (Reports from School Inspectorate and Private School Division, MOE, report on case study by Malaysia Association of Professional Early


No. Studies Acronym Overview of the research/study

Childhood Education)

2 Participation of indigenous children in MOE preschools

Indigenous children Study

Visits to three centers

3 Teaching and learning in MOE Special Education Preschool

- conducted by Special Education Preschool Unit in collaboration with CDC

-

Special Children Study

- Questionnaires were filled up by teachers teaching in Special Children Preschools

- Observations and interviews on 4 teachers conducted by Special Education Preschool Unit officer

4 Coordination and

integration in ECCE

- conducted by CDC

Integration Study

Respondents:- Officers from various

departments and Ministries involved in ECCE

- NGOs involved in ECCE- Private preschools operators

Methodology- Focus group discussions (2

sessions: ECCE 1, ECCE 2)- Interview ( 6 persons)- Questionnaire ( 11 answered)

Visit to KEMAS preschool - One KEMAS preschool was visited

- 2 KEMAS teachers and 1 district supervisor were interviewed

Visit to PERPADUAN preschool

- One PERPADUAN preschool was visited

Specific research questions as well as methodology for each of the categories explored through this study are provided in this following section.

POLICY AREA 1: TO PROVIDE ECCE TO ALL CHILDREN

RELATED REGULATION/LAW: o CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (CRC)


o CHILDREN ACT 2001 (Act 611) - RIGHT TO EDUCATION/ HEALTHCARE*

o NURSERY ACT 1984 (ACT 308)

Table 6: Research Questions and method to investigate Policy Area 1

Generic Category

Sub-category Research Questions Method

Access Level of participation

What is the Gross Enrolment Rate, GER for TASKA, 0-3 years old?

What is the GER for preschool, 4-6 years old?

Is the participation rate satisfactory? Has it achieve the country target?

If the GER is unsatisfactory, what is the cause?

Secondary Statistics collected from the relevant agencies.

Interview relevant offices/agencies.

Equity in access to quality early childhood care and education

Who are the advantaged and the disadvantaged and what are the reasons for the gaps in their access to ECCE?

Are there any discrimination based on race, sex, mental/physical condition, language, geographical location?

Questionnaires sent out to a number of private preschools and interviews.

Quality Educators What are the teacher’s and assistant’s quality/qualification?

Statistics collected from the relevant agencies

Physical and material support

Is the physical infrastructure and services adequate?

What improvements are most urgently needed?

Are the teaching and learning materials adequate?

What are the best practices for the development and supply of quality materials that can be scaled up?

EPRD Study (which covers approx. 900 schools)

Resource Distribution How is ECCE provision financed? Statistic collected


Generic Category

Sub-category Research Questions Method

of public resources

from relevant agencies.

POLICY 2: USING A STANDARDISED CURRICULUM

RELATED REGULATION/LAW:o EDUCATION ACT 1996: All preschools must use the National Preschool

Curriculum


Generic Category

Objectives of Review Method/Study

Quality of program

To assess how well the existing policies are being implemented

To find out gaps of implementation

EPRD Study.

CDC Study

Study/Report from the Private Education Department

Visit private kindergarten and KEMAS and PERPADUAN kindergarten:

- one private kindergarten in town

- one private kindergarten in rural

- one KEMAS kindergarten- one PERPADUAN

kindergarten

ISSUE 3: INTEGRATION(possible gap)


Category Sub-Category Questions MethodGovernance Analysing existing

policies

Identifying gaps within the policy

Identify gaps between the policies

Document analysis.


Category Sub-Category Questions Method

Integration across different sectors of government within similar Ministry

How are different sectors coordinated for the development and implementation of ECCE policy?

What is the most feasible and effective way of mustering inter sectoral coordination?

Interview officers from the relevant agencies.

Focus Group Discussion.

Integration across different levels of government within similar Ministry

What are the respective responsibilities of the different levels of government for ECCE?

Interviews

Focus group discussion

Integration across different Ministries

How are different Ministries coordinated for the development and implementation of ECCE policy?

What is the most feasible and effective way of mustering inter Ministerial coordination?

Interviews

Focus group discussions.

ISSUE 4: EFFECTIVENESS(possible gap)


Generic Category

Sub-Category Questions Method

Effectiveness Implementation Is policy transformed into an annual action plan/adopted?

What evidence exists that the policies have been effective implemented?

What contradictions/ bottlenecks exist in implementation at the different levels?




Generic Category

Sub-Category Questions Method

Monitoring and evaluation

What systems are in place for monitoring and evaluating policy implementation and effectiveness?

What are the processes in place to enable data to be collected on policy and implementation?

What mechanisms are in place to ensure the collecting and sharing of data relevant to national needs?



Constraints and Lessons learned

ECCE in Malaysia as in many other countries are under the purview of many Ministries, departments and agencies. Young children are always the utmost concern of an increasingly affluent and informed society. Many national, regional or international based NGOs are interested in issues related to ECCE. Obtaining data from such a wide spectrum of society on a sensitive issue is a problem both administratively and professionally. Each individual agency or department in safe guarding its own interest are not willing to share all, no-barred information. Some data obtained were deemed as sensitive for fear of misinterpretation by other departments or other sectors of the society at large. A study of this scale would be better conducted by an independent, neutral 3rd party such as a research center.


A) EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

6.0 EXPENDITURE ON ECCE

Fund allocated for early childhood education is given to three Ministries/Department, namely Ministry of Education, Ministry of Rural and Regional Development as well as the Department of National Integration and Unity. Data obtained for this study is limited to Ministry of Education (MOE) only and does not reflect total expenditure of the nation. Table 10 provides information on the amount as well as % of MOE allocation as compared to the total expenditure on education.

Table 10: Percentage Expenditure Spent on ECCE by the MOE

Public Expenditure on Education

Public Expenditure of ECCE % Expenditure spent on ECCE

2000 14,079,737,820 25,080,900 0.18%2001 18,601,959,600 27,794,000 0.15%2002 20,719,036,710 37,750,000 0.18%2003 26,194,824,940 46,491,000 0.18%2004 23,937,604,060 176,477,000 0.74%2005 16,719,469,500 178,061,100 1.06%

Source: Finance Division, MOE


Public Expenditure on ECCE

0

20,000,000

40,000,000

60,000,000

80,000,000

100,000,000

120,000,000

140,000,000

160,000,000

180,000,000

200,000,000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

year

RM

0.00%

0.20%

0.40%

0.60%

0.80%

1.00%

1.20%

Public Expenditure of ECCE

% Expenditure spent on ECCE

Diagram 3: MOE Expenditure on ECCE

Figure from Table 10 and Diagram 3 indicates that percentage and amount of public expenditure (MOE) on ECCE is increasing year by year. Malaysian government is beginning to focus more on ECCE program. From 2003 to 2004, there is an increase of 0.56%, the biggest so far. However, having only 1.06% of the total expenditure on education for ECCE (2005) is not something very encouraging. Compare to 41.60% of total public expenditure on education spent on primary education and 37.07% spent on secondary education. There is a need for higher allocation for ECCE.

Table 11: Estimated recurrent expenditure for MOE preschool, primary and secondary education

Level of education 2005 2006Preschool 178,061,000 (1.31%) 173,528,500 (1.22%)Primary 5,674,836,800 (41.60%) 6,060,289,900 (42.66%)Secondary 5,057,590,900 (37.07%) 5,421,272,800 (38.16%)Fully Residential School Education (Secondary)

216,535,700 (1.59%) 262,630,900 (1.85%)

(source: Statistics, EPRD MOE)

Expenditure for early childhood care for the age group of 0 to 4 is borne by the Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development. There is no information on the expenditure. Expenditure for healthcare is borne by the Ministry of Health (MOH). However, allocation of children health under MOH is for 0 – 12 years old. There is no specific breakup data for 0 – 6 years old.


7.0 ACCESSIBILITY OF ECCE

Policies on ECCE stated clearly the aim and responsibility of the government with regard to providing or monitoring the accessibility of ECCE. This section will discuss accessibility of ECCE under the categories of ECCE for the 0 – 4 years old and 4-6 years old.

7.1 EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FOR THE 0 – 4 YEARS OLD

Types of Childcare Center

There are various kinds of childcare centers in Malaysia, these centers are generally named as TASKA. Categories of childcare centers found in Malaysia are as below:

Government own childcare center (TASKA dalam komuniti)(since 2006) Workplace childcare center Institutional childcare center Plantation childcare center Home based childcare center

Legally all childcare centers need to be registered with the Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development.


The government did not set any specific targets with regards to the number or percentage of TASKA to be built in any specific time frame. TASKA are mainly built and run by private or non-profit organizations. Currently the government merely sets up the registration and monitoring mechanism pertaining to the development of TASKA. However, from 2007, the government is beginning to set up some TASKA through the PERMATA projects.

National Participation/Enrolment

Gross Enrolment Ratio, GER for 2005 indicates that only 1.82 % of total population of the age group of 0-4 years old is attending TASKA. This is not a very realistic figure and is believed that it does not reflect the actual situation in the country. Reports shown that many of the childcare centers are not registered As of Feb 2007, only 1,831 childcare centers are registered handling a total of 34,100 children (Minister of Woman’s opening address for the Early Childcare and Preschool Education Conference held on 14-15 Mac, 2007). In reality as one walks around the town one can observe many buildings or houses being used as TASKA, there are also many home based childcare where there are less than 10 children ( the law states that if there is less than 10 children, the premise need not be registered).

Participation by sex

Participation by gender is a global issue to be addressed. Generally the female is the disadvantages group. However, Gender Parity Index, GPI in Malaysia is showing an opposite trend of positively biased to the female. In another word, more female than male has accessibility to ECCE. GPI for ECCE 0 – 4 years old in 2005 is 1.282.7.2 ACCESSIBILITY TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

(PRESCHOOL), 4-6 YEARS OLD

National Enrolment

Early childhood education in Malaysia for the age group of 4-6 is offered by both the public sector as well as the private sector. Public sectors involved are the Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (MORRD), and the Department of National Integrity and Unity (DNID). Other than these, early childhood education is also provided by religious bodies such as the ABIM (Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia) and the State Religious Department. Early childhood education for this age group (4-6 years old) is generally known as the preschool education.

Table 12 provides information on the progress from 2000 to 2005 in terms of Gross Enrolment Ratio, GER and Gender Parity Index, GPI. The calculation of GER is based on enrolment of public preschools offered by MOE, MORRD, DNID, and state religious department as well as registered privately run preschool. GER is calculated using enrolment divided by actual population of the particular age group, the actual population is obtained from the national census conducted by the National Registration Department.

Table 12: Gross Enrolment Ratio and GPI.


Progress between 2000 to 2005 (National Level)

GER for ECCE GPI for GER Male Female Total

2000 49.61% 47.07% 48.38% 0.9492001 50.81% 55.12% 52.89% 1.0852002 54.79% 51.98% 53.43% 0.9492003 55.00% 63.17% 58.95% 1.1492004 59.66% 70.30% 64.77% 1.1782005 66.48% 68.35% 67.38% 1.028

Source: MOE, JPS KPM, KEMAS, PERPADUAN, ABIM, JAIN

GER fo ECCE

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

YEAR

Male

Female

Diagram 4: GER and GPI for Preschool Education in Malaysia (old data, change)

Data from Table 12 and Diagram 4 shows that there is a steady increase of GER in the past six years. The increase in enrolment was the highest in 2003 (55.07% compared to the previous year) whereas from 2005 to 2006 the increase is only 9.54% (EPRD’s Study, 2008). Table 8 also shows that as of 2005 there is only a 67.38% participation of children in preschool education. It needs to be noted that there is a sizable population of students in private preschools which are not registered with the Department of Private Education, Ministry of Education. In a recent random survey by the Department of Private Education, a high percentage of private preschools are not registered. The Department of Private Education is currently doing a promotion to get these private preschools registered.

Enrolment in Private Preschools

Table 13 provides information on enrolment of students in the private preschools. In the year 2005, 43% of the children who participate in preschools are from these privately run preschools. There is a decline in enrolment of students in the private preschools in the past few years. The sharpest decline occurred in 2003 which coincided with the year MOE began setting up its preschools in a big scale. This shows that preschool offered by MOE could attract a sizable population, perhaps since it is non paying and since it is part of the formal school system. Children from MOE preschools could continue with Primary Education in the same school. Information on private preschools at each state is given in Table 14.


Table 13: % of Students Enrolled in Private Preschool

% Enrolled in Private

Centers2000 60% 2001 66%2002 67%2003 39%2004 43%2005 43%

Source: JPS, MOE

Private preschools are more prevalent in certain states. Table 14 provides the average percentage of students enrolled in private schools from the year 2003 to 2005. The states where private preschools are more prevalent are Labuan(70%), Johor(69%), Selangor(68%), Sarawak(68%), Negeri Sembilan (67%), Kuala Lumpur(66%), and Perak (66%). Besides Labuan which is a very small territory, the other states are from the more populous state on the west coast. States recorded lower private preschools enrolment are Kelantan (53%), Terengganu (55%), two east coast states. It is difficult to gauge the effect of such segregation. There is no standard instrument used to measure the effectiveness of preschool education offered by the government and those offered by the private sectors. Government preschools from whichever agencies or ministries receive regular funding and assistance from the central government in terms of infrastructure, teacher training, teachers salary and equipment. The quality of private preschools differs across the country and there is no specific studies conducted on this matter yet. However, it need to be noted that all preschools regardless of private or public need to use the National Preschool Curriculum.

Table 14: Average % of Students Enrolled In Private Preschools from 2003 to 2005

State

Average % of students enrolled in private

preschools from 2003 to 2005

NATIONAL 41KELANTAN 53

TERENGGANU 55PAHANG 57PERLIS 57KEDAH 61

MELAKA 64PULAU PINANG 65

SABAH 65PERAK 66

WP KUALA LUMPUR 66NEGERI SEMBILAN 67

SARAWAK 68SELANGOR 68

JOHOR 69LABUAN 70


National Enrolment by State

Table 15 shows the distribution of the ECCE national enrolment for the age of 4 – 6 according to the states. GER enrolment for the year 2005 indicates how far away the state is in terms of providing ECCE preschool education to all children of the age group. States like Terengganu (82.67%), Negeri Sembilan (77.71%) are doing well and are far ahead of states like Kuala Lumpur (37.41%), Labuan (39.47%) and Kelantan (41.85%). It is interesting to note that Kuala Lumpur as the capital of the country recorded such low GER, the only probable answer is that there are lots of unregistered private preschools in Kuala Lumpur and they are not captured in this national enrolment data. Kelantan being a state with many religious schools might be seeing a lot of its children enrolled in privately run religious schools which is not recorded in the national data as well.

Table 15 too provides information on the average national enrolment 2000 – 2005 and how these states contribute to the percentage of total ECCE enrolment for 4 – 6 years old for the country. This data provides a realistic picture of the country. Johor state and Selangor state though not too high on their respective 2005 GER have more students compared to Negeri Sembilan and Terengganu. This is because Johor is a big state in terms of area and Selangor is a populous state. Perlis is a small state and contributes only to 1.24 % of the total enrolment of the country though its GER is quite high at 66.80%.

Table 15: ECCE National Enrolment and GER for 4 – 6 Years Old by State

GER for 4-6 Years Old ECCE

Enrolment 2005

Average Enrolment

2000 – 2005

% of Average Enrolment by

StateNATIONAL 67.38% 659,848WP KUALA LUMPUR 37.41% 29,683 4.49LABUAN 39.47% 1,592 2.41KELANTAN 41.85% 40,804 6.18SARAWAK 47.16% 63,338 9.59SABAH 51.55% 56,627 8.58KEDAH 54.20% 49,622 7.52MELAKA 55.36% 22,247 3.37PULAU PINANG 57.08% 36,526 5.54SELANGOR 57.63% 88,779 13.45PERAK 59.24% 52,533 7.96PERLIS 66.80% 8,158 1.24PAHANG 67.91% 41,301 6.26JOHOR 70.33% 101,044 15.31NEGERI SEMBILAN 77.71% 31.526 4.78TERENGGANU 82.67% 36,378 5.51

100


Average ECCE Enrolment By State

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

LABUAN

PERLIS

MELAKA

WP K

UALA LU

MPUR

NEGERI SEMBILA

N

PULAU P

INANG

TERENGGANU

KELANTAN

PAHANG

KEDAH

PERAK

SABAH

SARAWAK

SELANGOR

JOHOR

State

Enro

lmen

t

Diagram 5: Average ECCE Enrolment 4-6 years old by State

GER 2005 per State

0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%90.00%

LABUAN

KELANTAN

SARAWAK

SABAH

KEDAH

MELAKA

PULAU P

INANG

SELANGOR

PERAK

NATIONAL

PERLIS

PAHANG

JOHOR

NEGERI SEMBILAN

TERENGGANU

State

GER Series1

Diagram 6: GER for 4 – 6 years old by State

Primary 1 Student with ECCE Experience

Diagram 7 captured the statistic of actual students in Year 1 Primary School who have ECCE experience (data collected by CDC, 2007). Out of a total of 340,823 Primary 1 students from 10 states, only 5.3% do not have ECCE experience. This


coincide with EPRD Study 1 where out of a (Wan). The discrepancy between this data and data from Table 12 which indicate that in 2005, only 67.38% of 4-6 years old children were in preschools might be due to the prevalence of unregistered private preschools.

% Primary One Students with ECCE Experience 2007

2%

5%

28%

7%30%

23%

5%

MOE

KEMAS

PERPADUAN

PRIVATE

RELIGIOUS AGENCIES

OTHERS

WITHOUT PRESCHOOLS

Diagram 7: % of New Entrant to Primary 1 with ECCE Experience National Enrolment by locality: urban and rural

The aim of MOE and KEMAS setting up preschools are especially to provide for the children at the rural area. MOE has set a target of 80% rural and 20% urban preschool. However this target has not been met yet as shown in Table 16. Table 17 indicated that majority of public preschools are in the rural areas. CDC study(refer to Table 4 pg 28) revealed that 69.1% of the preschools are situated in rural or interior, 9.7% in suburban dan 21.2% in urban. In actual situation, number of preschools in rural and interior would be more than this as CDC study though captured all of peninsular Malaysia preschools only covered a portion of the East Malaysia. East Malaysia has many rural and interior preschools.

Table 16: Number of MOE preschools by urban and rural (2005) Urban Rural % Rural

preschoolsSchools 1055 2232 67.9%Classes 1399 2605 65.06%

Enrolment 31970 61406 52.06%

Table 17: Number of public preschool classes by different providers and locality(Enrolment in bracket)

ECCE Provider

Urban Rural Pinggir bandar

Orang Asli

Estate Special Education

Total

MOE 1399 (31970)

2605 (61406)

- 49 49 4569

Kemas 1333(43814)

4317(82489)

1181(29,576)

201(4383)

54(1480)

0 7086


ECCE Provider

Urban Rural Pinggir bandar

Orang Asli

Estate Special Education

Total

Perpaduan

TOTAL

Participation by SexGPI for the 4-6 years old is more biased towards female. This shows that in

Malaysia, the girls has equal opportunity to schooling in the preschool level. In fact more girls seems to be in preschool than boys. The EPRD’s study indicated the most common sexual combination of preschool classes is 49.72% male and 48.38% female.

Table 18: GER for ECCE 4 – 6 Years Old by SexProgress between 2000 to 2005 (National Level) 4-6

GER for ECCE GPI for GER Male Female Total

2000 47.38% 45.02% 46.24% 0.9502001 47.91% 51.70% 49.75% 1.0792002 50.63% 47.86% 49.29% 0.9452003 49.35% 56.13% 52.64% 1.1372004 52.52% 60.36% 56.33% 1.1492005 59.38% 59.75% 59.56% 1.006

Source: MOE, JPS KPM, KEMAS, PERPADUAN, ABIM, JAIN7.3 PARTICIPATION OF THE PRIVATE SECTORS IN ECCE

Private sector is one of the key players of ECCE in Malaysia. These private sectors ranges from individual, company and association. Amongst these, individual is the main provider. Individually owned preschools do not usually have many classes, they are rather small in terms of physical areas or number of children.

Private preschools (4-6 years old) or TASKA (0-4 years old) are conducted either in residential area, offices, places of worship or purpose-built premises. Data displayed in previous section indicated there are many unregistered preschools. The question is why are the private ECCE providers reluctant to register their centres? To obtain some insight into the reason why many preschools and TASKA are not registered, the following sessions were conducted:

Focus groups discussions: ECCE 1 and ECCE 2 Question and answer session during “Child-centered learning” seminar

organized by the Association of Preschools Malaysia on 1 July, 2007 (PTM Seminar, 2007)

Interview with Sarah, an retired staff of the Social Welfare Department (Sarah)

Interview Patricia, Jenny, Minah, Shelly four private preschool operator (Patricia, Jenny, Minah, Shelly)

Questionnaire received through Private Preschool Study

Long delay was reported in the application for registration of ECCE centers. Complicated procedures and requirements, red-tape, enforcement officers not helpful and not keeping up to their appointments as well as too much paper work even for yearly renewal deter the private ECCE providers from registering their centres (ECCE


1, ECCE 2). To register TASKA or preschools, one need to get approval from four different agencies which are the Fire Department, Social Welfare Department, Health and the Local Authority. Approval from some departments are slower than others due to under-staff, and low priority (Sarah).

Respondents revealed the incident of how after rectifying one mistake in the application form, the whole application form would go right under the pile again and the waiting game continues. Respondents also commented that there are cases where application would only be answered by the authority after one to two years. With this long delay due to bureaucratic red tape, applicants faced the following problem:

“Procedure required that applicants must show proof of location and availability of premises (building). It is expensive to rent the building while waiting for the applications to be approved, this could take years or at the end of it not being approved at all. Some of us break the law and go ahead without permit”

(Questionnaire: Catherine)

Until 2006, the Social Welfare Department which is responsible for the registration of TASKA and preschools do not have enforcement power. However a lot of this is changing in the year 2007 where there are amendment of laws, provision of more man power and vigorous campaign to register ECCE providers. One stop centers are being formed too so that ECCE providers need only to go to one location to get everything approved. Prior to that they need to run to different offices located in different part of the town. Sarah was quick to point out too that the private ECCE provides too need to bear the responsibilities as some of them could not be bothered with laws and regulation and believe that the enforcement is so poor that they would not be affected even though they do not registered.

