Management of Effective Schools in Malaysia:
Issues and Challenges
Dr. Kamarulzaman Kamaruddin, Faculty of Cognitive Science & Human Resource Development,
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
ABSTRACT
By the year 2010 the Malaysian
Ministry of Education (MOE) has targeted that all schools in Malaysia will be
Smart Schools. Before the agenda becomes a reality it is the responsibility of the ministry to work on all regular schools so that
they become effective schools. Many educational psychologists believe that
effective schools must have a strong instructional leadership, shared vision and goals,
high
academic expectation, systematic evaluation procedures, safe and
conducive learning environment, School and class size and home-school relationship. Apart from these, effective schools should be viewed from the perspective of holistic national and international issues that present challenges to its effectiveness and global relevancy. Looking at this situation, there are groups of people who claim that there are many
schools in Malaysia that have not fulfilled the qualities of an effective school. Anyway, the ministry is not keeping
numb but is taking efforts so that effective schools can become a reality nationwide.
Therefore, this paper attempts to discuss the issues and challenges regarding the management of effective schools in Malaysia. In pursuant to this, data
were collected from previous studies done in Malaysia, survey done on various regular schools in the district of Tanjong Malim and Ulu Selangor
and
interviews with 82
headteachers who are
pursuing
their degree
in
Educational Management
at Universiti Pendidikan
Sultan Idris (UPSI). Perhaps this paper can give some insight into the issues
which can be solicited
and efforts can be taken to improve the management of regular schools in Malaysia.
INTRODUCTION
Malaysia is a multicultural country comprising three major ethnic group i.e., Malays and Bumiputras (58.1%), Chinese (32.1%) and Indians (8.3%) (Malaysia Kita, 2000). Sensitive to the multi-ethnic of the population, Malaysia has set up two categories of regular school i.e. the National and National-type school. The National schools use Malay
language as the
medium of instruction and English is
a compulsory subject while the National-type school use
Mandarin and Tamil as the medium of instruction and Malay and English language are compulsory
subjects. Table 1
shows the number of regular schools and classes in the various types of government and government
-assisted schools.
Table 1: Number of School and Class in Government and Government- Assisted Schools
Types
of School
|
Number of Schools
|
Number of Classes
|
Primary School
National School
National School Type (Chinese)
National School Type (Tamil) Special School
|
5777
1288
523
28
|
80007
18981
4433
290
|
Secondary School
Regular School
Fully Residential School Religious School Technical School
Special School
|
1831
54
55
90
4
|
63946
1250
1382
2670
4
|
Source: Malaysian Educational Statistics 2006
As we all can observe, the formal education
in Malaysia begins in primary school which covers a total period of
six
years. At the primary school level, New Primary School Curriculum (NPSC) has been developed for the education of young children aged seven to twelve years old. It is aimed to provide a good foundation for the students to be proficient
in reading, writing and arithmetic. At the end of year six, students will be assessed for the Primary School Assessment Test (PSAT). Irrespective of their performance in the PSAT, students will be promoted to Secondary One,
the
foundation
year of secondary education. Secondary education is divided into two main levels: lower secondary and upper
secondary. The Malaysian lower secondary education prepares students to develop skills needed
in life and to be
useful citizens. The Integrated Secondary School Curriculum (ISSC) syllabus is developed to suit the needs and
aspirations of the country. After completing
the third year, the students are required to take a national assessment test,
Lower Secondary Assessment (LSA). Students’ performance in LSA will determine their academic streaming to the
upper secondary
i.e., whether in science, arts, technical or vocational streams. After two years in upper secondary
education, students will again be assessed by a compulsory national examination, Malaysian Certificate of Examination
(MCE) or Vocational Malaysian Certificate of Examination (VMCE), as in the case of the vocational streaming.
Eventually, if we wish to see the continuity of our nation’s education quality
then effective schools should not be seen in the context of secondary schools but also from earlier stages of primary school.
Since independence, we have witnessed various changes in the Malaysian
education system. As a developing nation, the objective of the education system is to accomplish
training of skills which will not only produce a pool of
well-educated, skilled and highly motivated workers, but also citizens with high moral and ethical values. This is why
the
quality of education system is so important in order to make this vision a reality. Indeed, effort is required to prepare the education system to face the challenges in the new millennium. Malaysian schooling culture must be transformed to
one
that will enable the graduates to perform in a global working environment in this information age. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Education has implemented various educational cultures such as Expectation School, Vision School, Smart School, and lately
the Cluster School. The Ministry has targeted to convert all schools in Malaysia