Some ECCE providers in the village (kampong) land face a barrier as some of the land do not have land title to support the application. ECCE providers in housing areas have also a hurdle to overcome, that is to obtain consent from ten neighbours to open their centers. Different local authorities charge different rate and have different requirements. In some areas, charges is made on conversion into business paremises and some charges per sq ft (ECCE 2).

The 2006 Private Preschools Inspection conducted by the Private Education Department, MOE found that private kindergartens who have valid documents for their operation could produce the compulsory documents of company registration documents, declaration of temporary registration, declaration of private registration, teaching permits, local board trade license, head teacher appointment letter, approved renewal, declaration of registered establishment, validation or checked by fire brigade, institution brochures and amended registration declarations. However there are some private kindergartens operating without some of these documents. Some private preschools are registered under learning centers, franscised centers and not preschools/kindergarten. These private preschools register themselves in the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, thus they are not subjected to the regulations under the Education Act 1996.


7.4 ACCESSIBILITY TO ECCE: CONCLUSION

Data indicated that majority of Malaysian children have no problem of accessibility to ECCE. There are many ECCE providers around. The issue at hand is the non-registration of these ECCE centres.

8.0 EQUITY – EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FOR THE DISADVANTAGED GROUP

Children Act 2001 (Act 611) provides that every child is entitled to protection and assistance in all circumstances without regard to distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, social origin, physical disability, mental disability or emotional disability or any other status. As stipulated in the Act, all children are entitled to their rights in quality education, care and protection. Issues of accessibility and equity surfaced as we analysed national data and its aggregation. As policies are being implemented, various disadvantaged group could be identified. The following sections discussed on steps and programmes taken to address the issues of equity for these groups of people. From this data obtained, we can then gauge the effectiveness of the Children Act 2001 with specific reference to the disadvantaged children.

8.1 CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Early childhood education for the special children is offered by two ministries that is Ministry of Education and Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development. Policies related to the provision of education for the special children is enacted in the Education Act 1996 (Special Education Regulation -1997).

Education for special need children who are having mono disability, such as children with hearing impairment, visual impairment and learning disability, are under the care of Ministry of Education whereas those with multiple disabilities are taken care by Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development. Children who are


physically handicapped but their cognitive is at par as normal children are in mainstream program, together with normal children. Besides these two ministries, early childhood education for special children is also under the non-government organizations and association such as Down Syndrome Association, National Autistic Society of Malaysia, Spastic Centre and many more.

The Education Ministry of Malaysia provides special schools for children with disabilities. As for 2006, Malaysia has set up 28 preschool classes in special school and 72 classes in integration program. The classes in special school cater for the children with hearing impairment and visual impairment whereas the classes in integration program cater for the children with learning disabilities, LD.

Table 19: Number of MOE Special Education Preschool Program Set up in the Particular Year

Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 TOTALTotal number of programme

3*(inclusive) 28(special school)

32(LD) 12(LD) 72

Enrolment 15 127 299 363 804

*this inclusive programme ended in 2005 when the preschool for integration programme started.

LD: Learning Disability

Basically, the goal of special education preschool programme which was set up within the integration mode is to enhance the integration between the special need children and the normal children. Students in these schools have to share the area for outdoor play and this is the time where they can play together. The teacher must be conscientious and dedicated to support disabled children and to provide early childhood intervention to ensure special children having the chance to achieve their maximum potential, their future will be much brighter and more promising.

Table 20: Enrolment of Special Needs Children in Preschool Special Education Programme under MOE based on Category

Year/ Age

Hearing Impaired Visually Impaired Learning Disability4 yr

5 yr

6 Yr Total

4 yr

5 yr

6 yr Total

4 yr

5 yr

6 yr Total

2000 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 5 0 0 0 02001 2 10 37 49 1 2 5 8 0 0 3 32002 1 22 33 56 0 3 5 8 0 0 0 02003 3 6 32 41 1 3 12 16 0 5 10 152004 8 15 78 101 1 5 10 16 0 9 22 312005 3 48 76 127 0 4 15 19 0 33 101 1342006 4 18 122 144 0 3 13 16 2 26 170 198Total 21 119 378 518 4 22 62 88 2 73 306 381

The enrolment of hearing impaired children increased sharply in 2004 when MOE officially set up a proper preschool program for the special children. Even though the program for visually impaired was also set up in 2004, there was not much difference in the number of children who joined the program. It might be


because of location factor and parents who are not willing to let their children stay in the hostel. As for learning disability children, the enrolment increased in 2005 when the 32 preschool Learning Disability, LD programs were set up throughout Malaysia. The number of students are increasing and this shows that the parents are aware about the service provided and they really seek for it. In the Ninth Malaysia Plan, 100 preschool program for special need children will be set up.

8.2 INDIGENOUS CHILDREN

Indigenous children in Malaysia is categorised into two major groups, one group in the peninsular of Malaysia (West Malaysia) and the other in East Malaysia (the states of Sabah and Sarawak). East Malaysia is separated from West Malaysia by the South China Sea. In fact, indigenous people form the major population of East Malaysia, they are made up of the ethnic groups of Iban, Dayak, Kadazan, Penan, Bidayuh etc. Though many of these indigenous people are already living in towns and cities, there are still many who are leading a more nomadic life in the interior of Sabah and Sarawak.

Indigenous people in peninsular of Malaysia is known as the ‘orang asli’. Many of them still stay in remote and interior areas of Malaysia. Generally the orang asli has their ways of life and are reluctant to leave their home in remote area. Many of their children either do not go to school or dropped out from school during their primary school years.

Childcare Centre Programme (0-4 years old) for the Orang Asli

In Malaysia, children are generally placed in childcare centers because both parents are working and they have no one to care for their children at home. Rarely are children looked after by childcare providers if there are maids or family members to care for the children. This practice of placing children in childcare is not widespread among orang asli communities in Peninsular Malaysia because most of the mothers do not work outside their homes. Nonetheless, childcare facilities are provided by Department of Community Development, KEMAS for orang asli parents who need the facilities beginning from 2005 as shown in Table 21.

The Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA) was of the opinion though the mothers of orang asli children in remote areas are not working outside their homes and do not need alternative care, these children need enrichment to enable them to develop, especially intellectually. Furthermore, mothers need knowledge to give proper care to their children. A program called ‘Penggerak Wanita’ which can be literally translated as the ‘woman mover’ was specifically developed for this purpose. The objective of this programme is to give awareness to mothers in indigenous community the importance of education; cultivate a reading habit and a love for knowledge among children; and organize and conduct co-curricular activities which involves the children and their parents. As of 2006, JHEOA has established 28 “Penggerak Wanita” centers as shown in Table 21. The centers employ 108 care-givers and consists of 529 children, aged from 2 to 4. These care-givers are the mothers themselves and they are paid a minimum wage.


Table 21: Number of Orang Asli in Childcare Centers

Year

Chi No. of children in childcare

centers operated by

KEMAS

Childcare Centers Operated by JHEOA/Penggerak Wanita Total No.

of IndigenousChildren inChildcare

Centre

No. of centers opened in year

Total No. of centers

No of Indigenous children in Childcare Centre

2000 None 6 6 80 802001 None 4 10 190 1902002 None 4 14 262 2622003 None 4 18 320 3202004 None 2 20 380 3802005 226 4 24 432 6582006 317 4 28 529 846

The total population of orang asli children of ages 0-7 years is approximately 7190 in the year 2007. Since there is no specific data on the population of 0-4 years old, the percentage of orang asli children in childcare center could not be calculated.

Preschool Education (4-6 years old)

To ensure socio-economically deprived children, especially indigenous children are not further disadvantaged, the Department of Community Development (KEMAS) in Peninsular Malaysia, set up kindergartens to cater to the needs of the orang asli children in the peninsular Malaysia since 1992.

Indigenous children in Sabah and Sarawak attend preschools which are operated by the Ministry of Education, KEMAS, PERPADUAN and private kindergartens. There are no preschools solely or exclusively for indigenous children in Sabah and Sarawak, unlike those in Peninsular Malaysia (the orang asli preschools by KEMAS). In areas, especially in remote areas that do not have preschools, NGOs such as PACOS or local communities provide some form of preschool education to help children acquire language skill as well as develop motor and social skills.

Table 22 shows the number of indigenous children of 4-6 years attending preschool from 2000 to 2006. The data in Table 22 shows a sudden increase in children’s enrolment in preschool in 2003. This jump in the number of indigenous children attending preschool is due to the policy of the Ministry of Education to build more preschools in Sabah and Sarawak in 2003 and in 2004 the number of preschools in Sabah and Sarawak was increased by 151 and 152 respectively. There is another jump in enrolment in 2006, particularly in Sarawak and this is due to the increase in preschools in Sarawak by 235 classes and in Sabah by 59. The increase in indigenous children attending preschools operated by KEMAS shows a steady yearly increase too. However, due to lack of population data, gross enrolment rate, GER of the indigenous children couldn’t be calculated, thus, it could not be ascertained the percentage of indigenous children obtained preschool education.


Table 22: Number of Indigenous Children Attending Preschools by The Different Agency and Year

Year

No. of IndigenousChildren in KEMAS preschools (for orang asli in peninsular Malaysia)

No. of Indigenous Children in Preschool operated by MOE in Sabah

No. of Indigenous Children in Pre-schools operated by MOE in Sarawak

Grand Total Number of Indigenous Children in Preschool

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female2000 1896 1907 1668 1615 1837 1802 5401 53242001 1939 1887 1691 1549 1862 1836 5492 52722002 2027 2015 1766 1626 2073 1847 5866 54882003 2078 2135 3590 3434 3762 3416 9430 89852004 2097 2236 4061 3952 4253 3868 10411 100562005 2135 2188 4806 4773 4822 4683 11763 116442006 2408 2498 5306 5238 7274 6999 14988 14735

Note KEMAS = Department of Community Development in the Ministry of Rural and Regional

Development, Malaysia.In Peninsular Malaysia, the vast majority of the indigenous children attend preschools conducted by KEMAS.

MOE = Ministry of Education, Malaysia. The majority of the children in Sabah and Sarawak are indigenous children and they attend the national preschools conducted the by Ministry of Education, Malaysia.

Can we find out population of orang asli or the indigenous people from DOS?

In the state of Sabah, PACOS TRUST or PACOS, a community-based organization has been actively involved in improving the quality of life of the indigenous communities since 1987. PACOS supports community organizations in 12 districts involving 25 geographical areas. One of PACOS’s program is Community Preschools. Currently it has 17 ECCE centres in the interior of Sabah involving 2020 children and 71 teachers and caregivers. PACOS ECCE Centers are in the process of registering formally as preschools although they have been providing early childhood education services since 1993.

PACOS liased with the Association of Kindergarten of Sabah to provide basic training to PACOS preschool teachers on a yearly basis so that they can undertake the running of the community pre-schools well. PACOS preschools are mostly built through sponsorship from international bodies such as RALLY with joint effort of the local community. Children gone through PACOS preschool program was found to have better achievement at the primary school level compared to those who do not attend the program. The program has also resulted in a revival among parents and local communities on the importance of community health, child care and education.

Besides PACOS, there are other NGOs who provides ECCE to the indigenous children of Malaysia. Eleven of these NGOs (8 in Sarawak, 3 in Peninsular Malaysia) work closely with PACOS. PACOS being the pioneer provides advice and training for the management and running of these NGOs centers.


A team from the Curriculum Development Center, Minsitry of Education has visited the indigenous primary schools for a curriculum project in the year of 2007, one of the member of the team is a preschool officer. As part of the data collection for the ECCE Policy Review she visited the preschool classes in these schools. The boxes below are excerpts providing glimpses of life and difficulties faced by the indigenous children and their teachers. A box of glimpses of a KEMAS preschool as reported by an UNICEF officer is also provided below.

Jimmy, a five years old Penan boy from Sarawak wakes up in the morning and happily walks with his mother to go to his preschool class in SK Kapok, Miri - a national primary school with a population of slightly over 100. The school caters for those from age 5+ to 13, from preschool to grade 6. Jimmy’s class has 25 children, more children than each of the other grades ( 1 – 6) which has less than 20 in each class. All the children from grade 1 to grade 6 are staying in the school hostels. Jimmy’s parents could send him to preschool because the school is near their home, There are many other Penan families who stay far away do not have these opportunity because they need to take a few hours to brave the rough terrain to come to the preschools. They would love to have their children in the hostel, however, regulations state that those in preschool cannot stay in hostel, furthermore the Ministry of Education thinks that Jimmy is too young to stay in hostel. There are efforts now to loosen this regulation to allow accessibility of preschool education for more indigenous children like Jimmy. Jimmy has a sweet smiling teacher who stays in the school, she comes from another community and for her to reach the school, she has to endure 5 to 6 hours of rough red granite road, and only the good old truck can bring her there. SK Kapok is lucky, they have electricity using generator and water supply. There is a large community of Penan around the school, there are some schools with only two students. SK Kapok is among many schools open by the government of Malaysia to bring the indigenous people to the mainstream, equipping them with proper education so that they could advance to higher education. .

(as told by Zaitoon, MOE,2007)


Cikgu Haslinda teaches preschool class in SK Tanah Abang, Mersing. She hails from the the state of Johor at the South of peninsular Malaysia. The school is approximately 100 km from the small town of Mersing at the South-east of peninsular Malaysia. She has been teaching in this school for 3 years. Her students are 100% orang asli. Though some parents works in the plantation, many still depends on the jungle for their livelihood, a life style pass down from generations which they find difficult to give up. The government has helped set up a kampong for them with water and electricity supply as well as good roads. The parents are mainly illiterate. However more of them are realizing the importance of education for their kids now compare to 10 years ago. Aminah looks forward to seeing her students every day, they are an enthutiastic lot and takes great delight in things in the nature. Cikgu Aminah’s class attendance is good, most of her students come to school daily, but the other classes in this school are not so lucky, many do not come to school regularly, some children would follow their parents to the jungle for 2 to 3 months. Though some parents feel that while they go to the jungle, their children should not miss their class, so they are left behind, but there are still many who thinks that they need to bring their children along to the jungle otherwise who is going to care for them. Generally orang asli do not like formal kind of teaching and learning, the preschool curriculum attracts them due to the thematic approach and non-formal atmosphere in the classroom, students have more freedom to move about in the classroom. In order to attract them to school the Ministry of Education has formulated an adjusted curriculum for the lower primary orang asli school. The curriculum taps on the methodology used in preschools where modules are used and parents are invited to school to participate. Food is provided during this activities and food such as flour and bread are distributed to these children and parents after the activities. Since parents say that one day without work means one day without food supply. With the modules more orang asli are coming to schools.

(as told by Zaitoon, MOE, 2007)


Simah Asir holds a job that many of her neighbours feel is unnecessary. She is a preschool teacher in a small village two hours by jeep from the nearest sizeable town, at the end of a rugged road snaking through rubber and palm oil plantations. On this day, she is teaching her impatient students to tear and fold plant leaves into shapes of animals. Simah works slowly around the circle, helping each child work on his or her design. They may not know it, but the children are getting something most of their parents never had; a formal education. The students are mostly from the Temiar ethnic group, one of 18 groups in Malaysia called Orang Asli, or ‘original people’.

“Generally,indigenous parents are still not very interested in education,” said Simah. “They see this preschool as a place to send their children to play and eat. But when they see people from outside the community showing interest in their children, they grow more conscious of the need for education. But it’s hard. We need to this regularly.”

(written by Steve Nettleton, UNICEF Malaysia, 2007)

UNICEF is currently working with KEMAS on ‘cepatbaca’ program for the KEMAS orang asli preschools. The orang asli preschool teachers were being trained on how to use a set of printed reading material to enhance the literacy skills of the orang asli children. Workshops were being organised for the orang asli communities, stressing the importance of boosting early childhood development and offering tips on learning activities, nutrition and child psychology. This effort is in line with Malaysia’s national plan to reduce disparities between rural and urban areas, and between less developed and more developed regions. For UNICEF and KEMAS, it is also a matter of planting skills for a new generation of Orang Asli, so that they can craft their own choices for the future (Nettleton, S, UNICEF Malaysia, 2007)

8.3 REFUGEE CHILDREN

Malaysia has not acceded to the Convention of Refugees and has also reserved Article 28 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Hence Malaysia is not obliged to provide for the education of children of refugees. In view of this, education of refugee children is left to United Nation High Commission on Refugee (UNHCR). Currently NGOs are running informal education classes for some refugee children. Some refugee communities have taken the initiatives to establish community-based schooling for their children.

The number of refugee children is quite substantial as shown in Table 23. The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) has begun towards the end of 2006 sourcing for information on refugee children, children of asylum seekers, undocumented children and indigenous children who are not school-going age and are not in school. This information is to enable SUHAKAM to plan its programme for promoting the right to education of the disadvantaged children.


Table 23: Number of Refugee Children of Preschool Age (4-6 years) according to UNHCR’s record

UNHCR has increased its efforts to implement more activities in the area of education including literacy programmes. As of 2006, Malaysia has 1862 refugee children aged 4 – 6 years as recorded by UNHCR.

Issues of refugee is complicated and controversial. The general feeling is that based on humanitarian ground, help should be given. However, the government and the public is also weary that as more program are formulated for the refugee, would it cause an influx of refugee and created financial burden to the country, this then is also detrimental to the established social structure of the country. It might be the right of the refugee for care and education, but it is also the right of the citizens of Malaysia to obtain the best care and education which might be in jeopardy if too much of resources is allocated for the refugee.

8.4 CHILDREN OF INMATE

Female inmates in the Malaysian Prisons are given the option of caring for their infant children till the age of 4 years. The Prison Department of Malaysia provides childcare for these children.

The mothers are educated on childcare skills, the importance of breastfeeding and hygiene. At the same time, the children are provided with milk, baby food, medical treatments, baby and infant clothes, and other basic needs. The Prison Department is also working closely with several NGOs to provide “sensory activities” for children aged 3 and below. “Sensory Activities” are conducted on a weekly basis in Kajang Women Prison.

As of 2006, the Prison Departments have set up childcare centers in prisons totalling to 10 childcare centers throughout Malaysia. These childcare centers caters to 27 children aged 0 – 4 years

Table 24: Number of Children of Inmate

Year Number of children (0-4 years old)2000 542001 672002 602003 1012004 67


Nationality Male Female TotalMuslim from Myanmar (including Rohingya)

456 440 896

Other Ethinc Minorities from Myanmar

148 161 309

Acehnese 307 266 575Other Nationalities 42 40 82Total 953 909 1862

54

2005 69

8.5 Conclusion

Equity in accessibility to ECCE facilities is still an on-going concern in Malaysia especially for groups such as the indigenous people and special children. Much effort have been poured in to reduce the gap between these groups and the main stream children. With these continuous effort and increased attention, all children of Malaysia regardless of race, abilities, mental and physical condition would be able to have access to quality ECCE.

9.0 QUALITY OF ECCE PROGRAM

Besides providing opportunity of ECCE, existing policies also stipulates the necessity of quality ECCE program. Quality of program is usually visible from the curriculum of these programs. Quality of ECCE program is discussed in the area of curriculum and its implementation, teacher training, physical environment and facilities.

9.1 EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR 0-4 YEARS OLD

Childcare center’s Act requires all childcare providers and minders to attend courses. A standard training materials have been produced by the Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development. The Ministry has appointed 10 agencies to conduct these courses. Content of care and education for Malaysia childcare center is given through these courses.

Content of this Childcare Center Basic Course includes the following areas:


9.2 THE NATIONAL PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM FOR THE 4-6 YEARS OLD AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

Preschool was formally introduced as a part of the national education system under the Education Act 1996. In the year 2003, circular was sent to all early childhood education providers, public or private that a National Preschool Curriculum has been formulated and need to be used in their teaching and learning. The requirement to teach according to this National Preschool Curriculum was later documented in the revision of Education Act 1996.

The National Preschool Curriculum 2003 is the first comprehensive national curriculum produced for the preschools in Malaysia, the target are the 4-6 years old. The aim of this curriculum is to enrich the potential of the children in all aspects of development; ensuring that children master basic skills and inculcated with positive attitude, preparing for smooth transition to Primary School Education. The thrust of the curriculum was built upon six components which are Language and Communication, Cognitive Development, Spiritual and Moral, Socio emotional Development, Physical development and the Esthetic and Creativity.

The National Preschool Curriculum was developed based on the National Education Philosophy as stated below:

“Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards and who are responsible and capable of achieving a


high level of personal well being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the family, society and the nation at large.”

The curriculum design is that of the behavioral model family where specific measurable learning outcomes are identified and learning is perceived as happening as an accumulation of the achieved learning outcomes. Learning theories adopted are those of constructivism and discovery inquiry where students interact with environment, peers and teachers and subsequently construct their own understanding and making sense of things around them as proposed by Piaget and Vygotsky. Rosseau has reiterated that learning in children cannot be forced or controlled. Children will learn when they are ready. Development in each child differs much according to their chronological age, physical wellbeing and emotional readiness; thus each child need to be treated differently. This developmental appropriated practice forms the foundation of the National Preschool Curriculum.

The National Preschool Curriculum advises teachers that the most appropriate approaches for teaching is the thematic approach, integrated approach and learning through play. Students should be given chance for group activities as well as individual activities. Learning centers need to be developed within the preschool classroom according to each component in the curriculum and furnished with materials that could stimulate the development and growth of these children. Learning need to be fun and informal at this stage.

9.2.1 IMPLEMENTATION OF NPC BY THE MOE PRESCHOOLS

All public preschools use the National Preschool Curriculum (NPC). Each year the school inspectorate will organise collaborative preschool inspection where the various divisions within MOE who has specific Preschool Unit will take part. This report would be sent up to the Minister of Education for further action. In the 2005 collaborative preschool inspection conducted from June to August of 2005, a total of 141 MOE preschools (46 urban, 91 rural) were inspected for a whole day lesson. The area of inspection includes teaching and learning, management and usage of teaching and learning materials, safety measures, facilities provided, parental and community involvement.

In the year 2007 two major studies on preschool education were conducted by MOE, these are EPRD Study and CDC Study (refer to Table 4, pg 27). Part of the focus of EPRD’s study is the implementation of NPC whereas CDC Study was wholly on the implementation of NPC, specifically the classroom teaching and learning.

Teaching and Learning Approaches

NPC proposes three major teaching and learning approaches to be used in the teaching of preschools, these are Learning through play, Thematic approach, and the Integrated approach Finding from the 2005 School Inspectorate inspection showed that all the public preschools visited were using the National Preschool Curriculum (NPC). It was found that 79.5 % of the teachers were using the learning through play


method, 83.6% were using the thematic approach and 78% using the integrated approach.

CDC study adopted two research methodologies: questionnaire and classroom observation. In the questionnaire, teachers were asked to fill in their perception of their level of understanding and their view of the usefulness of the various teaching and learning approaches. Respondents were also asked about the approaches they used in teaching the various components (there are six componets in the NPC: Language and Communication, Spirituality and Moral, Cognitive development, Physical development, Sosio-emotional development, Creativity and Aesthetics). With a Likert scale of 1 to 5, the average mean is listed in Table 25.

Table 25: Mean for Item in Teaching and Learning Approaches (CDC Study)

Bil. N mean SDD1 I always use the Learning through Play approach for the following

components:D1a Language and Communication 3623 3.81 0.771D1b Cognitive development 3627 3.90 0.738D1c Physical development 3636 4.08 0.732D1d Creativity and aesthetics development 3625 3.98 0.749D1e Sosioemotional development 3614 3.85 0.767D1f Spirituality and moral 3382 3.66 0.862

D2 I find that students are able to achieve the learning outcome better if Learning through Play is used in:

D2a Language and Communication 3610 3.82 0.827D2b Cognitive development 3623 3.95 0.763D2c Physical development 3619 4.10 0.707D2d Creativity and aesthetics development 3607 4.02 0.732D2e Sosioemotional development 3597 3.93 0.776D2f Spirituality and moral 3358 3.75 0.838

D3 I always use Thematic approach for the following components:D3a Language and Communication 3634 4.19 0.698D3b Cognitive development 3629 3.97 0.796D3c Physical development 3523 3.89 0.855D3d Creativity and aesthetics development 3625 4.14 0.720D3e Sosioemotional development 3614 3.91 0.844D3f Spirituality and moral 3358 3.80 0.903

D4 I find that students are able to achieve the learning outcome better if Thematic approach is used in:


D5 I encounter problems using Thematic approach in teaching the following


Bil. N mean SDcomponents:


Data from Table 25 indicated a high and positive perception of the effectiveness of the various approaches. This finding coincided with EPRD study which indicated also a positive response towards the effect of the various approaches (mean of 4.23 for Learning through play, 4.22 for Thematic approaches and 4.04 for Integrated approach.

However findings from the classroom teaching and learning approaches indicated a less favourable situation. As much as teachers claim they conduct Learning through Play, observations made on 20 schools by preschool officers from CDC as well as State Education Department found that not much of Learning through Play happens in the classroom. Observations indicated that thematic approach was used more to an extent where teacher mentioned the theme or write down the theme on the board at the beginning of lesson. Not much of reference to the theme is made after that. Integrated learning does take place but not to a satisfactory level.

EPRD study investigated teacher’s perception of the usefulness of ICT in teaching and learning, in a Likert of 1-5, the mean obtained was 4.00 with SD of 0.768. In the observation through CDC study, ICT is not used much in teaching and learning.

The conclusion that can be made is that teachers are positive towards the teaching and learning approaches, however they still lack the know-how and need more guidance.

Teaching and Learning Activities

NPC proposed various teaching and learning activities. The usual teaching and learning activities conducted in MOE preschools is listed in Table 26. Activities suggested by NPC but not frequently conducted by MOE preschool teachers are sand play, water play, exploring, dan ‘main pondok’.

Table 26: The Usual Teaching and Learning Activities in MOE Kindergartens (School Inspectorate Report, 2005)

Activities Percentage (%)Question & answer 83.7Colouring 79.4Storytelling 78.0Singing 71.6


EPRD study looked into the activities in term of group activity, whole class activity and individual activity. It was found that the frequency of whole class activity is at a mean of 4.17 ( Likert scale of 1-5), group activity at a mean of 3.70 and individual activity at a mean of 4.00. In short, it can be inferred that the MOE preschool teachers do adhere to the suggested activities provided in NPC.

Understanding of the NPC

Generally MOE preschool teachers understand the NPC. Table 27 indicated a mean of 3.73 to 3.97 for understanding of learning outcomes, teaching and learning approaches as well as the principles of evaluation and preparation of space.

Table 27: Item for understanding of NPC (CDC Study)

Bil. N mean SDD6 I understand the statement of Learning Outcomes given in the Curriculum

Specification for the following components:D6a Bahasa dan Komunikasi 3621 3.94 0.686D6b Kognitif 3622 3.92 0.693D6c Fizikal 3625 3.94 0.693D6d Kreativiti dan Estetika 3614 3.94 0.695D6e Sosioemosi 3612 3.88 0.722D6f Kerohanian dan Moral 3363 3.87 0.718

D7 I understand the teaching and learning approaches stated in NPC

3640 3.97 0.653

D8 I understand the principles of evalution and assessment as suggested in the Curriculum Specification for Preschool.

3635 3.73 0.751

D9 I understand the principles of preparation of space according to the NPC.

3636 3.81 0.742

The use of teaching and learning aids

It was found that 61.6% of the MOE preschools teachers used teaching and learning aids especially for the language and communication component as well as the creativity and aesthetics component. Other than these, MOE preschool teachers often carry out routine learning activities without utilising apparatus/ instruments provided for their teaching and learning by the Ministry of Education. In fact, these teachers were found to be lacking in creativity to utilise some of the toys and instruments provided. Those apparatus are therefore either under utilised or their usage not optimised ( School Inspectorate Report, 2005). CDC study showed a mean of 3.95 for preparation of a variety of teaching aids and a mean of 4.15 for preparation of teaching aids using local materials (Likert scale of 1-5).


Safety measure in preschools

Table 28 provides information obtained from the inspection regarding the safety measures in preschools. The findings indicated that safety aspects of the MOE preschools can still be improved. This includes ensuring provision of fire extinguishers, fire drills and logbooks for recording the movement of children. Data obtained for the private preschools are also given for comparison purpose.

Table 28: Safety Aspects, in percentage (%), at MOE and private Kindergartens

Safety Aspects MOE (%) Private (%)Fenced kindergarten area 75.9 -Availability of Fire extinguisher 75.2 89.5Availability of First Aid Box 83.7 91.2Fire Drill 44.0 36.8Children’s Record: Arrival/ pick-up departure 35.5 66.7

Parental involvement

Parental/ guardian and community involvement in MOE preschools were not very encouraging as indicated in Table 29.

Table 29: Parental Involvement in MOE Preschool

9.2.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF NPC BY KEMAS

Data on implementation of NPC by KEMAS was obtained through discussion with KEMAS officers during preparation of EFA Goal 1 report as well as during focus group discussions, ECCE 1 and 2 where KEMAS officers were invited. A four and a half hours visit to a KEMAS preschool was also carried out where classroom observation was done and interviews conducted with two teachers and one district coordinator.

KEMAS has always maintain close relationship and cooperation with the Ministry of Education, specifically the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) and the School Division. MOE invites KEMAS officers regularly for their meetings, workshops and trainings and vice versa.

Being the oldest preschool provider, KEMAS has its own training facility, monitoring, coordinating and evaluation mechanism. All KEMAS preschool teachers have to attend 6 month course in KEMAS training centers where they were given


Parental Involvement Percentage (%)Excursions 22.7Speech Day/ Prize-giving Day 41.1Working together 51.1Expertise Contribution 30.5Financial help/ Goods provided 58.2

61

input on the use of NPC to teach. KEMAS is currently working with MOE to further train their teachers to diploma level.

Each KEMAS teacher uses the Daily Activity Record prepared centrally to teach each day. KEMAS has put up framework of phases for teaching and learning. An example is given below:

- Phase 1 (2 weeks): orientation- Phase 2 (10 weeks): recognises alphabets and counting- Phase 3 (10 weeks): spelling

Teachers attend training and workshops during school holiday at district level for professional development as well as for planning purposes. Themes for teaching is decided at the district level whereas teachers can choose their own activities suitable for the children. Examination is conducted twice yearly. Monitoring is done mainly at the district level. District supervisors are appointed to take this role.

Text books are centrally purchased and distributed to each preschool. Each student has to pay for the text books in the beginning of the year and subsequently a minimal monthly fee need to be paid. Children from poor family can apply for subsistence. With supervision, each KEMAS preschool is empowered to manage its own finance.

Interview with KEMAS teachers and the supervisor revealed their enthusiasm and accumulated experience in handling children. Though they initially claimed that they understand the NPC, they do encounter some problem when asked to explain certain concept further. There are certain components in the NPC which they find some difficulty in understanding, an example is the Cognitive Development component and the integrated approach. Unlike the MOE preschool teachers who have to obtain the necessary qualification before teaching, the KEMAS teachers obtained only a 6 month initial training.

Data collected indicated that compared to MOE, KEMAS preschool is more centrally controlled in term of teaching and learning. MOE discourages preschool teachers from using text book, MOE teachers can use resources from text book but are forbidden from using one book as text book. KEMAS subscribes to using fixed text book for all of its schools, the rasional given was to standardise the level of teaching and learning as their teachers are not equally qualified. The orientation of teaching and learning differs from MOE to a certain extent, the emphasis on drilling and rote learning seem to be more in KEMAS. During the one day observation made through this study, teacher spent 20 minutes leading students to read alphabets, followed by ‘sukukata’(Ba, be …..), name of the week in Malay, name of the week in English, singing song of the name of week, reading name of month, then Islamic month followed by counting in Malay then in English. Students sit on the carpet reciting after the teacher. However as only one visit was made, this finding might not be a reflection of common practice.

9.2.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF NPC BY PERPADUAN PRESCHOOLS


9.2.4 IMPLEMENTATION OF NPC BY THE PRIVATE PRESCHOOLS

Data in this section was obtained from documents collected through the Private preschool study(refer Table 5, pg 28) which include:

Preschool Inspection report by the Schools Inspectorate, MOE, 2005 (JNS, 2005)

Preschool Inspection report by the Schools Inspectorate, MOE, 2006 (JNS, 2006)

Report on the meeting between 30 private preschools teachers and operators around the state of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor organized by Association of Preschools Malaysia conducted on 11 Aug, 2007 (PTM, 2007)

Case study by Malaysia Association of Professional Early Childhood Educator (MAPECE) where questionnaires were distributed and roundtable discussion was held in July 21, 2007 attended by 24 preschool teachers and operators from private kindergartens in the Klang Valley (MAPECE, 2007).

Private preschool Study where around 100 questionnaires were sent to private preschool operators and teachers, only 22 responded. Focus group discussions were also conducted. (ECCE 1 and 2, 2007)

Permit to Operate

Each year the School Inspectorate and the Private Education Department conduct collaborative preschool inspection. In 2005, the inspection was conducted on 57 private kindergartens. It was found that 73.7% of these private preschools possessed a temporary permit to operate (School Inspectorate report, 2005). Out of the total of 373 teachers in these centers, 61.9% of them have teaching permit issued by the School Registrar. 71.9% of these private preschools have letter of certification


from the Fire Department and local authority. That means there are still private preschools not possessing documents required by the authority.

The Use and Understanding of NPC

The 2005 School Inspectorate report showed that 77.2% of the private preschools visited used the NPC. The 2006 School Inspectorate report showed only 51.95% of the private preschools inspected (N=51) possessed the NPC documents. Findings from Private Preschool Study where interviews and observations were conducted indicated that some of these private preschools may possessed the document but do not fully utilise it in their daily teaching. Only one respondent from the questionnaires replied she does not refer to the NPC, reason being her center was using the full Montessori program. Five (N=19) respondents for the questionnaires said that they use NPC for planning purposes.

Private ECCE providers usually would advertise their centers as providing the National Preschool Curriculum as the basic program. On top of it, some ECCE providers would organized additional program such as music, computer, mental arithmetic. In the 2006 School Inspectorate report, out of the 51 private preschool visited, 29.2% provide additional music programs, 20.8% provide computer lessons and 8.3% conducts mental arithmetic classes.

One participant for the MAPECE 2007 who herself is a private preschool trainer estimated a high percentage of the teachers in private preschools do not know the existence of the NPC. In the questionnaire distributed to 51 preschools teachers by MAPECE, a mere 13.7% said that they know NPC very well and use it, a whopping 31.4% have seen NPC but not used it and a similar percentage of these teachers have not seen NPC but have heard about it.

In general private preschool teachers were supportive of the NPC, they are in agreement with the approaches and strategies recommended in the NPC (PTM, 2007; Questionnaire, 2007). However there are areas in the NPC that they faced problems and confusion. Comments such as below was recorded:

“We use the NPC, it is good, the learning outcomes, objectives, only thing the words. Is it alright if we change the words in the learning outcomes, lets say in 2.3 it is written as weather, can we use fruits instead?” (PTM, 2007)

“I find one section very confusing, page 47, number 11, solving problem, what is the ‘problem’, could anything become a problem?” (PTM, 2007)

“Some very confusing” (Questionnaire, 2007)

“I use the NPC, I like the ideas inside, I use the ideas, but I don’t like the numbering in the documents, it serve no purposes, it takes up time, very difficult for us to sit down and write the numbers……we do own record book, we don’t need the numbering, we just use ideas from the NPC” (PTM, 2007)


“The school gives us ten themes for the whole year. We work on the themes, at the end of the year, when we sit down and look at all the numbering (the learning outcomes in NPC) we found that we have repeated many skills, we have left many of the skills, we didn’t do some of the learning outcomes (the numbering). We found that we have done all the themes, we have focused on the themes, and we have miss out the skills, that is our problem, the theme seem to be the forerunner as mentioned in NPC, the skills seem to be secondary, that is the problem” (PTM, 2007)

“Good, but we need some one who is well versed and all rounded in all subjects to teach the NPC” (Questionnaire, 2007)

“It is good for normal kids” (Questionnaire, 2007)

“It is a commendable effort but not very user friendly for the teacher’” (Questionnaire, 2007)

“Difficult to choose the correct learning outcomes.” (Questionnaire, 2007)

Comments given by these preschool teachers indicated that they have been given very narrow understanding of the NPC and very restrictive regulations as pronounced by some participants “they are people who say cannot change the word in NPC, cannot change the numbering system, the same numbering system need to be in our teacher record book”. It also shows that they do not understand some of the ideas behind the NPC, such as thematic approach and the learning outcomes. To them there are conflict among the approaches suggested in NPC.

The dilemma these teachers face is that when they are confused they do not know who to turn to and apparently there are various opinions around. MAPECE 2007 reported that some teachers commented that the cognitive comments of NPC is not specific enough as it did not specify to what numbers children should learn to count, add and subtract, these teachers expected the primary level mathematics to be taught in preschools not understanding that early mathematics is not only about addition and subtraction. Focus group discussion with some representatives of private ECCE providers reaffirmed that some preschool teachers and operators do not understand the NPC such as the meaning of integrated learning (ECCE2, 2007). At the same time, some private preschools feels that by adhering to NPC which do not encourage excessive use of workbook and homework, their enrolment is affected because parents want homework and workbook.

Teaching and learning strategies

Table 30 showed the various teaching and learning strategies used in the public and private preschools. There is a quite a marked differences between the common practice of private and public teachers.

Table 30: Teaching and Learning Strategies in public and private schools


Teaching and Learning Strategies Public preschools(%)

Private preschools(%)

Learning through play 79.5 52.6Thematic approach 83.6 49.1Integrated approach 78.0 45.6ICT in teaching and learning 28.4 29.8

(Source: 2005 School Inspectorate Report)

Generally the private preschool teachers who responded to the questionnaires sent to them said they understand the four strategies listed in Table 28. Only 2 (N=19) replied that they do not understand the Integrated approach. Respondents had to explain their understanding of the various approaches used in teaching and learning. Elaborations given by them showed that their understanding do not differ much from the NPC except for the following:

Thematic approach is not used in all subjects Thematic approach is only used in Mathematics Integrated approach cannot be used because all teachers are involved in

specific subject teaching.

During the PTM 2007, many preschool teachers give their opinion on how their own ideas complement the NPC. They were very enthusiastic in giving their ideas. Some of their ideas are as below:

“ ….One of the children found a spider in the classroom,…. My lesson become a lesson for spider,…. My lesson change, ……after I go home, I check on the NPC, I found a relevant learning outcome stated there which match my lesson on spider. My original lesson, I use it another day”

“ I fix themes, such as suggested in NPC. The students got so excited. We explore the theme, my students become well-informed with respect to that theme, parents are happy, they say: thank you teacher”

“We need a balance between the various strategies. We are learning three languages, we need language drilling. But of course we need the themes, the activity based. In my kindergarten we have subjects, it is very difficult without subjects, with subject more focus”

The use of ICT in teaching and learning is not frequent in both the public and private preschools.

The 2006 School Inspectorate reports shows that 63.6% of the classes observed (51 classes) used story telling, 58.8% used project work. Water play (11.8%) and sand play (9.8%) were not given much attention.

In general, the use of workbook is prevalent in private preschools. Formal teaching in classroom style is geared towards academic achievement to fulfill the expectation of parents. In comparison, MOE preschools are not encouraged to use the commercial workbook, however KEMAS preschools do use the workbook.


Adherance to hours of teaching the various components

The NPC stipulated that all preschools with the national language as the medium of instruction need to have at least 2 hrs of English per week and 2 hours of Islamic studies if there are five or more muslim students and 2 hours of moral education if there are five or more non-muslim students in the class. Whereas preschools with medium of instruction other than the national language need to have at least 2 hours of national language, 1 hour of English per week. The condition for the Islamic studies applied to these preschools too.

The 2005 School inspectorate report shows that 86% of the private preschools adhere to the conditions of the national language and English language. However an average of 36% of the private preschools observed did not adhere to the conditions for the Islamic studies and Moral Education. During the meeting organized by the Association of Kindergarten Malaysia, participants complained about the difficulty in getting the religious teachers. All the respondents through the questionnaires indicated that they adhere to the time allocation for national language and English language.

Writing of daily lesson plan

The teachers face difficulty when they need to follow specific directives in writing the daily and monthly lesson plans. When asked who is the authority who required them to do so, they couldn’t tell clearly, it could be hearsay or from an unofficial source. One participant has this to say: “ People tell us the NPC is suppose to make our work easy, but now teachers have to do homework everyday, to prepare for the next day, increasing the workload instead of decreasing the work load” (PTM, 2007). To these teachers, the ritual of writing the lesson plans seem to be synonymous to the NPC and perhaps that is one hindrance to implement the NPC in private preschools. MAPECE 2007 too reported that teachers reiterated that writing down all the learning outcomes and their codes (numbering as in NPC) in their daily planning record book is unproductive use of their time, it is time consuming. They felt that the list of learning outcomes cannot be exhaustive as other learning outcomes may be encountered when carrying out the activities. Another teacher suggested that “why don’t we just carry out the activity, at the end of the day only we find the skills in NPC and fit it in, there is no need to find the skills first and write it in the lesson plan prior to the lesson” (PTM, 2007). All these comments indicated the teachers’ distaste towards the tedious and presumably prescriptive methodology of writing the daily lesson plan.

Expectation of the public

Difficulties faced by the private preschools in implementation of NPC is closely related to the demand and expectation of the public (MAPECE, 2007). Parents generally are worried about their children’s readiness to enter Year 1. Thus, they want their children to be drilled with the reading, writing and mathematical skills and they want to see the outcome in the form of test marks. They also consider other hands-on activities as mere play and not serious work and non-productive.


The parents pressured the kindergarten to teach primary school syllabus as some of their children are required to sit for primary school entrance examination for acceptance or streaming purposes(MAPECE, 2007). Such schools are usually the private schools, religious schools or some of the elite public schools including Chinese primary schools. Public primary schools in general are not encouraged to do this. The recently implemented remedial program of KIA2M in Primary 1 classes nation wide have severe consequences in the preschools. In KIA2M students need to sit for a test to ascertain their command of the language and if they fail the examination they would be put into a special remedial group to follow specific programs, three months later they would be tested again. As parents do not want their kids to be put in KIA2M remedial classes, they are adding pressure to the preschools to better prepare their children. This occurrence is rampant among the public preschools too. It was suggested that parents need to be educated about NPC (PTM, 2007; MAPECE, 2007).

Some preschool teachers think that the private preschool operators need to be informed and trained in NPC too as some of them have their own syllabus and teachers are forced to follow them (PTM, 2007; MAPECE, 2007, ECCE 2). One teacher told the story of the owner of the center she is teaching in telling them to complete the syllabus provided by the franchise company and do not need to bother about those children who could not learn (MAPECE, 2007). Others told how their principles advice and pressurized them to emphasize on focusing on what the parents wanted as these parents would compare their centers with other centers and they would lose their business (PTM, 2007). However, during MAPECE, 2007 some teachers felt that parents can learn to appreciate NPC if teachers could communicate with them the philosophy behind NPC.

It is also a concern that quality ECCE is expensive, places where charges is high, physical set-up and staff can be of quality, whereas in places where fees are low, equipment would be minimal and qualification of staff would be low too (ECCE 2). A story was related where a mother and daughter have each set up their own ECCE centers. The mother uses the NPC and many workbooks. The daughter uses child-centered learning, she was trained in US and believes in giving personal attention etc. The mother gets 150-200 students per year, whereas the daughter’s students are far lower than that (PTM, 2007).

Suggestions for Change in NPC

Changes recommended were mainly about abolishing the numbering system in NPC, the need for further elaboration on examples of themes in the documents and providing more training to the private preschool teachers. There are also suggestions that the individual learning pace of student need to be looked into. One respondent suggested that subject based teaching should be introduced at preschool level replacing the thematic and integrated approach.

9.3 NATIONAL PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION


Basically, the National Preschool Curriculum, NPC is being used as a core curriculum in all special education preschools for the visually and hearing impaired. NPC was drawn up by the Curriculum Development Centre, Ministry of Education and consists of the core curricular components of language and communication, cognitive development, religious and moral education, social development, physical development, and creativity and aesthetic. However, some parts of learning outcomes in NPC have been modified to address the special needs of these children. Additional components have also been added to meet the learning needs of these children.

For the children with visual impairments, an extra component called Basic Component has been adapted for them. This component consists of the following content:(i) orientation and mobility, (ii) daily living skills, (iii) sensory training, (iv) low vision training, (v) Braille reading and writing skills, and (vi) computer literacy. The inclusion of this component serves as a guide to meet the needs of young children with visual impairments. Visually impaired children face a high risk of delayed developmental due to their inability or lack of ability to use their limited vision for the learning process.

For the children with hearing impairments, an extra component called Early Auditory and Speech Skills, which consists of the following content: (i) amplification tools controlling, (ii) pre-speech skills, (iii) listening skills, (iv) discrimination of sounds skills, (v) vocalizations skills, (vi) memory-auditory skills, (vii) memory-visual skills, (viii) early words production. This component helps the children with hearing impairments to develop their ability to listen and speak with the help of hearing aids.

For the children with learning disability, an alternative curriculum has been developed for them. This curriculum consists of the core curricular components of: (i) self help skills, (ii) physical development, (iii) language and communication, (iv) religious and moral education, (v) social development, and (vi) creativity and aesthetic. Even though these components looks similar to the National Preschool Curriculum, the content is very much different. In this curriculum, there is also a guide on behaviour management. These behavioural interventions focus on providing individualized support for children with challenging behaviours. In particular, they reduce children’s challenging behaviours by increasing their desirable behaviours through environmental arrangements of antecedent stimuli, positive consequences, and the use of direct instructional strategies to teach replacement behaviours.

9.3.1 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM

Data on this section is obtained through focus group discussion ECCE 1, ECCE 2, questionnaire filled by 28 preschool teacher teaching the Primary Special Education School and 4 classroom observation and interviews made by officers from the Special Education Preschool Section.

The Special Education Preschool Curriculum was formulated in 2006 adapted from the NPC. The Special Education Preschool Section of MOE conduct inservice


courses for teachers teaching in these special schools. They also attend courses conducted by CDC for the regular preschool teachers.

CDC study investigated the many facets of preschool education including teacher’s perception of their own ability in various fields, understanding of the curriculum, the practice of the various approaches, the use of workbook etc. CDC study included 28 special education preschool teachers. Findings from the questionnaire indicates that there is not much differences between teachers from special education and from regular preschools. The mean score is quite similar except for certain items in evaluation. Special education preschool teachers scored higher in term of preparing anecdote, running record, checklist, this is probably due to the need for such record in the special education school.

Special education preschool teachers also scored higher in carrying out of Learning through play approach. Classroom observation further affirm this trend that the special education preschool teachers more often adopt Learning through play method in their teaching. When interviewed all the four respondents answered the most frequent approach used is learning through play. Thematic approach is commonly used in the classroom, however teachers encountered problem such as this: ”Sometime we can’t use the same thing for sosio-emotion and moral, it just doesn’t jive in” , “It is difficult to use theme for physical development component and speaking component”. One of the teacher interviewed said that he/she does not use integrated approach because he/she does not understand the approach. Difficulties that the teachers faced in conducting group activities is that students do not cooperate. These difficulties are similar to that encountered by teachers in regular preschools.

Only one out of the four teachers interviewed expressed satisfaction towards the support given by their school administrators. Teachers yearn for more professional advice and input.

9.4 TRAINING OF TEACHERS AND HELPERS

Quality of ECCE program depends on the availability of sufficiently and effectively trained teacher or helper. National policies on ECCE have specific recommendations on this aspect of teacher training.

9.4.1 TRAINING OF CHILDCARE PROVIDERS AND CHILDCARE MINDERS

Childcare providers are the owner of Childcare Centers. Childcare minders are those who take care of the children in the Childcare Centers. Both childcare providers and childcare minders are required to attend 10 days courses (the Basic Childcare course, KAAK) specified by the Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development, MWFCD. Currently MWFCD has approved 10 agencies to run these courses. At least two trainers from these agencies must be trained by the Ministry. MWFCD has set up an accreditation committee to evaluate application from organizations, private colleges to conduct these courses. The curriculum and training modules are provided by the Ministry. MWFCD is currently working on upgrading these courses to the MLVK level. The plan is to create hierarchical level for different categories of childcare workers. An example of these levels are: Level 1 is for


Childcare minders at home, Level 2 for Childcare minders, Level 3 for Childcare providers, Level 4 for diploma and Level 5 is equivalent to degree. MWFCD conducts written test and practical test after the childcare providers and childcare minders attended the course. Participants who failed the test have to retake the course. In the first six months of 2006, 333 have passed the tests while 128 have failed.

Feedback obtained indicated that as TASKA in rural areas only charge a minimal fee, the TASKA operators find the training fee of RM 480 per person for the Basic Childcare Course too expensive and they cannot afford to spare staff for training.

9.4.2 Training of Preschool teachers

Trained by MOE and universities

All teachers teaching in the preschools run by Ministry of Education are trained and certified with at least a diploma in teaching. Many of them have a degree and master degree in early childhood education. Teachers teaching in KEMAS preschool receives a 6 months training whereas PERPADUAN receives a 3 weeks training by their respective Ministries. However, since last year, there have been a concerted effort by KEMAS and PERPADUAN to work with the Teacher Training Division of Ministry of Education to provide courses to their teachers to attain at least a diploma level.

The main agencies responsible for the training of teachers for certification are Ministry of Education through the Teacher Training Division and the universities. The kinds of courses provided by the Teacher Training Division through its Teacher Training Institute are as follows:

Diploma in Teaching for Preschool (3 years) Post Degree Course ( for conversion, 1 year) In service training ( 14 weeks, 1 year ) Degree courses

Besides the Teaching Institute, various public universities such as the University of Malaya, University Putra Malaysia, National University of Malaysia, University Science Malaysia, Sultan Idris Teaching University and the Open University of Malaysia produce graduates on preschool education too. Students at these universities either pursue their Bachelor Degree on Preschool or Early Childhood education. A sizeable number of preschool teachers in MOE are pursuing their degree or higher degree on early childhood education on a part time basis. The


Ministry of Education also awards scholarship or study leave for some of these teachers. Some preschool teachers in MOE preschools are with Master degree on Early Childhood Development.

Other than the public higher institutions who offer teacher training on ECCE, private colleges such as SEGI college, Andika College, College Pendidikan Perdana, RIMA College offer varieties of courses, some leads to degree or diploma and some are just for certificate of attendance.

CDC study indicated that 90.2% of the teachers are with diploma, 7.6% of the teachers have a bachelor degree. 2.2% of these teachers are either attached to the preschool class as a teacher trainee or are temporary teachers. Diagram 9 shows 54.4% of the preschool teaches have 0-3 years of teaching experience, this coincide with the fact that MOE preschools started to expand only from 2003. Diagram 10 shows that 83.2% of MOE preschool teachers are of preschool option in the their teaching training courses.

IKTISAS

IKTISAS

TiadaSarjana MudaDiploma

Per

cent

100

80

60

40

20

0

Diagram 8: Professional qualification of teachers(CDC Study)

AJARPRA

AJARPRA

16 tahun dan ke atas12-15 tahun

8-11 tahun4-7 tahun

0-3 tahun

Per

cent

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Diagram 9: Number of years of teaching preschools


Diagram 10: Teachers with preschool optionTrained by NGO

One organisation conducting a systematic regular courses for private preschool teachers is the The Malaysian Association of Kindergartens (PTM). PTM has a current membership of over 5000. PTM conducts regular nine steps in-service courses on “Skills Training for preschool teachers’ during school holidays. Attendance certificates are awarded to participants who have completed the courses which consists of the following modules:

o Socio-emotional developmento Preschool teacher educationo Preschool administration/managemento Physical developmento National Preschool Curriculumo Spiritual/Moral Educationo Child Psychologyo Language & Communicationo Creativity and Aestheticso Cognitive Development

These courses are conducted in various parts of the country. Participants of these courses are from the various private preschools regardless of whether they are members or not. PTM also conducts seminars for the private preschools administrators and teachers. Table 31 recorded the number of participants passed these courses.

Table 31: Number of Preschool Teachers Passes the Courses run by PTM


Year Number passes the various steps in the “Skills Training for Preschool Teachers”

2000 692001 662002 1362003 1152004 1232005 1172006 93

73

Besides PTM, the Association of Professional Early Childhood Educators Malaysia (MPECE) runs workshops and seminars for both the public and private preschools too.

Conclusion

Considering all teachers who have gone for some form of training (as little as 3 weeks) as trained teachers, it can thus be concluded that 100% of MOE, KEMAS, PERPADUAN preschool teachers are trained. However, information on the trained private preschool teachers are unavailable at the moment. Private preschools/kindergarten need to report on the status of their teachers when they apply for licence, and according to the Division on Private School, MOE, all of them claimed that their teachers are trained. It is rather difficult to validate this at the moment. Division on Private School is collecting more information on this matter currently. Number of preschools teacher trained as reported by the various agencies is given in Table 32. This table shows the increment of pre school teachers being trained yearly.

Table 32: Number of ECCE Teachers Trained at the Particular Year

Agencies ECCE Teachers trained in the particular year

Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005MOE n.a. n.a. 926 1386 345 110KEMAS 736 145 207 200 0 36PERPADUAN 100 129 193 313 317 352PRIVATE 10031 12163 14533 14675 14454 16649Childcare provider(TASKA) 220 284 461 742 946 1213

Total 12721 16320 17316 16062 18360

9.4.3 TRAINING OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

Most of the teachers who teach in the special education preschool programs were selected from those who already trained in special education and had the experience in teaching the special needs children. This is crucial since the teachers need to have vast experience in handling the special needs children who have no experience being in school. There is no special pre-service course on special education for preschool. To make sure that the teachers are well versed with the curriculum and the know-how of the implementation of preschool programme, Ministry of Education under Special Education Department conducted in-service courses for them.


Table 33: Number of Trained Teachers Attended In-Service Training and Classes under Special Education Department, MOE for the Particular Year (includes

blind, deaf and LD)

Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 TotalNumber of teachers trained

28 56 32 12 128

Number of classes set up

3* 28 32 12 72

Note* Three Learning Disability Classes in the inclusive program was opened in 2003 and was subsequently closed in 2005, since then, only integration classes exist

The teachers who were expected to teach the preschool in 2004 were trained in 2003, and those who were trained in 2004 were appointed as preschool teachers in 2005. In 2004, more teachers were trained in order to be a stand-by teacher, who will help the preschool teachers in special schools if needed, especially to take over the class if the teacher is not around. In 2005 and 2006, the training for teachers was handled in the same year they were appointed as a preschool teacher. Besides the training specifically for preschool, these teachers also attended a few courses conducted either by Special Education Department, State Education Department or District Education Office. These teachers also will be gathered by Special Education Department once a year to discuss and exchange ideas or experience when dealing with special needs children. Some of these teachers attend courses run by Curriculum Development Center too.

9.4.4 TRAINING OF COMMUNITY-BASED REHABILITATION WORKERS

Community-based Rehabilitation Centers are set up by the Department of Social Welfare in the Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development. These centers provide integrated program to the special people (children and adult) preparing them to be independent and integrated into the society. Department of Social Welfare run the following course to train helpers in these centers.

• Community-based Rehabilitation • Basic Community-based Rehabilitation Worker • Advanced in Community-based Rehabilitation Worker • Workers Help Programme • Motor Action Training• Basic Skill in Community-based • Special Children Management • Development, Growth and Care for Children• Care for Special Children • Care and Education for Retarded Children • Early Intervention for Special Children • Using a Guide Line Community-based Rehabilitation


• Ect. organize by JKMN/PKMD/NGO

Curriculum for the above courses includes the following skills: i. Gross Motor Skill ii. Fine Motor Skilliii. Language Development iv. Social Development v. Self Management Skillvi. Pre-academic (Read, Writing, Arithmetic)vii. Rhetoric Activity (Games, Recreation ect.) viii. Vocational Activity ix. Independent Living Skill

9.5 TEACHER - STUDENT RATIO

Table 34 indicated the minimum and maximum number of students per class allowed by each agency involved in setting up of preschools. The national indicator of teacher-student ratio in ECCE programme as suggested by the Ministry of Education is 1:25.

Table 34: Teacher-Student Ratio

Agency Minimum Maximum Ratio (Max.)KEMAS 10 30 1:30

PERPADUAN 20 35 1:35MOE 10 25 1:25

Private 10 25 1:25*MOE(Special Needs) 1 10 1:10

Community-based Rehabilitation Center

1:5

Visit to home by Social Welfare Department

1:10-15

Note: *This the ratio suggested by the Department of Private Education, MOE, many private preschools still exceed this ratio

The teacher-student ratio fluctuates between 1:25 to 1:30 for the regular children. KEMAS and PERPADUAN have set their ratio higher because at the time of inceptions of their preschools, the demand for place was high especially in the rural areas, MOE has not stepped in to set up its preschools yet. As MOE begins to build more annex preschools to the existing primary schools, the demand has lowered and thus in some KEMAS and PERPADUAN the number of students in each class has dwindled.

As for special need preschool under MOE, the ratio is 1:10 which is seen as not an ideal ratio since the teacher is unable to give individual attention, especially


with the various learning needs among the children. Basically the ratio was set as 1:10 to give chances to more children to have the access to the preschool program since the number of programs set up is not many. The Special Education Department intend to review this ratio.

9.6 TEACHER’S SALARY

Preschool teachers in MOE get their salaries according to their qualifications. These teachers are given opportunity to pursue higher qualification through scholarship, partial scholarship or school holiday training. At present, KEMAS and PERPADUAN pay their teachers using one scale only. There are plans to upgrade their teacher to higher qualification and thus in future perhaps their preschool teachers might get higher pay.

Table 35: Teacher’s Salary

Agency Salary Scale Min. Salary/AllowancesRM

Max. Salary/RM

MOE DGA29 1124.57 2428.95DGA41 1474.65 4039.85

KEMAS N11 (contract) 525.62 1296.39PERPADUAN N11 (contract) 525.62 1296.39

Private n.a. 1500NGOs 100

Community-based Rehabilitation Center

500 (fixed)

Childcare providers 800 per month

Teacher’s salary reflects the their qualification, thus, it is obvious that MOE has higher qualified preschool teachers compared to the other agencies. There is insufficient information to compare and comment on the salary between public and private ECCE providers.

9.7 PHYSICAL FACILITIES AND MATERIALS IN CHILDCARE AND PRESCHOOLS

In the 2005 preschool inspection led by the School Inspectorate, it was found that 95.7% of the preschools visited (141 preschools) occupy an area in accordance to the specification for space set by MOE. 91.5% displayed good lighting and ventilation, 97.9% has kitchen, 97.9% obtain clean water.


EPRD study revealed that 69.9% of the preschool classes have cupboard for books, 76.1% is equipped with shoe rack. Teachers are generally satisfied with the basic facilities, space and teaching and learning materials provided in the classroom (In a Likert scale of 1-5, the mean of satisfaction for different facilities and materials fluctuates from 3.64 to 4.15).

There is a difference in the physical facilities and materials provided in MOE preschool compared to non MOE preschools. 67% of the MOE preschool has specific space for dining whereas 65% of the non MOE preschools have dining space. Only 40.8% of MOE preschools have a store room while 66.6% of the non MOE preschools have store room. MOE preschools have better electrical facilities compared to non MOE preschools.

In conclusion, teachers are generally satisfied with the basic physical facilities and materials provided in preschools. The differences between MOE and non MOE preschools are not so vast that it need specific attention.

10.0 MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

The purpose of monitoring and evaluation is to ensure quality of process and outcome of ECCE. As a developing country, though issue of accessibility and equality is still important to Malaysia, quality of process and product is taking central stage. Quality is conformance to requirements or standards. According to ISO International Standard, quality is the ‘totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs’. In this report, this implied needs is that of the care and education of children between the age 0 to 6.

10.1 A STANDARD PROCEDURE IN THE PROCESS OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

In ensuring curriculum produced satisfied the aspiration of the nation and its people as envisioned in the Malaysian Education Development Plan 2001 – 2010, a standard procedure in curriculum development has been set up by the Curriculum Development Centre, Ministry of Education in the form of Quality Manual ISO 9001. Curriculum development process has to follow the procedures given. Get flowchart


10.2 INSPECTION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM

The School Inspectorate is the division in MOE responsible for monitoring the implementation of curriculum and ensuring quality of teaching and learning in the preschools. The School Inspectorate conduct regular, detailed, meticulous and professional inspection of schools and education institutions in order to ensure quality delivery and high standard of education.

There are various kinds of school inspections, serving different purposes. The yearly and more comprehensive inspection of preschools is conducted collaboratively by the School Inspectorate as lead agency with the various divisions in MOE, namely Curriculum Development Centre, School Division, Special Education Division, Education Planning and Research Division, Private Education Division and Teacher Training Division. The divisions involved in this collaborative inspection have specific officers in charge of preschool.

Inspections were done through observation on teaching and learning during the full duration of 3 to 3½ hour of preschool teaching and learning hours as well as interviewing teachers and school administrators. Standard instruments were used. The purpose of these school inspections is to ascertain the current situation as well as to improve the quality of preschool education. Thus, a discussion with the teachers and school administration is usually held after the inspection.

Private preschools are inspected by the Private Education Division and the Schools Inspectorate of MOE from time to time too.

10.3 QUALITY OF TEACHER TRAINING


The following steps were planned to ensure good standard of preschool teacher training:

I) Processing of the candidate seeking entry into Preschool Teaching Training Program

All candidates were selected by a professional board set up by the Teacher Training Division of the Ministry of Education. The main task of this board is to identify the best candidates who will undergo the training in the selected Teaching Institute based on criteria pre-determined.

II) Preparation of the Teacher Training Curriculum

The formulation of the preschool training curriculum is done by experts involved in the preschool education. Content of the curriculum includes the general early childhood education theories and practices. The curriculum takes into consideration the requirement of the national curriculum issued by the Curriculum Development Centre of the Ministry of Education. Many sessions of discussion and refinement took place before it is presented to a board to be certified before being used in the training institutes. III) The lecturers

Experience preschool educators are invited to be lecturers. These lecturers are able to provide reliable and realistic input about preschool education.

III) The Training

Training emphasizes on theory and practical. Trainees obtained hands-on and school based experience. They have to undergo practicum and internship to equipped them with the best quality knowledge to be a preschool teachers.

Training program are developed based on the standard set by Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) which states that:

“the level or intellectual standard (e.g Certificate, Diploma, Bachelor, Master and Doctoral, including the variants) is determined by the learning outcomes the graduates are expected to demonstrate and the quantity of work or learning (credits) necessary for an award at that level”

IV)Feedback after 6 months of teaching

Feedback from head of the school where the teachers are posted after 6 months of teaching to view whether training given is effective or not. Data will be analysed and would determine if there is a need a change or review the curriculum.

To ensure or maintain the quality in the process of teacher training, the following steps are also taken by MOE:


A panel from the Curriculum Unit of Teachers Training Division will visit the Teacher Training Institute periodically to ensure the curriculum were implemented accordingly

The training curriculum were discussed in the annual meeting with the head of department and will be reviewed if there were a change in the national curriculum policy.

Periodical examinations given to those taking the courses. Seminars, workshop and discussion with the related party were held to upgrade

the quality training. The assessments of the training programmes were done by the students to the

lecturers who delivered the content of the programme at the end of every semester.

10.4 HUMAN’S RIGHT

Monitoring of Human’s Right issue are carried out consistently by the various governmental agencies as well as NGOs. Some examples of monitoring are given below:

Inspectorate Unit of the Ministry of Rural Advancement and Territory gathers information regarding the development of the indigenous people of Malaysia.

The Department of Orang Asli (JHEOA) receives and address complaints from the indigenous people.

The Committee on National Children Plan meets twice a year monitoring issues related to children.

• Welfare Unit in Department of Jail monitors the welfare and living quality of the children within the prison walls

• SUHAKAM receives complaints and make recommendations regarding the issues pertaining to violations of human rights

• UNICEFF monitors the child right situations in the country, for example, situation of children with disabilities is monitored so that they are not denied the right of education.

Association of Orang Asli of the Peninsular of Malaysia (POASM) and Center of Orang Asli Concerns (COAC) are pressure groups advocating the plights of these indigenous people.

10.5 THE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACCREDITATION SYSTEM TO RATE CHILDCARE CENTER


Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development is in the process of setting up the Quality Improvement Accreditation System (QIAS) which will be used for rating of the Childcare Centre. At the moment, national indicator has been built and field test done. It is expected to be launched late 2007. This will act as a quality control process for the Childcare Centers. Currently the officers from the state Social Welfare Department do regular inspections on the childcare centers in their areas. A childcare centers could get up to 4 times visits a year from the officers. Inspection is done using a standardised instrument issued by the Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development.

11.0 INTEGRATION IN IMPLEMENTATION OF ECCE POLICIES

Data on this section was obtained from Integration Study (refer to Table 5, pg 28) which include the following sources:

Focus Group discussion I (ECCE 1, 2007) Focus Group discussion II (ECCE 2, 2007) Individual interviews with 8 government officers and private practitioners Questionnaires filled up by 11 government officers and private practitioners

Generally respondents felt that there is an issue of coordination and integration between the various departments within and across the Ministries. The responses differs only in term of the degree of problems faced by them.

11.1 Procedure of registration

The private preschool operators talked about the need to run to various departments to register their centers, not knowing which department to go first, rules changes fast and different instructions were given. Respondents have encountered problem of misplacing of their application forms. There are also incidents of officers not telling all in one visit(every visit they might be told to fill in another new form etc) as told by Patricia as below:

“ The particular authority first said my documents were not enough, I went back and got it ready. The next trip, the officer said that some more documents which he did not mention in the last trip was needed. I got it ready and went again. This time the officer said that the


file could not be traced. I told him that it is all computerized and insisted in helping him to locate my particulars from the database. Currently, my application is still pending, they are still keeping me waiting, I don’t know why.” (Patricia)

Respondents feel that there is a need to form a department solely taking care of all matters related to ECCE. Data base on ECCE need to be updated often so that the private practitioners know what is the new regulations etc. The Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development has since taken action, one stop centers are being set up since 2007. Officers involved in registration of ECCE centers reiterated that the procedure are standard and clear. If that is the case, the issue is then the different interpretation of the procedure.

11.2 Different implementing agencies

Since preschool and childcare centers are monitored by different ministries, operators generally runs only preschools (4-6 years old) or only childcare centers (0-4 years old). Those who are running both preschools and childcare centers need to place their preschools and childcare in different building. Problem such as below was faced by the operators:

“ No continuity from taska to tadika. I run ECCE for children age 2 to 6. I am required to have two buildings, one for childcare, one for preschool because they came under two different ministries namely MOE and MWFCD. Preschools cannot run childcare centers in the same building. Parents with children in both age groups have to shuttle between different kindergarten and childcare center. This lack of continuity affects the welfare and wellbeing of the child. Issues of safety as children are moved between centers sometimes without supervision as their parents are at work do arises” (Questionnaire)

Responses received also revealed the opinion that too many departments and ministries are involved in ECCE, a suggestion that a specific department on children welfare need to be established. This ‘Children’s Affair Department” could ensure children’s best interest are safeguarded and quality ECCE provided.

Issues of different implementation agencies was also mentioned in the ECCE teacher training. Currently both the universities and the Teacher Education Institution(governed by the Teacher Training Division, Ministry of Education) run degree courses for ECCE. A university lecturer had this to say:

“ Teaching Education Institution (IPG) is stronger in their pedagogy because their lecturers originate mainly from experienced teacher from the school. University lecturer is more theoretical and academic. Classes in IPG is smaller. The psychology of reference in university and IPG is different, there is no mechanism to coordinate between IPG and university. The two need to sit down together, work together to produce better result, they must sit together” (Interview)


11.3 Issue of planning for location of ECCE centers

Outcome of the Focus Group discussion revealed the prevalence of issues concerning integration and coordination. Focus Group I raised the main issue of planning and decision concerning location to build preschools. PERPADUAN and KEMAS reiterated that they face a drop in their enrollment when MOE started to build more preschools. Parents tend to favor MOE preschools because they do not need to pay fees there and it ensure the child a place in Primary One in the same school.

On top of it the MOE preschools is also fully equipped and with academically qualified teachers. In 2007, PERPADUAN and KEMAS in certain areas had to make decision to close down some of their preschools and they anticipated the problem will be more intense in the years to come. PERPADUAN and KEMAS request the MOE to inform them earlier about where they want to build the new preschool classes. MOE reported that they have discussion, but the problem still persists. There is a lack of coordination in this matter.

Everyone in the focus group felt integration and coordination is very important as the objective is to ensure all children from all parts of the country have easy accessibility to preschool education. The co-existence of MOE, KEMAS and PERPADUAN, PRIVATE and other organizations as providers of ECCE was not questioned but rather a better integration and coordination system need to be in place.

11.4 Public awareness and dissemination of information

One factor influences integration is due to lack of awareness among government sectors, NGOs and the public about the ECCE polices in place. Respondents made the suggestion that workshops, seminars need to be held to educate the various stakeholders of ECCE.

Generally respondents faced problem of obtaining updated information about ECCE from the relevant authority. The feeling is that the authorities are not being supportive and not committed thus they are not generous in providing relevant information. One respondent has this to say:

“ the biggest problem in the management and coordination of ECCE policies is lack of commitment and cooperation between the various implementation agencies. This happen because there is no central agencies given the mandate to oversee the implementation of all ECCE policies” (Questionnaire)

Dissemination of information could deter the quality of ECCE in the country as mentioned by the respondent below:

“MOE has been proactive in coming up with idea of classroom management, new style of teaching and learning. However, the other agencies, such as the private preschools and the universities


do not know about it. MOE as the big brother need to disseminate new ideas to the rest too. Products of MOE as well as private preschools, KEMAS, PERPADUAN etc enter the same main stream primary schools. If everyone is doing different thing, the fear is that there might be clashes in primary schools” (Interview)

Respondents emphasized on the need to create the partnership between all sectors involved in ECCE.

11.8 Conclusion

Problem of integration and implementation exists. The authorities are aware of the problem and thus efforts have been made to reduce factors leading to integration and implementation.

B) HEALTHCARE

12.0 ACCESSIBILITY TO EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH CARE

Child health services in Malaysia started since 1950s as part of the maternal and child health programme. Since then the programme has been gradually rolled out to all Health and Community Clinics in rural and urban areas. Among the services available are routine visits and examination for children, immunization, assessment of child growth and development, assessment of nutritional status which includes measurement of weight and height. Health education to the parents is carried out during child health clinic sessions whenever necessary. Child health programmes are being planned continuously according to the changing needs of the children

12.1 Primary Child Health Services

Healthcare for the child in any community begins with scheduled visits by the community nurses at the post-delivery stage. The community nurse visits the new mother and child on the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/6th/8th/10th/15th and 20th day post-delivery. From then on, a child with no specific health requirements/problems is expected to visit the nearest health clinics for scheduled visits as stated in Table 36. These visits are free of charge and is offered to all mother and new born regardless of place of delivery, whether in public, private hospital or home delivery.

Table 36: Scheduled Visits for Children to Government Healthcare Clinics

Age group Scheduled Attendance0 - < 6 months Monthly


6 - < 12 months 2 monthly1 - < 2 year old 3 monthly2 - < 4 year old 6 monthly4 – 6 year old Yearly

Apart from the scheduled visits for the newly born, extra visits by the community nurse are carried out to children who fail to attend for immunization. Premature babies, malnourished children, disabled child and child with delayed milestone gets the visit from the community nurse too. If needed, the child will be referred to the nearest healthcare center for specialist intervention.

Primary healthcare clinics are widely distributed all over the country for easy access of patients. Currently, the Malaysian government has managed to provide a health facility within every 5-10 km radius. All Primary healthcare clinics offer mother and child health services. In certain areas (especially remote ones), specific clinics that offer only maternal and child services are set up to ensure the care for the mother and child are reachable. In more remote areas where the public has difficulty in assess, mobile services are offered. Number of primary health care centers expands year by year.

Table 37: Number of Primary Health Care Facilities (2001 to 2003)

State Health Clinic* Maternal and Child Health Clinic

Community Clinic

Mobile Clinic

2001 2003 2001 2003 2001 2003 2001 2003Perlis 9 9 1 0 30 30 0 0Kedah 54 57 9 8 225 222 0 0Penang 30 30 6 6 62 62 0 0Perak 81 78 7 10 253 253 8 6Selangor 59 60 11 7 136 132 0 0FT K. Lumpur 14 15 0 0 0 0 0 0N.Sembilan 38 38 5 5 104 105 2 1Malacca 27 29 1 0 63 61 1 1Johore 89 91 6 3 270 269 2 0Pahang 67 65 8 8 246 246 19 19Terengganu 43 42 2 2 134 131 1 1Kelantan 58 59 3 3 200 199 11 11Sarawak 195 197 23 24 22 21 120 120Sabah 90 93 18 18 195 185 8 9FT Labuan 1 1 1 1 11 11 0 0MALAYSIA 855 864 101 95 1940 1927 185 168*Health clinic provides comprehensive service for all ages in the community including maternal child health, out patient department, support services such as physiotherapy etc.

Upgrading of clinics in terms of infrastructure and services is an on-going exercise. More health clinics is also being developed from time to time.


Although all Malaysian children are entitled to public health care, not all children used the public facilities regularly. In most states throughout Malaysia, the private sectors also flourish to complement the public health services. The numbers of private clinics are higher in more dense and developed areas. The people in the rural areas are still highly dependent on the public health services. Primary healthcare clinics are complemented by hospitals which provide medical based specialist services, amongst these is the childcare.

Table 38: Breakdown for coverage of clinic visits made per children by year (does this include private hospitals, clinics?)

Year Coverage of children (%) Average Visit per ChildInfant Toddler Pre-School Infant Toddler Pre-School

2000 109.5 43.1 17.0 4.0 3.0 1.92001 107.5 43.7 30.7 4.0 3.0 1.92002 97.4 41.1 31.4 4.0 3.1 1.92003 93.3 40.8 13.87 4.1 3.2 2.02004 98.8 54.1 23.3 4.2 2.5 1.22005 102.3 44.6 15.7 4.1 3.2 1.9Note: Toddler and preschoolers do not visit the health clinic as much as infants as they don’t have frequent scheduled visits compared to immunisations for infants.(% of Total population)

Parents mainly visit the clinics for immunisation purposes and assessment of the child’s development. Health Clinic also takes the opportunity to provide health promotion information, to do screening for disabilities and nutrition-related problems.

12.2 Immunisation

Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia provides free immunization against childhood preventable diseases such as BCG, Hepatitis B, Polio, Diptheria, Pertusis, Tetanus, Hib (Haemophillus Influenza Type b), Mumps, Measles and Rubella (MMR). Immunisation is provided to all eligible children as an integral part of the overall package of Child Health Services. It is available at all government health facilities where child health services are provided, both in rural and urban areas. Some parents however opted to let their children obtained immunization in private clinics and hospitals, mostly out of convenience. All children are required by law to be immunized, thus private clinics and hospitals keep records of immunization.

Table 39: The breakdown of immunisation coverage ofdifferent types of vaccination nationwide (by % of total population)

Year BCG Hepatitis (3)

DPT (3) OPV (3) MMR/Measles*

Hib (3)*Influenza

2000 99.9 93.3 95.3 95.4 88.4 -2001 99.3 95 96.8 96.7 92.2 -2002 99 93.1 96 94.8 75.4** -2003 98.2 93.9 98.7 95.2 90.9 -2004 100 93.8 94.2 95.2 104.3 -2005 98.3 91.5 95.4 94.3 88.4*** 84.7


*Hib and MMR immunisation was introduce in stages in July 2002 .**does not include MMR.***MMR only

Generally, not much difference is observed in the immunization coverage among the children in different states/ rural urban strata or girls vs boys. All the states in Malaysia achieve more than 90% immunization coverage (this is the Universal Child Immunization target). The cities and more developed states may actually show a slightly lower coverage (but rarely below 90%) as these areas has more private facilities whose data are still not fully captured by the MOH information system.

12.3 School Health Services

The school health service provides comprehensive service in line with the Health Promoting School Concept by World Health Organizations (WHO). Physical health examination and immunisation are carried out in all government schools as well as government pre-schools. Appropriate referrals to the health clinics are carried out for further management of identified health problems. Apart from health care for the school children, a school health team is also inclusive of health inspectors that carry out inspections of the school building and compound, school canteen and the quality of food served. Fines and compounds are issued to any school who does not comply to the given standard.12.4 Baby-Friendly Hospital

The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a strategy devised by WHO/ UNICEF to make maternity and other health care facilities that manages newborn babies to be protective, supportive and promotive of breast feeding. This means, to be given a “Baby Friendly” status, a hospital has to be protective (does not allow any form of artificial feeding be given to babies), supportive (has breastfeeding nurse to give support and counsel new-mothers) and promotive (gives information on the importance and goodness of breastfeeding).

WHO/ UNICEF awards “Baby Friendly” status to a hospital or a healthy facility that succeeds in implementing the BFHI. In 1993 the Ministry of Health of Malaysia (MOH) adopted the WHO/ UNICEF BFHI. A target was set for all hospitals to attain the “Baby Friendly” status by the end of 1997. Up to December 2005, all government hospitals under the MOH were designated as baby friendly hospitals. Other hospitals were under the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education and Private Hospitals. Prior to this all the ten steps under the BEHI had been uniformly implemented in all maternity wards in MOH hospitals. A non-government Malaysians Breast Feeding Association had also been established.

Table 40: Number and Percentage of Governments Hospitals Designated as Baby-Friendly Hospitals

Year No. of Government

Hospitals

No. of Government Hospitals designated

as Baby-Friendly Hospital

Percentage of Hospitals designated as Baby-Friendly

Hospital ( %)

2000 115 113 98


Year No. of Government

Hospitals

No. of Government Hospitals designated

as Baby-Friendly Hospital

Percentage of Hospitals designated as Baby-Friendly

Hospital ( %)

2001 115 112 972002 115 113 982003 116 114 982004 116 114 982005 116 114 98

(Source: Ministry of Health)

12.5 Oral Health

Schoolchildren have been an important target group of the public oral healthcare services since the 1950s. A structured programme for pre-schoolers has been in place in Malaysia since 1984. Oral health services were extended to pre-school children in private kindergartens in 1985. These were mainly promotive and preventive in nature consisting of oral health talks and tooth brushing drills. The general objective of the service is to create awareness and inculcate positive oral health habits and attitudes.

The 1995 survey of 5-year-old pre-school children confirmed the high prevalence of dental caries and the high level of untreated tooth decay in this group of children. Although the oral health status of schoolchildren has improved through the years, it was found that about 80% of Year 1 school children were still affected by dental caries.

In 2003, the Guideline on Oral Healthcare for Pre-School Children was developed by the Oral Health Division, Ministry of Health. The activities in this guideline include the curative component using the minimally invasive technique of Atraumatic Restorative Treatment, smart partnership of training of pre-school teachers as agents of change to impart oral health messages to the pre-school children.

This programme covers pre-school children and priority is given to government-aided pre-school, and if resources allow, extended to private kindergartens on request. The specific objectives of this programme is to enable pre-school children to maintain good oral hygiene, to ensure pre-school children are receptive to oral health personnel and oral healthcare, to control the occurrence of oral diseases in pre-school children and to enable teachers and carers to provide healthy food choices.

The 2-Visit Programme to Pre-schools

Plan the 2-visit programme

a. The two visits are spaced out within a period of 1 to 3 months, depending on the availability of manpower.

b. Notify teacher in charge of the programme schedule.

The first visit

a. Conduct dental health education (DHE). This session serves to introduce children to oral health personnel in their own familiar surroundings. The short talk also


explains why it is important to care for their teeth and how they can do that.b. Conduct Tooth Brushing Drill (TBD). The children are taught to systemically

clean every tooth surface to ensure effective tooth brushing.c. Do oral health screening to assess the oral health so that the pre-school child is

receptive to oral health personnel and oral healthcare.

The second visit:

a. Reinforce DHE.b. Reinforce TBDc. Conduct role-play.

Role-play, conducted by dental nurses is an activity that allows pre-school children to play the roles of ‘dentist’ and ‘patient’. Through this fun interaction, the children are exposed to the simple procedure of oral health screening. They also get to view the oral cavity and teeth. At the same time it allows the dental nurse to make a quick assessment of the oral health status of the children.

In 2005, 536,081 pre-school children were given dental health talks mainly by dental nurses. 534,081 pre-school children participated in the tooth brush drills and 295,075 children were involved in role-play.

Table 41: Percentage Population Reached (against total population preschoolers)

Table 42: Activities for Toddler Programme Reported In 2005

Source:Information and Documentation System Unit, Ministry of Health


ACTIVITY Number of pre-school children (% population reached)2000 2003 2004 2005

TBD 508,570 (56.1)

616,796 (60.7)

613,018 (59.6)

534,008(51.9)

DHE 474,772 (52.4)

520,304 (51.2)

520,088 (50.6)

536,081(52.2)

Role-play - - 35,543 295075

ACTIVITY No. activities No. participants1. TBD 2,739 29,3612. Talks 11,463 117,2733. In-service training 0 04. Role Play 463 5,3675. Puppet show 57 1,3396. Exhibition 147. TV/radio 278. Community services 109. Others 133

90

Besides children, preschool teachers are invited to oral health seminar too. In 2005, 1,799 teachers from 1,093 government pre-schools and 165 private kindergartens benefited from the programme. Apart from the usual activities like talks, work group discussions and presentations, tooth brushing demonstrations and oral health exhibitions, certain states also incorporated pre- and post-tests for evaluation and organised other creative activities like competitions in puppet show script writing and selection of “Model Kindergarten” or “Tadika Contoh” to sustain interest in the activities. Currently it is a practice in all MOE preschools where children would brush their teeth under the supervision of the teachers after the morning tea break where they take their meals together.

13.0 EQUITY – EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTHCARE FOR THE DISADVANTAGED

13.1 CHILDREN OF POVERTY

Food Basket Programme (FBP) - Nutrition Rehabilitation Programme for Malnourished Children

This is a programme for malnourished children under 6 years old (weight-for-age <-2 Z-score) from poverty households. Nutritious food supplementation is given in the form of various foods. Nutritionists are involved to provide nutrition assessment and monitoring of the target child: provide nutrition, education and counselling of the parent/ caregiver to ensure that the child achieve and maintain satisfactory nutritional status. The Food Basket Programme launched in June 1989 could be viewed as part of the Government’s efforts to address the two long term development challenges facing the country: the need to improve health status, and the need to eradicate poverty. Table 37 shows the number of recipients of this program as well as % of recipients who were ultimately terminated from this program. Termination from this program means that the recipients have achieved the optimum weight.

The proportion of moderately underweight children in Malaysia has decreased continuously for many years to reach down to 7.5% in 2005. The proportion of severely underweight children fluctuated between 0.5 – 1% with only 0.6% severely underweight children in 2005.


Table 43: Number of Recipients and percentage of Recipients Rehabilitated at Termination of Food Basket Programme

Year No. of Recipients Percentage of recipients rehabilitated at terminations of Food Basket Programme ( %)

2000 7,557 54.92001 7,245 51.42002 7,159 47.712003 6,942 49.812004 7,071 50.52005 8,378 54.2Source: Information Documentation System, IDS Unit, MOH

The Full Cream Milk Supplementary Feeding Programme

The Full Cream Milk Supplementation Programme has been implemented since the 1970’s. Infants over 6 months of age, toddlers and pre-school children that fulfilled the criteria of the programme goes for regular monthly attendance at the Child Health Clinics to check for their weight gain and improvement in health. Mothers are also given advice during the visits. Beneficiaries whose weights conform to the criteria are entitled to an issue of 1 kg of milk/ beneficiary/ month for 3 consecutive months.

Table 44: Numbers and average of total new attendance of children below 5 years at The Child Health Clinics receiving full cream milk supplementary.

Year No. of Recipients Average Amount of Milk Supplement given to Children ( kg )

2000 37,822 2.30

2001 32,575 2.52

2002 38,208 2.48

2003 36,818 2.61

2004 33,424 2.84

2005 29,530 2.94

For care of the indigenous groups, the Ministry of Health works hand in hand with the Department of Orang Asli (JHEOA) to provide healthcare to them especially in the states of Pahang, Perak, Sabah and Sarawak. Mobile services are provided where health care providers, assisted by the JHEOA officers visits the indigenous villages in the remote areas for antenatal care, postnatal care, immunization, nutritional support and providing health/ nutritional information. Halfway house is set up for them for easy access of the health care providers, it has been noted that it is


difficult to get the indigenous group to come to the clinics due to infrastructure and social barrier.

13.2 CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Instrument for the monitoring progress in the development of children with special needs

A pilot project was carried out from August 2004 to July 2005 to identify a suitable instrument for nurses in health clinics to utilize when monitoring the progress of a child with special needs. Study involved a total of 40 nurses from the states of Perak, Selangor, Johor, Kelantan and Sarawak. The study compared the use of two instruments i.e. Denver Development Screening Test II (DDSTII) and the Schedule of Growing Skills II (SGSII). Focus group discussions and feedbacks from questionnaires show the DDSTII tool is more feasible to be implemented nationwide.

Manuals on the management of Children with Special Needs

Six manuals have been developed and training conducted at national level to train core trainers from each state. These national training is echoed at the states and districts. Number of staff trained is monitored yearly through reports from each state. These manuals include management of children with gross motor delay (2001), those with fine motor delay (2002), problems with self help skills (2002), visually impaired children (2003), children with communication problems (March 2004) and those with personal social and behaviour problems (December 2004).

Screening for Autism at Health Clinics

Autistic children are normally presented to the health clinic by the parents when they starts showing obvious symptoms at the ages of 4 -6 years old. This has prompted effort from Ministry of Health (MOH) to conduct a screening programme for autism amongst children at an earlier age: between 18 months to 3 years using a screening tool called M-CHAT. Certain Health Clinics in the state of Selangor, Perak, Johor, Terengganu and Sarawak conduct this screening. This is not practised nationwide yet as the M-CHAT tool is still being piloted in the past one year but results so far is showing convincing results which is at par with the international standard.

Prevention and Control of Blindness

Manual on eye care for primary health care personnel was developed in 1999 and was reviewed in 2000. The state Ophthalmologists have been carrying out training at state level annually to community health nurses. In 2005 health education materials, a flip chart on eye care and eye disease for school health team and clinics were developed. A storyboard for educating children in school regarding eye care and eye disease were developed and sent to schools in the same year.

Oral Health Programme for Children with Special Needs


Many children with special needs namely children with physical disabilities, children with severe learning difficulties and children with severe behavioural problems would require certain management techniques to make them amenable to dental treatment. They are incapable of carrying out routine oral hygiene care. Therefore they need assistance from parents, carers, teachers and health providers to maintain their oral health status. A guideline on oral healthcare for children with special needs was produced in 2004. The programme includes all children with special needs in kindergarten / nursery /institutions/ and those attending out-patient clinics.

Monitoring is done through monthly returns of HMIS, a data collection mechanism for Ministry of Health. The coverage for the year 2005 stood at 17,642 special needs children which were collected via HMIS for the first time nationally in 2005. The dental health education activities which include tooth-brush drill saw 20,340 children participating, and dental health talks were given to 20,058 special needs children in the school. The coverage of special needs children has shown a tremendous increase from 1752(part of the oral health programme for preschool children) in the year 2000 to 17,642 in the year 2005.

Rehabilitation services

Ministry of Health works hand in hand with the Department of Social Welfare (A department under the Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development), to provide rehabilitation services to the children with disabilities. In 2005, a total of 2681 cases of children with disabilities were detected amongst children aged 0-12 years. As of 2005, there are 130 health clinics under the MOH that offers rehabilitation programmes. Due to the lack of therapist, the major part of the programme is conducted by Public Health Nurses trained in managing children with special needs with supervision from therapist from hospital or health clinic. The programme includes early intervention activities for children with delay in areas of gross motor, fine motor, and activities of daily living, as well as interventions for children with communication, behaviour and visual problems. These trained health staff also provides technical input to the Community Based Centers within their operational areas. MOH plans to incrementally increase the number of facilities by 10 – 15 centers per year.

Community-Based Rehabilitation

Community-Based Rehabilitation, CBR was introduced since 1983 as an alternative to institutionalization. The first CBR in the country was set up in in Kuala Terengganu by the Department of Social Welfare with the cooperation of the Ministry of Health. CBR adheres to the philosophy stated below:

“… a strategy within community development for the rehabilitation, equalization of opportunities and social integration of all people with disabilities. CBR is implemented through the combined efforts of disabled people themselves, their families and communities, and the appropriate health, education, vocational and social services” (ILO, UNESCO and WHO)


As of 2006, there are 364 CBR centers catering for some 9,260 persons with disabilities (PWD). There are three different models of CBR which are: Centre-based, Centre-based followed by supervision at home, and Home-based CBR.

Programs and activities in CBR are planned based on the following guideline: Inclusion of PWDs at all stages and levels of planning and implementation

including the process of decision making. The overarching aim is improvement of the quality of life of PWDs. Steps taken to create positive attitudes towards PWDs and to motivate

community members to support and participate in CBR activities. Providing assistance for all PWDs needing special assistance. Sensitive to the situation of PWD girls and women. Flexibility in terms of operation at the local level within the local context. Coordination among service deliveries at the local level.

CBR is a strategic alliance between the Government, the community, NGOs, the parents and the PWDs. All parties work together, share resources and through coordinated efforts provide the essential services and programs that can alleviate social and economic problems faced by the PWD and thus enhance the quality of life of these PWDs.

13.3 CHILDREN WITH HIV/AIDS

Prior to 2000 there were 3,555 cases of AIDS and 33,233 cases of HIV recorded. From 2000 till 2005 there were an additional 7,858 cases of AIDS and 40,194 cases of HIV, for a total of 11,413 cases of AIDS and 73,427 cases of HIV. Majority were from the age group 20 – 49 year old. From 1986 to 2006 there 206 cases of HIV and 50 cases of AIDS in age group less than 2 year, and 445 cases of HIV and 116 cases of AIDS the age group 2 to 12 years.

HIV infection and AIDS have become major public health concern in Malaysia. HIV transmission in Malaysia continues to be mainly through sharing needle among drug user (73.6%), followed by heterosexual (14.7%) and homosexual (1.5%) while only 0.8% of the infection are attributed to vertical transmission (mother to child transmission).

Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission Programme

HIV testing for pregnant mother was introduced in 1998 as part of the national intervention to reduce HIV transmission from mother to child. In 2006, the coverage was around 99.5 % of those attending government health facilities for antenatal care. This is a voluntary program which provides HIV testing, counselling service and also provides free antiviral drugs to every effected pregnant mother and her baby. Infants are being given medical therapy for the first 6 weeks of life while being tested at regular intervals until they turn 18 months old. The low transmission rate indicates successful clinical management.


As of December 2006, a total number of 2,925,472 antenatal mothers who attended government clinic (82.3%) were screened, 0.035% (757 mothers) were tested positive and a total of 25 (3.88%) delivered baby were HIV positive. Since the beginning of the screening programme, an average of 4% of babies born to HIV +ve mothers has been found to be HIV-infected.

Table 45: Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (MCTC) programme 2000-2006

Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006No. of

attendance ofantenatal mother

347,979 392,139 387,208 374,386 386,037 361,207 385,976

No of ANC screened

286,390 343,030 359,411 361,152 377,016 349,922 384,027

Percentage screened

82.3 87.5 92.8 96.5 97.6 96.9 99.5

No of ANC detected

HIV positive

85 79 141 177 138 110 170

Babies delivered

85 79 141 152 138 107 62

No of babies HIV positive

(%)

3 1 5 8 2 5 3

14.0 MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTHCARE

Monitoring and evaluation of early childhood healthcare is done through the following inspection systems.

SANITARY AND SAFETY INSPECTION OF THE CHILDCARE CENTRE (TASKA)

District health departments under the Ministry of Health are one of the agencies involved in advising the operator the TASKA / TASKI on the safety and health aspect of the institution and were involved in approving the permit for operating. (% of coverage, Dr Sai)

NUTRITION SURVEILLANCE

The nutritional status of children is monitored through the Nutrition Surveillance Systems (NSS). The systems uses weight attainment for age as an indicator of nutritional status of children aged less than 5 years who attends the government’s health clinics during the months of March, June, and September. Diagram 11 shows the nutritional status of children under 5 years old from the year 1990 to 2005.


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Year

Perc

enta

ge

Overweight

Normal weight

ModerateunderweightSevereunderweight

Diagram 11: Nutritional Status of Children Under 5 Years (1990 – 2005) (Dr Sai, the figure)(Source: Ministry of Health)

ORAL HEALTH INDICATORS

In 2005, both caries prevalence and caries experience among Year 1 six-year-old children are dropping as shown in Table 45. Compared to 1997 when the average percentage of decayed and filled teeth among 6-year-olds was 4.1%, it was 1.31% in 2005. The number of children who have no experience of tooth decay also increased form 19.4% (1997) to 36.8% in 2005. While 8 out of 10 six-year-old children had tooth decay in 1997, it had dropped to just over 6 in 10 children by 2005.

Table 45: % 6 year-old with caries-free dentition

Indicator 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

% 6 year-old with caries-free dentition 24.5 26.2 26.7 27.5 28.8 37

Table 46: Oral health status of 6-year-old children (1997 and 2005)Indicator 1997 2005

Decayed filled teeth

4.1% 1.31%

Caries-free dentition

19.4% 36.8%

Caries prevalence 80.6% 63.2%

Table 47: % 6 year-old with caries-free dentition

Indicator 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005


% 6 year-old with caries-free dentition 24.5 26.2 26.7 27.5 28.8 37

The goal of the National Oral Health Plan 2010 for % 6 year-old children with caries-free dentition is 30%. The achievement of 37% in 2005 based on the HMIS data has surpassed the set goal for 2010.

HEALTH OUTCOME INDICATORS(MORE INFOR)(DR SAI)

The health outcome indicators identified by MOH are the following:

Perinatal Mortality - Deaths of fetus from 22 weeks of gestation to the first week of life.

Infant Mortality - Deaths of infants below one of life.

Toddler Mortality- Death of children from ages 1 – 5 years old.

Maternal Mortality- Deaths of women due pregnancy related causes and complications up till 42 days postpartum.

MOH plans and delivers services to reduce the occurrence of these indicators.QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACCREDITATION SYSTEM FOR THE CHILDCARE CENTERS

Another new development undertaken by MWFCD is the setting up of the Quality Improvement Accreditation System or QIAS, a kind of star rating of the childcare centers. This system defines quality care in childcare centers and provides a way to measure the quality and identify areas for on-going improvement. QIAS will also guide the centers in maintaining and improving their quality practices for the children in their care. This new initiative will shift the focus from meeting minimum standards to striving towards the provision of quality childcare and education. Through QIAS, MWFCD intend to introduce star ratings for the registered childcare centers in Malaysia, starting from one star to three stars. The Ministry expects to launch QIAS and the star rating in August 2007.


15.0 IMPLEMENTATION GAPS, CHALLENGES AND DISPARITIES

The major existing national ECCE legislation in Malaysia are the Child Act, Education Act, and the Childcare Centre Act. Other related policies are the Convention on Rights of Children, The Malaysian Plan, Education Plan, The National Action Plan of Children. These legislations and policies on ECCE provides for right of accessibility, equity and quality of care, education and healthcare to children.

Goal 1 of the Education for All (EFA) calls for better and more possibilities to support young children (age 0-6), and their families and communities, in all the areas where the child is growing – physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually. It also lays special emphasis on children who suffer disadvantage or who are particularly vulnerable, for example those living in poverty, HIV/AIDS, orphans, rural and minority children, and in some situations girls as a whole. Although much has been done in ECCE to ensure the achievement of Goal 1 of EFA, various obstacles remains in the areas of special education, healthcare, preschool education and childcare center.

This section discusses the implementation gaps and disparities between the aspired and the reality in the areas of special education, health and preschool education.


15.1 PRESCHOOL EDUCATION

Accessibility

Until 2005, 59.56% of the 4-6 years old children have access to preschool education. It is believed that there are many more unregistered private preschool around. The figure could go up to 70 or 80%. Public or private kindergartens and preschools are easily found in both urban and rural areas. The data obtained by CDC in 2007 indicating only 5.3% of Year 1 primary school students are without ECCE experience is more reasonable. Generally, parents have no problem of getting their children to preschools.

Education Act 1996 stipulates that preschool is part of the school system. Thus MOE has rigorously set up preschool classes especially in the rural area. In 2006, MOE has set up preschool classes in 3287 primary schools which is 43% of the total primary schools in Malaysia. However once preschool is included as an institutionalised component of education system, the government need to ensure all children have opportunity to enrol in preschool. This means that there is more to do, for example in equipping all schools with preschool classes.

Education Act 1996 also instructs that all preschools regardless of public or private has to follow the National Preschool Curriculum formulated by the MOE. This has been adhered to by all public preschools. However not all private preschools practice this. This implementation gap need to be addressed to ensure quality in preschool education and to reduce the possible divide between the rich and the poor, urban and rural.

The major obstacle faced by MOE in getting the current enrolment and number of private preschools is the resistance by this private sector in registering their preschools. This poses a big problem in getting accurate data for future planning and for purpose of monitoring.

GPI for preschool is slightly biased towards the female, though it is not an alarming issue yet, it need to get some attention at this stage.

Lack of Proper Location for Preschool Building

The three main public preschool education providers are MOE, Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (Tabika KEMAS) and Department of National Unity and Integration ( Tadika PERPADUAN).

One common problem faced by the three providers of preschools are lack of proper location for building preschools classes. MOE plans to build more preschool classes in existing primary school compound, however there is not enough suitable space in many of the schools. Ministry of Rural and Regional Development faces difficulty in finding proper locations to build new preschool buildings. Some of the locations available are quite far from housing areas and poses safety problem. In the densely populated area, vacant land is sparse, this has resulted in some high populated


areas having only few preschools forcing some of the KEMAS preschools accept 30 or more students for a class, exceeding the standard teacher-student ratio.

At present, approximately 4000 of KEMAS preschools are located in their own buildings and 4052 more (as of 2005) either shares or rents public buildings. Besides problems of location as mentioned above, building of such big number of preschools poses a financial strain to the Ministry too. Comparatively, PERPADUAN preschools are built on their own building and faces less problem of this sort.

Qualified Teacher

All MOE preschool teachers are trained. All KEMAS preschool teachers obtained a 6 month training prior to teaching and all PERPADUAN preschool teachers gets a 2 to 3 weeks training while they are teaching. Private preschools are required to send their teachers for training in the various agencies or conduct training on their own. Failure to do this would jeopardize their application or renewal of operating license. The Department of Private Education is looking into ways to enforce this regulations strictly. There is insufficient information in this regard for the unregistered private preschools.

In the quest to upgrade the professional status of their teachers, Ministry of Rural and Regional Development had worked with the public universities for training of their teachers. In 2006, 667 preschool teachers are doing part time diploma courses at Teacher Training Institute, MOE. These teachers will graduate in the year 2009. Ministry of Rural and Regional Development has set a target that by 2010 all their teachers would have at least a diploma in teaching.

Coordination and Standardisation

Having many preschools providers raises issue of coordination and standardisation. The question is whether all these agencies/ministries provide similar quality of preschool education. There is no study or instruments available to gauge the effectiveness and success of these programs. Could policies formulated by each of these agencies/ministries apply to the other agency/ministry? There appear to be duplication of functions and roles among these agencies/ministries. One can argue too that there is a waste of man power and fund as teacher training, production of material as well as school inspection are conducted separately.

Another issue at hand is the lack of coordination in planning for new preschool classes. There is a need for a more complementary approach in deciding locations to build preschool by the various agencies. This is important to ensure maximum usage of resources and manpower and to ensure the survival of all public preschool providers.

Monitoring and evaluation of the National Preschool Curriculum in MOE and private preschools is conducted by the Schools Inspectorate of MOE, however KEMAS and PERPADUAN conduct their own monitoring and evaluation. There is probably a need for standardisation and cooperation.


15.2 SPECIAL EDUCATION

Accessibility

The Education Act states that it is the responsibility of the government to provide education for the special children. The number of classes for special education preschools is increasing but most of it caters for learning disability children. There are only 22 programs for the hearing impaired and 5 programs for the visually impaired. Thus, there is still a big gap in providing education for these children.

A bigger related issue is the lack of national database on the number of children (0-6 years old) with special needs. Without this database, it is difficult to gauge how far the country has achieved its target and difficult to make future plan. At present, data collected by Department of Social Welfare is for children(below 18 years old) in general and not segregated into the various age group.

Inclusive Education

One of the most critical challenges is the teachers’ commitment towards the special education children. The teachers, either the special education teachers or the normal preschool teachers need to have paradigm shift towards the special education children. Since MOE is opening more classes in the integration programs where the normal children will study in the same compound as the special children, the relevant authority including the school should consciously plan activities or ways to include special children in activities attended by normal children. Special children should be given opportunity to study in the same classroom as the normal children. And this will take commitment in both party – the normal preschool teachers and the special education preschool teachers, and even the administrators.Acceptance of Children with Mono-Disability only

There is a need to re-look at policy restricting ECCE accessibility to children with mono-disability only. At the moment, children with dual-disability or multi disabilities are not under the jurisdiction of MOE. This has created some difficulty as most of the special children are found to be afflicted with more than one disability. These children have a right for formal education and action has to be taken to ensure that they are not neglected.

MOE will be reviewing the Education Act 1996 (Special Education Regulation 1997) and will consider the dual disability children to be included as special education children who will be catered by MOE by 2009. The children might be those with visual impairment plus low cognitive, hearing impairment plus low cognitive or low mental ability plus physical handicapped.

Teacher’s Motivation

The special education teachers in preschool settings need more motivation since they are dealing with the children who have few or no experience being away from family. They have to be in the classroom and dealing with various kind of disability for the whole three and the half hours or even more every day.


Parents’ Involvement

Parents’ involvement is well-known as an important element in a child’s development and achievement. It is observed that in special education preschool program, parents involvement are not encouraging and this affect the child’s’ ability in most of the domain. The gap between the teacher, school and parents relationships need to be closed or at least minimized. Research by Zuria Mahmud, Norshidah Mohamad Salleh and Zalizan Jelas(2002) shown that family member’s knowledge, attitude, communication and financial are obstacles in parents and school’s collaboration.

Per Capita Grant

Allocation for per capita grant and food allocation given to special need preschoolers is the same as what the typical preschool children are getting. This means for a class of 25 normal preschool class, they will get RM2500 per year for the per capita grant and RM7500 per year for food allocation, whereas the special preschool class will only get RM1000 for per capita grant and RM3000 for food allocation as shown in Table 48. This is worse if the number of special children is less than ten, since the allocation is getting smaller based on the number of the children.

Table 48: Comparison between PCG and Food Allocation Obtained by Normal Preschool Classes and Special Preschool Classes

Number of children

Per Capita Grant x Number of Students x 1 year(per year)

Food Allocation x Number of Students x days of schooling in a year

25 normal children RM 100

= RM100 x 25 x 1= RM 2500 RM1.50

= RM1.50 x 25 x 200= RM 7500

10 special children

= RM100 x 10 x 1= RM 1000

= RM1.50 x 10 x 200= RM 3000

Special Education One Stop Centre

Special Education One Stop Centre will be set up in Putrajaya by June 2007. The main objective of this centre is to provide free services for special needs children and their parents, in terms of early intervention, rehabilitation and other services. This centre will cater for special need children within the age of 1 year old to 6 year old. There will be officers in charge such as audiologist, speech pathologist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, orientation and mobility and low vision specialist, educational psychologist, peripatetic teachers and early interventionist. As


for now, there are 5 centers operating which are located in Johor, Kedah, Selangor, Terengganu and Melaka. There are 6 more centers which is in Kuala Lumpur, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak expected to have their personnel by October 2007. In Ninth Malaysian Plan, 3 more centers will be set up in Negeri Sembilan, Perlis and Pulau Pinang.

15.3 HEALTHCARE

Health care service covers the nations. The NHMS 96 showed that most of the Malaysian population live within 5 km of a static health facility. The major implementation gap is due to geographical reason namely in the remote parts of Sabah, Sarawak and some parts of Peninsular Malaysia. In these areas, the MOH provides health services via mobile health teams and flying doctor services.

Disease control program has been successful in controlling communicable diseases such as vector bourne diseases, food and water borne disease. The major gap lies in coordination between the many departments and agencies involved in implementation as well as the commitment from the community.

With regards to child health services, there is a schedule for visits to health clinic aimed at following up the child till the age of 6 years. However, visits are not compulsory. This causes a setback in early identification of childhood problems and disabilities, i.e after child has entered school. To overcome this, MOH is currently changing child health visits schedule to include compulsory examination by medical practitioner at 18 months and at 4 years of age. Examination will also include screening for developmental delay.

For children with special needs, the number of trained personnel and facilities are still small. Although condition is improving, there is still stigma in the community regarding having children with special needs, making some shy away from getting appropriate interventions. The public needs to be educated on the needs of the child with special needs and their families. The public also need to be sensitized on how they can play their role as a community member.

Successes

Great achievements have been accomplished in regard to child mortality rates. Infant mortality rate in 2004 was 6.41 per 1000 live births, which are lower compared to in the year 2003 which is 6.6. (In 2001, the rate was 7.1 per 1000 live births). This rate is further improved in year 2005 which was 6.3 per 1000 live births.

Toddler death has been constant at 0.3 per 1000 live births since 2000 – 2002, and in 2004, the rate was 0.3. The leading causes of death are perinatal conditions for children under 1 year old of age while septicaemia and pneumonia are the leading causes of death among children 1 – 5 years old.


Diagram 12: Mortality Rate for Infant and Toddler from 2000 to 2005(source: Ministry of Health)

Challenges

With the achievements to reduce mortality and morbidity amongst infants and young children, the main challenges that are yet to be worked upon are having accessible health infrastructure at the remote areas and to gain the trust of the indigenous people of the remote areas to make them come forward to healthcare services (many still hold strong beliefs in their alternative medicine).

Another problem is the migration people from other country enter to our country together with their family, this will increase health burden to our country and also introduce new disease and increase the number of outbreaks.

The rate of population growth and development does not occur in the same speed with the service expansion. There were always a gap in giving health in total for all citizens, however, the government is continually seeking to improve service provision.

15.4 CHILDCARE CENTERS

There has been a lot of plans formulated and policies reviewed and drawn up by Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development, MWFCD in the past one year to improve the provision of childcare centers and related issues. The full impact of these policies and plans could only be ascertained after a few years of implementation. It would remained as challenges of MWFCD for the years to come to maintain and continuously improve on these plans and policies stated below.

MWFCD is also taking initiative to change the public perception that child minding is a lowly paid job that is only suitable for school dropouts. A task force has been set up to look into the career path of the childcare minders. The Task Force is currently working with the National Vocational Training Council to incorporate the Basic childcare Training into the National Occupational Skill Standards framework.


16.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

16.1 DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN – INDIGENOUS CHILDREN

Orang Asli Children in Peninsular Malaysia

The Department of the Community Development (KEMAS) in the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development has been providing preschool education to the orang asli children since 1992 and childcare since 2005 while Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA) has provided some form of childcare facilities since 2000 through the programme, “Wanita Penggerak”. However, many of the orang asli children are still not benefiting from either child care or preschool education or both yet. Further steps need to be thought of and taken.

Orang Asal (Indigenous people) in Sabah and Sarawak

Child care and preschool facilities in Sabah and Sarawak are utilized by orang asal living in urban areas and accessible rural areas. Those in more remote areas, let alone those in the interiors do not have such facilities available to them. In fact, the orang asal children in certain settlements do not have access to primary school


because there are no schools in their vicinities or they do not have proper documents such as birth certificates. In certain cases, the parents themselves do not see the value of education or they are afraid their children learning a new culture and losing their cultural identity.

To help indigenous children develop to the highest potential possible, they have to benefit from primary education, it is essential for them to have proper care and educational experiences. It is therefore suggested that some young girls or women be given training in basic childcare skills, including activities that help children develop physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally. These childcare providers can then conduct programmes for children in their settlements or communities for both children of ages 2-4 and for mothers with young children.

Indigenous youths with basic or primary school education can be trained to conduct programmes, based on the National Preschool Curriculum for children aged 4-6 years. They should be taught to integrate their cultural practices into the activities or programmes conducted for these children not only to make learning meaningful to them but also to demonstrate that learning is not alien to their culture.

It is important for the childcare providers to be paid by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development and preschool teachers be paid by the Ministry of Education since the former Ministry sponsors community childcare centers and the Ministry of Education conducts kindergartens. These ministries should also be responsible for cost of running the childcare centers and preschools.

16.2 SPECIAL CHILDREN

All the ministries and agencies involved with special needs children have to develop a mechanism that enable them to cooperate among each other in order to ensure the child will benefit from their services. A database on special needs children has to be generated as a national database and not compartmentalized as it is now. With the national database, they can enhance their services on various aspect including registration, medical record, support programme, planning for individual educational plan and others.

Multidisciplinary group such as audiologist, speech and language pathologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, educational psychologist need to be actively involved with the programmes for special needs children, either in public schools or in other agencies. Collaboration among these multidisciplinary groups will enhance the development of special needs children.

A baseline instrument should be develop in order to start a program for a special need child based on his learning needs. It has to be made available for everyone and easy to be accessed. With this assessment a teacher will be able to evaluate the child’s abilities and levels of development and plan for appropriate program for the child.

Parents perception towards the child learning activity should be changed and parents should be educated on how important their roles are towards their childs


achievement. There should be some sort of contract between the schools and the parents regarding the child’s learning needs and development.

To ensure the quality of preschool program for special educational needs children, the teachers should be provided with various skills to carry out the teaching, including in giving individual attention in a group teaching.

The ratio of teacher-student as in 1:10 has to be reviewed since this will give an effect on the quality of the programs towards the special needs children. This is essential since every child needs individual attention based on their learning needs.

16.3 HEALTHCARE

Children with disabilities

Recommended activities to further strengthen the health program for children with special needs are:

Increased efforts in training health personnel with focus on specific disabilities eg. Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism and others, according to needs.

Interagency collaboration e.g. working with Cheshire Home to produce manual on care of persons with disabilities in institutions and homes.

Completion of the training module on care of children with special needs and training module on sexual and reproductive health for children and adolescents with disabilities as well as development of health education materials.

Children with HIV/AIDS

In order to reduce HIV vulnerability among children, the 2006-2010 National strategic Plan aims to:

i. Increase access by children and young people to life-skilled based education(elaborate)

ii. Increase access to youth friendly health and social servicesiii. Create a supportive environment for HIV prevention

There is a need to improve support to infected and affected children including orphans, and highlight the needs for:

• The provision of appropriate counselling and psycho-social support to orphans and other vulnerable children, and to their carers

• The provision of HIV treatments and care for HIV infected children• Their enrolment in school, ensuring their access to shelter, good nutrition,

health and social services and on equal basis with other children• Non-discrimination through the promotion of an active and visible policy of

de-stigmatisation of children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.

16.4 EDUCATION


Monitoring

MOE, Ministry of Rural Development and Department of National Unity and Integration should cooperate to set up a standardise and effective monitoring system. All preschools regardless of belonging to which agencies/Ministries or private should be inspected based on a common set of standard and criteria. It is suggested that MOE lead the monitoring system. Monitoring system should cover the various aspects of implementation of curriculum, teacher training, infrastructure.

Learning Material

There is a need for setting up a coordinating body to look into matters pertaining production and supply of learning materials, either in digital, printed form. This is crucial as teaching and learning material play a major role in ensuring quality of teaching and learning and in helping teachers to teach effectively. Many of the materials in the market could not satisfy the needs of the National Preschool Curriculum. The aim is to ensure quality of materials produced which is suitable for the need of the children. The coordinating body could be an existing department or Ministry. Efforts should be also be made to produce more ICT materials to be used by the preschoolers.

Parental Involvement

Parents play a prominent role in children’s life. Parental involvement with childcare centre and preschools in Malaysia is much limited to parents sending children to schools only. Recognizing that parents play such a significant role in the development of their children, they should be supported in their responsibilities, e.g. through setting up of support group. Consultation services should be provided for parents to discern their needs and concerns. Efforts could also be extended to promote quality family life, the joys of parenthood and the importance of having an extended family network.

16.5 NATIONAL ECCE POLICY COORDINATION FRAMEWORK/MECHANISM

Issues pertaining to ECCE fall under the jurisdiction of many agencies/Ministries in Malaysia. Those not familiar with this situation would get confused. There are also instances of duplication and ignorance of what each other is doing. Thus, it would be good to have a comprehensive National Early Childhood Care and Education Policy Coordination Framework/Mechanism in place. This mechanism will be used to coordinate the implementation of the different policies already in place. A committee could be set up consisting of high officials from the various ministries such as Ministry of Education, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development, Department of National Unity and Integration and plan for regular meetings or combined activities.


17.0 CONCLUSION

Data collected for this report showed that ECCE in Malaysia has progressed significantly in the past decade. Much has been achieved by the many public and private agencies and organizations involved. The presence of enthusiasm and effort can be felt through the many projects and plans conceptualized and conducted. There are a number of established legislation, law and regulation governing issues related to ECCE. The structure for a good and effective delivery system is in place.

The three important focus in ECCE is accessibility, equity and quality. Accessibility measured through the Gross Enrolment Rate is not so satisfactory due to many unregistered centers. Accessibility to healthcare is satisfactory. Gender Parity Index indicated that slightly more female participation than male participation. Equity is promoted and engineered through the many programs for the disadvantaged especially the special children and indigenous children. More can be still be done.

Quality of the care and education is monitored and controlled by the formulation of a standardized curriculum, training of teacher and helper, provision of learning materials, standard procedure in healthcare as well as acquisition of


cooperation and supporting activities from the non-profit or private organizations. However, many challenges remained.

This report has highlighted several implementation gaps which need to be addressed. The biggest gap is in the insufficiency of special education facilities to cater for a larger population of special children awaiting some formal care and education. The gap in childcare center is in getting the private center to register and to ensure quality childcare minders and providers. The gap in preschool education is coordination between the three biggest providers of preschool education, namely, the MOE, KEMAS and PERPADUAN as well as registration of private preschools.

The recommendation proposed include the setting up of a mechanism to coordinate and disseminate information on activities and plans conducted and formulated by the different Ministries involved in ECCE. Otherwise ECCE would seem fragmented in the eye of the general public of Malaysia and wastage of manpower and funding might occurred.

REFERENCE

1. Bahagian Perancangan dan Penyelidikan Dasar Pendidikan [Educational Planning and Research Division]. (2006). Rancangan Malaysia Ke-9 – Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan 2006 – 2010 [The 9th Malaysia Plan – Education Development Master Plan 2006-2010]. Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia

2. Division of Family Health Development, Ministry of Health Malaysia (2000). Annual Report 2000






7. Educational Planning and Research Division (2001).Malaysian Educational Statistics. Ministry of Education.





12. Government of Malaysia (2002). Education Act 1996

13. Human Rights Commission of Malaysia. (2002). Training Module- Convention on Rights of The Child (CRC).

14. Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat Malaysia, Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Komuniti [Departent of Social Welfare, Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development]. (2007). Garis Panduan – Prosedur Memproses Permohonan Penubuhan TASKA[Guideline – Procedure for Processing of Application for Setting up of Childcare Centers].

15. Jemaah Nazir Sekolah, Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia [School Inspectorate, Ministry of Education]. (2006). Laporan Pemeriksaan Prasekolah Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia Peluasan Tahun 2005 dan Pemeriksaan Tadika Swasta [MOE PreSchools and Private Kindergartens Inspection Report 2005]

16. Ministry of Health (2005). Annual Report 2005.

17. Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. (2006). Malaysia – Implementation on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, First Country Report.

18.Pusat Perkembangan Kurikulum. Garis Panduan Kurikulum Pendidikan Prasekolah Malaysia [Guideling: National Preschool Curriculum].

19. UNESCO (2006). Strong Foundations, Early Childhood Care and Education, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2007

20. UNICEF (2006). A Focused Situation Analysis of Children in Malaysia.


21. Zuria Mahmud, Norshidah Mohamad Salleh and Zalizan Jelas (Eds) (2002). Collaboration between teachers and parents of special education students in Malaysian schools. International Journal of Learning, Volume 9

TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Curriculum Development Center (Chairman)Ministry of Education

School DivisionMinistry of Education

Teacher Training DivisionMinistry of Education

Private Education DepartmentMinistry of Education

Special Education Department Minsitry of Education

Education Planning and Research Division


Ministry of Education

Education Technology DivisionMinistry of Education

School InspectorateMinistry of Education

Aminuddin Baki InstituteMinistry of Education

MINISTRY OF WOMAN, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Social Welfare Department (responsible for registration of childcare center)Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development

Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara Ministry of Woman, Family and Community Development

MINISTRY OF REGIONAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Department of Community Development (KEMAS)Ministry of Regional and Rural Development

Department of Indigenous People AffairMinistry of Regional and Rural Development

PRIME MINISTER DEPARTMENT

Department of National Unity and IntegrationPrime Minister Office

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

Division on Disease ControlMinistry of Health

Division on Family Health DevelopmentMinistry of Health

OTHER MINISTRIES

Ministry of Internal Affair

Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication

UNIVERSITY


Faculty of Cognitive Science and Human DevelopmentSultan Idris Teaching University

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION

Association of Registered Childcare Minders (PPBM)

Association of Kindergartens Malaysia (PTM)

Association of Profesionnal Early Childhood Educators (MAPECE)

National Association of Early Chilhood Care and Education Malaysi (NAECCEM)

Protect and Save The Children Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur

OTHERS

Education and Promotion DivisionHuman Rights Commission

UNICEFF Malaysia


INSTRUMENT

A STUDY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM(CDC STUDY)

Note: (1) The same instrument is used for the study on Teaching and learning in MOE Special Education Preschool (2) This research was formulated for a comprehensive study on the implementation of the NPC, not all parts of the findings are discussed in this ECCE Policy Review Report

Teacher Questionnaire

Section A: Particulars of respondent

A1. Teacher’s Code:

For the following questions, please write the selected code in the space provided


A2. Type of School:

Code: 1 = Sekolah Kebangsaan2 = Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina3 = Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil4 = Sekolah Kebangsaan Pendidikan Khas

A3. Grade of School:

Kod: 1 = A2 = B3 = Sekolah Kurang Murid (SKM)

A4. Location of School:

Kod: 1 = urban2 = rural3 = pinggir bandar4 = interior

A5. State:

Kod:1 = Perlis 6 = WP Kuala Lumpur 11 = Terengganu 16 = WP Putrajaya2 = Kedah 7 = Negeri Sembilan 12 = Pahang3 = Pulau Pinang 8 = Melaka 13 = Sabah4 = Perak 9 = Johor 14 = Sarawak5 = Selangor 10 = Kelantan 15 = WP Labuan

A6. Sex

Kod: 1 = male2 = female

A7. Experience in teaching: How many years have you been teaching? (including experience as temporary teacher and teaching of other subjects)

Kod: 1 = 0 – 5 tahun2 = 6 – 9 tahun3 = 10 – 19 tahun4 = 20 – 29 tahun5 = 30 tahun dan ke atas

A8. Pengalaman Mengajar Prasekolah: Berapa tahunkah anda telah mengajar prasekolah sehingga tahun ini?



A9. Umur: Berapakah umur anda?

Kod: 1 = Bawah 25 tahun2 = 25 – 29 3 = 30 – 39 4 = 40 – 49 5 = 50 – 566 = Lebih daripada 56 tahun

A10. Kelayakan Akademik Tertinggi: Apakah kelayakan AKADEMIK tertinggi anda?

Kod: 1 = SPM2 = STPM3 = Diploma4 = Ijazah Sarjana Muda 5 = Ijazah Sarjana 6 = Ijazah Kedoktoran

A11. Kelayakan Ikhtisas Perguruan: Apakah kelayakan IKHTISAS PERGURUAN tertinggi anda?

Kod: 1 = Peringkat Diploma (spt. Sijil Perguruan, Diploma Perguruan,

Diploma Pendidikan, Diploma Ed., KPLI, dsb.)2 = Peringkat Sarjana Muda (spt. B.Sc dalam Pendidikan,

B.Ed., dsb.) 3 = Tiada (contoh: Latihan Perguruan Berasaskan Sekolah,

Guru Sandaran Tidak Terlatih dan lain-lain)

A12. Opsyen: Pernahkah anda mengikuti pengkhususan prasekolah semasa Sijil/ Diploma/ Ijazah Sarjana Muda/ Sarjana /PhD di Maktab Perguruan atau di Universiti?

Kod: 1 = Ya2 = Tidak


Untuk Bahagian-bahagian berikut, sila jawab semua soalan. Anda dimohon menjawab secara ikhlas dan jujur agar dapatan kajian ini sah, sahih dan dapat membantu perancangan pendidikan prasekolah yang lebih baik untuk negara. Identiti anda tidak perlu dicatat dalam instrumen ini.

Tandakan ( ) dalam SATU petak sahaja bagi setiap pernyataan mengikut skala berikut:

Skala

1 2 3 4 5Tidak Setuju Sedikit Setuju Sederhana

SetujuSetuju Sangat Setuju

B: UMUM

Bil. 1 2 3 4 5B1 Saya berminat dengan pendidikan prasekolah.

B2 Saya faham konsep amalan berasaskan perkembangan dalam pendidikan awal kanak-kanak.

B3 Saya tahu keperluan asas kanak-kanak.

B4 Saya berusaha untuk mencari maklumat dan pengetahuan baru yang berkaitan dengan pendidikan awal kanak-kanak.

B5 Pendedahan yang diperolehi semasa kursus prasekolah pra perkhidmatan (di Maktab/Institut Perguruan atau Universiti) sudah mencukupi untuk memantapkan pemahaman saya terhadap pendidikan prasekolah. (Jika tidak pernah mengikuti kursus prasekolah pra perkhidmatan sila tanda 1)

B6 Pendedahan yang diperolehi semasa kursus prasekolah dalam perkhidmatan atau seminar yang saya hadiri sudah mencukupi untuk memantapkan pemahaman saya terhadap pendidikan prasekolah. (Jika tidak pernah mengikuti kursus atau seminar dalam perkhidmatan berkaitan dengan prasekolah sila tanda 1)

B7 Saya menghadiri kursus dalam perkhidmatan tentang bagaimana merancang dan menyediakan aktiviti di dalam dan di luar bilik darjah prasekolah.

B8 Saya mengambil berat tentang masalah murid yang


Bil. 1 2 3 4 5boleh menjejaskan pembelajaran dalam kelas.

B9 Jawatankuasa prasekolah membantu dalam menyelesaikan masalah pengurusan dan pelaksanaan pendidikan prasekolah.

B10 Pembantu Pengurusan Murid memberi kerjasama padu kepada saya dalam pengurusan serta pengajaran dan pembelajaran kelas prasekolah.

B11 Saya mendapat bimbingan dan bantuan dari pentadbir sekolah berhubung dengan pelaksanaan kurikulum prasekolah.

B12 Saya mendapat bimbingan dan bantuan dari pengawai JPN/PPD/PPG berhubung dengan pelaksanaan kurikulum prasekolah.

B13 Masyarakat setempat di lokasi sekolah saya memberi sokongan, bantuan dan kerjasama dalam pelaksanaan kurikulum prasekolah.

B14 Saya kerap dipinggirkan dari acara atau program sekolah.

B15 Saya kerap diminta menjadi guru ganti semasa ketiadaan guru kelas lain.

B16 Penglibatan ibubapa diberi penekanan dalam kelas prasekolah saya.

B17 Pada pandangan saya, guru prasekolah perlu diberi kelonggaran memakai pakaian yang sesuai seperti seluar panjang semasa kelas kerana pakaian kerja yang diluluskan oleh Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia kadang-kadang menghadkan pergerakan guru.

B18 Saya yakin untuk mengajar komponen pendidikan Islam dalam Kurikulum Prasekolah Kebangsaan. (untuk guru prasekolah yang beragama Islam sahaja)

B19 Guru Agama berbincang dengan saya semasa menyediakan dan merancang aktiviti komponen Pendidikan Islam. (untuk guru beragama Islam sahaja)


C: BAHAN PENGAJARAN DAN PEMBELAJARAN

Bil. 1 2 3 4 5C1 Bahan Bantu Mengajar/Bahan Bantu Belajar adalah

penting untuk menjaminkan kejayaan pelaksanaan kurikulum prasekolah.

C2 Saya diberi pendedahan tentang kaedah pemilihan dan penggunaan bahan prasekolah.

C3 Bahan yang dibekalkan releven untuk pendidikan prasekolah dan bersesuaian dengan peringkat perkembangan murid.

C4 Saya selalu menyediakan Bahan Bantu Mengajar/Belajar yang pelbagai guna untuk digunakan merentas beberapa komponen.

C5 Jika tiada bahan yang disediakan, saya masih boleh meneruskan pengajaran dengan menggunakan bahan yang sedia ada/setempat.

C6 Saya menggunakan bahan terpakai(seperti surat khabar lama, botol air mineral kosong) dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran.

C7 Pada pandangan saya, guna semula bahan terpakai penting dalam pendidikan prasekolah untuk memupuk:

C7a Nilai murni jimat cermatC7b Tabiat pemeliharaan dan pemuliharaanC7c Sikap mengelakkan pencemaran alam

C8 Saya selalu menggunakan lembaran kerja yang diambil/difotostat daripada buku kerja.

C9 Saya menyediakan lembaran kerja saya sendiri.

C10 Saya menghadapi masalah dalam menyediakan lembaran kerja yang sesuai dengan keperluan murid.

C11 Saya tidak pernah menggunakan buku kerja dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran.

C12 Saya menggunakan buku kerja untuk komponen berikut:C12a Bahasa dan Komunikasi – Bahasa MalaysiaC12b Bahasa dan Komunikasi – Bahasa InggerisC12c Bahasa dan Komunikasi – Bahasa Cina (jika

berkenaan)


Bil. 1 2 3 4 5C12d Bahasa dan Komunikasi – Bahasa Tamil (jika

berkenaan)C12e KognitifC12f FizikalC12g Kreativiti dan EstetikaC12h SosioemosiC12i Kerohanian dan Moral

C13 Saya menggunakan buku kerja pada:C13a Permulaan pengajaranC13b Dalam proses pengajaranC13c Akhir pengajaran sebagai pengukuhanC13d Kerja rumah

C14 Masalah yang saya hadapi dalam penyediaan bahan pengajaran dan pembelajaran adalah:

C14a Kekurangan ideaC14b Kekurangan masaC14c Kesukaran memperolehi bahan yang bersesuaian

C15 Sekolah saya mempunyai bahan dan buku yang mencukupi untuk saya membuat rujukan sebelum sesuatu pengajaran.

C16 Peruntukan kewangan untuk pembelian bahan p & p adalah mencukupi.

D: PENGAJARAN DAN PEMBELAJARAN (p & p)

Bil. 1 2 3 4 5D1 Saya selalu melaksanakan p & p berdasarkan pendekatan ‘Belajar Melalui

Bermain” bagi komponen:D1a Bahasa dan Komunikasi D1b Perkembangan KognitifD1c Perkembangan FizikalD1d Kreativiti dan EstetikaD1e SosioemosiD1f Kerohanian dan Moral

D2 Saya dapati tahap pencapaian Hasil Pembelajaran di kalangan murid bagi komponen berikut lebih berkesan jika pendekatan belajar melalui bermain digunakan:

D2a Bahasa dan KomunikasiD2b KognitifD2c FizikalD2d Kreativiti dan Estetika


Bil. 1 2 3 4 5D2e SosioemosiD2f Kerohanian dan Moral

D3 Saya selalu melaksanakan p & p berdasarkan pendekatan bertema bagi komponen:

D3a Bahasa dan Komunikasi D3b KognitifD3c FizikalD3d Kreativiti dan EstetikaD3e SosioemosiD3f Kerohanian dan Moral

D4 Saya dapati tahap pencapaian Hasil Pembelajaran di kalangan murid bagi komponen berikut lebih berkesan jika pendekatan bertema digunakan:

D4a Bahasa dan KomunikasiD4b KognitifD4c FizikalD4d Kreativiti dan EstetikaD4e SosioemosiD4f Kerohanian dan Moral

D5 Saya menghadapi masalah menggunakan pendekatan bertema untuk mencapai Hasil Pembelajaran dalam komponen berikut:


D6 Saya faham kenyataan Hasil pembelajaran dalam Huraian Kurikulum Prasekolah Kebangsaan, HKPK untuk komponen berikut:


D7 Saya faham pendekatan pengajaran dan pembelajaran yang dicadangkan dalam Huraian Kurikulum Prasekolah Kebangsaan.

D8 Saya faham prinsip dan kaedah penilaian dan pentaksiran yang dicadangkan dalam Huraian Kurikulum Prasekolah Kebangsaan.


Bil. 1 2 3 4 5

D9 Saya faham prinsip pengurusan ruang yang dicadangkan dalam Huraian Kurikulum Prasekolah Kebangsaan.

D10 Masa minimum per minggu yang dicadangkan dalam Huraian Kurikulum Prasekolah Kebangsaan adalah mencukupi untuk:

D10a Bahasa Melayu (3 jam untuk SK, 2 jam untuk SJK)

D10b Bahasa Inggeris (2 jam untuk SK, 1 jam untuk SJK)

D10c Kerohanian dan Moral (2 jam)

D11 Saya selalu menyediakan Rancangan Pelajaran Tahunan dan Rancangan Pelajaran Harian mengikut keperluan semasa murid.

D12 Saya menggunakan terus Rancangan Pelajaran Tahunan dan Rancangan Pelajaran Harian yang telah disediakan oleh JPN/PPD/PPG.

D13 Saya sediakan senarai semak Hasil Pembelajaran, di awal tahun untuk memastikan pelaksanaan setiap Hasil Pelajaran untuk tahun yang berkenaan.

D14 Peratusan Hasil Pembelajaran yang dapat dicapai dalam setahun secara lazimnya adalah:

100% 75% 50% 25% 10%

D14a Bahasa dan Komunikasi- B. Malaysia

D14b Bahasa dan Komunikasi- B. Inggeris

D14c Bahasa dan Komunikasi- B. CinaD14d Bahasa dan Komunikasi- B. TamilD14e Kognitif – Awal SainsD14f Kognitif – Awal MatematikD14g FizikalD14h Kreativiti dan EstetikaD14i SosioemosiD14j Kerohanian dan Moral

E: KEMAHIRAN GURU


Bil. 1 2 3 4 5E1 Saya mempunyai kemahiran yang tinggi dalam percakapan/pertuturan dalam

bahasa berikut:E1a Bahasa MalaysiaE1b Bahasa InggerisE1c Bahasa Cina (Jika berkenaan)E1d Bahasa Tamil (Jika berkenaan)

E2 Saya menghadapai masalah dalam sebutan:E2a Bahasa MalaysiaE2b Bahasa InggerisE2c Bahasa Cina (Jika berkenaan)E2d Bahasa Tamil (Jika berkenaan)

E3 Saya menghadapi masalah dalam membina ayat:E3a Bahasa MalaysiaE3b Bahasa InggerisE3c Bahasa Cina (Jika berkenaan)E3d Bahasa Tamil (Jika berkenaan)

E4 Saya mempunyai tahap penguasaan perbendaharaan kata yang tinggi dalam:E4a Bahasa MalaysiaE4b Bahasa InggerisE4c Bahasa Cina (Jika berkenaan)E4d Bahasa Tamil (Jika berkenaan)

E5 Saya mempunyai tahap kemahiran yang tinggi dalam:E5a NyanyianE5b GerakanE5c Genderang

E6 Saya mempunyai pengetahuan dan kemahiran yang tinggi dalam teknik penilaian dan pentaksiran berikut:

E6a Membuat pemerhatianE6b Menyediakan senarai semakE6c Menyediakan anektodE6d Menyediakan running rekodE6e Menganalisis dataE6f Menulis laporan

E7 Saya mempunyai kemahiran yang tinggi untuk mengenalpasti tahap kebolehan murid dalam domain:

E7a KognitifE7b AfektifE7c Psikomotor

E8 Saya mempunyai kemahiran yang tinggi dalam:E8a Sains AwalE8b Matematik Awal


Bil. 1 2 3 4 5

E9 Saya mempunyai kemahiran yang tinggi dalam mengurus tingkahlaku murid.

E10 Saya mempunyai kemahiran yang tinggi dalam mengendalikan aktiviti kumpulan.

E11 Saya mempunyai kemahiran yang tinggi dalam mengendalikan aktiviti individu.

E12 Saya selalu mengendalikan aktiviti main pasir.

E13 Saya selalu mengendalikan aktiviti main air.

E14 Saya selalu mengendalikan aktiviti permainan luar/ aktiviti luar.

E15 Saya mempunyai kemahiran yang tinggi dalam merancang dan mengelolakan aktiviti:

E15a Main pasirE15b Main airE15c Permainan /Aktiviti Luar

E16 Saya berpendapat senarai perbendaharaan kata/kosa kata diperlukan untuk:E16a Bahasa MalaysiaE16b Bahasa InggerisE16c Bahasa Cina (Jika berkenaan)E16d Bahasa Tamil (Jika berkenaan)

A STUDY ON THE IMPLEMENTATIONOF NATIONAL PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM (CDC Study)


Observation Schedule

Tarikh pemerhatian:

Nama Pemerhati:

Maklumat Guru:


1. Kod Guru: S1

2. Nama dan Alamat Sekolah:

Bagi soalan-soalan berikut, sila tuliskan NOMBOR KOD yang berkenaan pada petak yang disediakan.

3. Gred Sekolah:

Kod: 1 = A2 = B3 = Sekolah Kurang Murid (SKM)

4. Lokasi Sekolah:

Kod: 1 = bandar2 = luar bandar3 = pinggir bandar

5. Negeri:

Kod:1 = Perlis 6 = WP Kuala Lumpur 11 = Terengganu2 = Kedah 7 = Negeri Sembilan 12 = Pahang3 = Pulau Pinang 8 = Melaka 13 = Sabah4 = Perak 9 = Johor 14 = Sarawak5 = Selangor 10 = Kelantan 15 = WP Labuan

6. Jantina

Kod: 1 = lelaki2 = perempuan

7. Pengalaman Mengajar: Berapa tahunkah guru telah mengajar sehingga tahun ini? (termasuk pengalaman sebagai Guru Sementara dan guru mata pelajaran lain jika berkenaan)


8. Pengalaman Mengajar: Berapa tahunkah guru telah mengajar prasekolah sehingga tahun ini?



9. Umur: Berapakah umur guru?

Kod: 1 = Bawah 25 tahun2 = 25 – 29 3 = 30 – 39 4 = 40 – 49 5 = 50 – 566 = Lebih daripada 56 tahun

10. Kelayakan Akademik Tertinggi: Apakah kelayakan AKADEMIK tertinggi guru?

Kod: 1 = SPM2 = STPM3 = Diploma4 = Ijazah Sarjana Muda 5 = Ijazah Sarjana 6 = Ijazah Kedoktoran

1. Kelayakan Ikhtisas Perguruan : Apakah kelayakan IKHTISAS PERGURUAN tertinggi guru?

Kod: 1 = Peringkat Sijil Perguruan2 = Peringkat Diploma (spt. Dip. Perguruan, Dip. Pendidikan,

Dip.Ed., KPLI, dsb.)3 = Peringkat Sarjana Muda (spt. B.Sc dalam Pendidikan,

B.Ed., dsb.) 4 = Tiada (contoh: Guru Sandaran Tidak Terlatih dan lain-

lain)

12. Opsyen: Apakah pengkhususan yang diikuti oleh guru semasa di Maktab Perguruan atau/dan Universiti?

13. Kursus yang guru pernah hadiri:

INSTRUMEN PEMERHATIAN

BAHAGIAN A: KEADAAN FIZIKAL KELAS

Bil. Komen1 Keadaan fizikal bilik

- sertakan dengan lakaran pelan lantai yang termasuk


ruang dapur, tempat makan, tandas

- anggaran saiz

Lakaran Pelan Lantai:

BAHAGIAN B: PENGAJARAN DAN PEMBELAJARAN (PROSES)Sila tandakan /(tick) di ruang yang berkenaan

Petunjuk: I II III IV DeskripsiTidak Memuaskan

Sederhana Baik Tidak Berkenaan Perlu diisi, maklumat ini penting

Sila isikan bagaimana pendekatan/ aktiviti itu dijalankan di ruangan Deskripsi, lajur ini perlu diisi, data kualitatif ini amat penting dalam kajian ini.

I II III IV Deskripsi1 Pendekatan belajar melalui

bermain diamalkan.

2 Pendekatan bertema diamalkan.

3 Pendekatan bersepadu diamalkan.

4 ICT digunakan semasa pengajaran dan pembelajaran.

5 Aktiviti kelas dijalankan.

6 Aktiviti kumpulan dijalankan.


I II III IV Deskripsi7 Aktiviti individu dijalankan.

BAHAGIAN C: HASIL PEMBELAJARAN YANG DIPERHATIKAN PADA MURID

Nota: Untuk setiap item, sila berikan contoh atau penerangan tambahan. Segala contoh dan penerangan hendaklah dicatatkan di ruangan Catatan. Jika ruang tidak cukup, sila tulis atas kertas lain

C1: Sikap positif dan patriotik

Kebanyakan murid (atau lebih daripada 80%) mempamerkan ciri-ciri/kebolehan berikut:

I II III IV Catatan

1 Sifat peribadi, perwatakan yang positif

- Bersedia untuk menyertai aktiviti

- Sentiasa ceria

- dll.(sila nyatakan)

2 Sifat patriotik- Nanyi lagu ’Negaraku’

- Hormat bendera Malaysia

- Hormat pemimpin negara

- dll. (sila nyatakan)

C2: Bahasa dan Komunikasi


I II III IV Catatan

3 Menggunakan BM dengan baik untuk berkomunikasi

- Antara murid dengan guru/PPM


- Antara murid dengan murid

4 Menggunakan BC/BT dengan baik untuk berkomunikasi



5 Menggunakan BI dengan baik untuk berkomunikasi



C3: Nilai Islam


I II III IV Catatan

6 Mengamalkan nilai-nilai Islam (untuk murid beragama Islam)

- Baca doa makan

- Mengucapkan salam

- Mensyukuri nikmat Allah


C4: Kemahiran Kognitif


I II III IV Catatan

7 Mempamerkan kemahiran kognitif

- Membuat perbandingan /membanding dan membeza



I II III IV Catatan

- Membuat pengelasan/ mengumpulkan mengikut ciri

- Menyusun mengikut seriasi (tinggi-rendah, panjang-pendek dll.)

- Membuat ramalan


C5: Nilai murni


I II III IV Catatan

8 Mengamalkan nilai-nilai murni - Menghormati orang dewasa- Menghormati rakan sebaya- Menjaga kebersihan kelas- Bertutur dengan bahasa yang

sopan- Menunjukkan sifat kasih sayang- Menunjukkan sifat rajin- Menunjukkan sifat

bertanggungjawab- Berani bertanya dan berjawab- Memberi bantuan kepada orang

lain- Mematuhi arahan guru atau

ketua kumpulan- Mematuhi peraturan kelas- Bersedia menunggu giliran- Bergaul mesra- Bersikap tolak ansur- dll. (sila nyatakan)


C6: Kemahiran menyelesaikan masalah


I II III IV Catatan

9 Mempamerkan kemahiran menyelesaikan masalah. (Sila terangkan situasi yang menjadi masalah dan bagaimana murid menyelesaikan masalah tersebut, contohnya kawan tertumpah air di atas meja yang penuh dengan kertas, bagaimana murid mengatasi masalah ini sama ada secara bersendirian atau dengan kawan)

C7: Kematangan emosi dan kematangan sosial


I II III IV Catatan

10 Menunjukkan kematangan emosi. - Boleh mengawal situasi/tahu

bagaimana bertindak di situasi tertentu

- Tidak panik- Boleh mengawal perasaan- Sabar menunggu- dll. (sila nyatakan)

11 Menunjukkan kemahiran sosial- Boleh bergaul dengan orang

lain- Boleh bekerjasama- Bertolak ansur antara rakan - dll. (sila nyatakan)

C8: Kecergasan fizikal, Amalan Kesihatan dan Keselamatan



I II III IV Catatan

12 Menunjukkan kecergasan dan kemahiran fizikal, contohnya:

- Penguasaan kemahiran motor halus dan kasar dalam kelas dan/atau luar kelas

13 Mempraktikkan amalan kesihatan - Gosok gigi- Cuci tangan

14 Mempraktikkan amalan keselamatan yang baik- tahu apa yang bahaya/tidak berbahaya dan boleh bertindak dengan sewajarnya

C9: Daya kreativiti


I II III IV Catatan

15 Memaperkan daya kreatif- kreatif dalam aktiviti tidak kira dalam komponen bahasa, kreativiti dan estetika dan lain-lain.

Bahagian D: Pengagihan Masa/Pemerhatian p & p: (perlu dapatkan pemerhatian sebenar)

Contoh:Masa Deskripsi Aktiviti Ringkasan


Masa Deskripsi Aktiviti Ringkasan

Bahagian E: Jadual Waktu

A STUDY ON THE IMPLEMENTATIONOF NATIONAL PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM (CDC Study)


Interview Schedule


Sokongan pentadbir sekolah

1. Adakah pihak pentadbir sekolah memberi sokongan kepada cikgu? Apakah jenis sokongan? Adakah tuan/puan puas dengan sokongan ini?

2. Pada pandangan anda, apakah jenis sokongan yang sepatutnya diberi oleh pihak pentadbir sekolah?

Pendekatan p & p1. Apakah pendekatan yang biasa digunakan oleh cikgu? Terangkan

bagaimana anda melaksanakan pendekatan tersebut?

2. Adakah anda mengajar melalui bermain? Apakah pemahaman anda terhadap pendekatan/strategi/kaedah ini? Apakah masalah/konstrain yang dihadapi semasa melaksanakan pendekatan ini?

3. Adakah anda mengajar mengikut tema? Apakah pemahaman anda terhadap pendekatan/strategi/kaedah ini? Apakah masalah/konstrain yang dihadapi semasa melaksanakan pendekatan ini?

4. Adakah anda mengajar secara bersepadu? Apakah pemahaman anda terhadap pendekatan/strategi/kaedah ini? Apakah masalah/konstrain yang dihadapi semasa melaksanakan pendekatan ini?

5. Adakah anda mengendalikan aktiviti secara kumpulan? Apakah pemahaman anda terhadap pendekatan/strategi/kaedah ini? Apakah masalah/konstrain yang dihadapi semasa melaksanakan pendekatan ini?

Pemahaman kurikulum1. Apakah pandangan anda terhadap Kurikulum Prasekolah Kebangsaan? 2. Adakah bahagian yang anda rasa perlu dikeluarkan daripada kurikulum

ini? Adakah anda rasa ada bahagian yang perlu ditambahkan?3. Adakah KPK terlalu tinggi? Dari segi apa?4. Dalam banyak-banyak komponen itu, mana yang susah ajar?5. Adakah anda rasa perlu diadakah kursus refresher?

Participation and implementation of National Preschool Curriculum by private preschools (Private Preschool Study)

Preschool Teacher Questionnaire

Note: The same instrument is used as interview schedule for the preschool teachers in the private sector, KEMAS and PERPADUAN

Thank you for taking the time to fill in the form, you are not required to write your name in this form


Where is your preschool situated? ………………………………………………..

How many students do you have? ………………………………………………..

How many teachers do you have? ……………………………………………….

How many classes do you have? …………………………………………………

What are the general background of your students? …………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………

Allocation of time:

1. What time does your preschool classes start and what time does it ends each day?

2. How many hours do you teach the English language per week?

3. How many hours do you teach the Malay language per week?

Teaching and Learning Approaches:

4. What approaches/methods/strategies do you adopt in your or your teachers teaching?

5. Are you familiar with learning through play? Do you/your teacher use this method in the teaching? If yes, please describe briefly how do you conduct learning through play?

6. Are you familiar with thematic approach? Do you/your teacher use this method in the teaching? If yes, please describe briefly how do you conduct learning through thematic approach?

7. Are you familiar with integrated learning? Do you/your teacher use this method in the teaching? If yes, please describe briefly how do you conduct integrated learning?


8. Do you/your teacher uses ICT in the teaching? If yes, please describe briefly how you use ICT in the teaching?

Understanding of Curriculum

9. Have your or your teachers refer to the National Preschool Curriculum (NPC)?

10. If you haven’t refer to NPC before, why is it so?

11. Do you understand the content in the NPC?

12. How you do use NPC in your teaching?

13. What is your opinion on NPC?

14. Which parts of the NPC do you think is not necessary or need improvement?

Participation and implementation of National Preschool Curriculum by private preschools (Private Preschool Study)

Preschool Operator/Administrator Questionnaire

Note: The same instrument is used as interview schedule for the preschool operator/administrator in the private sector, KEMAS and PERPADUAN

Thank you for taking the time to fill in the form, you are not required to write your name in this form


1. Apakah masalah utama yang dihadapi oleh prasekolah anda?

2. Sudahkan tadika anda didaftarkan? Jika tidak, kenapa?

3. Apakah masalah utama yang menghalang anda mendaftarkan tadika anda?

4. Secara umum, bagaimanakah latar belakang murid anda? Apakah sumber murid anda?

5. Berapakah yuran yang murid anda perlu bayar?

6. Apakah isu yang sering dikemukakan oleh ibubapa?

7. Do you think NPC is too high or too low for the children to understand? Please elaborate.

8. Which part of NPC do you find difficulty in teaching?

6. Do you have any other suggestions for us to improve on the NPC or the implementation of the NPC .

Integration and Coordination in ECCE Study

Questionnaire Instrumen

1. Please relate one experience ( or more) you have encountered in terms of lack of coordination and integration in the implementation of ECCE policies. Please state the department/agencies involved.


2. What do you think is a major problem in terms of coordination and integration of ECCE policies?

3. Please give your suggestions on how we can improve the implementation of ECCE policies.

Integration and Coordination in ECCE Study

Semi Structured Interview Schedule

1. Please state the policies you are working with/dealing with. 2. Do you think that these policies are effectively implemented?3. What contradictions/bottlenecks exist in implementation at the different

levels?4. Do you think there is integration between these policies?5. Do you think there is a problem of vertical coordination between the

different departments within your own organisation?


6. Do you think there is a problem of horizontal coordination between the different departments/agencies you are working with?

7. Please relate one experience ( or more) you have encountered(if there is any) in terms of lack of coordination and integration in the implementation of ECCE policies.

8. What do you think is a major problem in terms of coordination and integration of ECCE policies?

9. Please give your suggestions on how we can improve the implementation of ECCE policies./What do you think are the feasible and effective ways of mustering inter-sectoral or inter Ministerial coordination?

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS (ECCE 2)

A workshop was conducted from April, 2008 in Awana, Genting Highland, Malaysia for the purpose of ECCE Policy Review. Four Focus Group Discussions (A,B,C,D) were conducted concurrently during the workshop. On the final day of the workshop every groups convene for a whole group discussion.

The following information sheet were given to each Focus Group.

INFORMATION SHEETS FOR FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

OBJECTIVES OF THIS WORKSHOP:


1. To be aware of the different policies and programs for ECCE.2. To be aware of the targets set by the country concerning ECCE.3. To discuss on how well the existing ECCE policies have been

implemented.4. To examine if the targets set have been achieved, if not, how big is the

gap and what causes the gap.5. To brain storm on what are the gaps and the weakness of the current

status of ECCE policies implementation in Malaysia6. To discuss on the kind of data that can be added in to this study and

how the participants of this meeting can assist in gathering those information/data.

TASK:

Each group is given a file with information of the relevant ECCE polices related to the specific issues assigned to each group. Examine these policies. Discuss about how well these policies have been achieved. Discuss about the gap between the aspired and the implemented. Look at the EFA-Goal 1 MDA Report to read about information and data obtained thus far about the issues assigned to the group. Discuss on what kind of data you think is necessary for us to gather in order that we know how well the country have implemented the ECCE policies, suggest how you can help to gather those information.

Elect a leader to facilitate discussion. Elect one or two persons to jot down/write down the discussion. Use the flip chart, write down your discussion there. Type out the discussion into the computer.

Use the questions provided to each group as a guide for discussion.

Group Areas of Concern Group Members(Representatives from...)

A PARITICIPATION OF THE PRIVATE SECTORS

- Accessibility to ECCE- Implementation of National Preschool

Curriculum- Implementation of ECCE program:

Tadika, Taska

- Private School Division- PTM- NACCEEM- PPBM- Islamic Kindergarten

Association- MAPECE


Brief writeup on the following policies documents were provided:1. Convention on the rights of the child (CRC) 2. Child Act 2001 (Act 611)3. Childcare Centers Act 1984 and Childcare Centers Act (Amendment) 2007

(Act 308)4. The Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Policy 20075. Education Act 1996 (Act 550) 6. Private kindergarten regulations

QUESTIONS TO BE PONDERED UPON (some examples):1. How well have the private sectors been able to contribute towards the

fulfillment and implementation of the above ECCE policies?2. Information collected showed that many private kindergarten and taska are not

registered. What are the issues faced by the private sectors that causes them not to register their kindergarten/taska?

3. Why aren’t some of the private tadika implement the National Preschool Curriculum? What are the problems faced?

4. In your opinion have the private taska and tadika generally providing quality care and education? What are the problems faced?


B EQUITY IN ACCESSIBILITY – ECCE for the indigenous children

- SUHAKAM- Special Education

Department- MWFCD- KEMAS- JHEOA

EQUITY IN ACCESSIBILITY – ECCE for the special children

Brief writeup on the following policies documents were provided:1. Convention on the rights of the child (CRC) 2. Child Act 2001 (Act 611)3. National Policy on Indigenous Child4. National Policy on Disabled Child5. Education Act 1996(Regulation of Special Education 1997)6. National Child Protection Policy

QUESTIONS TO BE PONDERED UPON(some examples):1. How well are we able to provide ECCE for indigenous children? What are

the problems faced?2. How well are we able to ensure equity of accessibility to ECCE for the

special children?3. What are the problems faced in ensuring equity of ECCE to the special

children?


C QUALITY OF ECCE PROGRAM – - CDC


Implementation of National Preschool Curriculum in public preschools

- KEMAS- PERPADUAN- JNS

Brief writeup on the following policies documents were provided:1. Convention on the rights of the child (CRC) 2. Child Act 2001 (Act 611)3. The Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Policy 20074. Education Act 1996 (Act 550) 5. The National Education Policy 6. The 9th Malaysia Plan – Education Development Master Plan (Pelan Induk

Pembangunan Pendidikan), PIPP 2006 – 20107. The National Action Plan of Children

QUESTIONS TO BE PONDERED UPON(some examples):

Task:1. Examine the report presented by EPRD and JNS. 2. CDC officer please provide some preliminary finding on CDC study.3. KEMAS and PERPADUAN please provide some input on issues related to

implementation of NPC.4. Consolidate all the findings/information above and answer the questions

below.

Questions:o How well have we implemented the National Preschool Curriculum in public

preschools: MOE, KEMAS, PERPADUAN?o What are the problems faced in implementing the NPC?


D QUALITY OF ECCE PROGRAM – Physical facilities and materials

- CDC- EPRD- School Division- Teacher Training

Division- Ministry of

Health- University

QUALITY OF ECCE PROGRAM – Teachers/ Helpers

QUALITY OF ECCE PROGRAM – The Health aspect


Brief writeup on the following policies documents were provided:1. The Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Policy 20072. The National Education Policy 3. The 9th Malaysia Plan – Education Development Master Plan (Pelan Induk

Pembangunan Pendidikan), PIPP 2006 – 20104. Healthcare policy5. Child Health Services Policies6. National Nutrition Policy7. Safe Water and Sanitation Policy

QUESTIONS TO BE PONDERED UPON(some examples):

Physical facilities and Teachers/helpers

Task:1. Examine the report presented by EPRD and Jemaah Nazir2. CDC officer please provide some preliminary finding on CDC’s study.3. KEMAS and PERPADUAN please provide some input on issues related to

provision of facilities in the tadika/tabika/taska.4. Consolidate all the findings/information above and answer the questions

below.5. There are many gaps in terms of data/information for this issue, discuss on

how to assist us in obtaining relevant data for this issue.

Questions:1. How well are the public preschools (MOE, KEMAS, PERPADUAN)

equipped? 2. What are the problems faced in equipping the public preschools?3. How well trained are our teachers and helpers(MOE, KEMAS,

PERPADUAN)?4. What are the problems faced in ensuring the teachers and helpers are trained?5. How can the participants of this workshop assist us in gathering the

information needed to examine how well we have implemented the policy in providing quality facilities and services to the ECCE fraternity?

Healthcare:Questions:

1. Are the information provided in the EFA-Goal 1 MDA report on ECCE healthcare sufficient?

2. Are there any research finding on ECCE healthcare, how can we obtained findings of these research?

3. How well are we able to provide quality healthcare to the children?4. Have we achieve the targets set by country concerning ECCE healthcare?


Documents

Goal 1 Early Childhood Care and · Web viewMonitoring and Evaluation of Early childhood Care and education 78 10.1 A standard procedure in the process of curriculum development 78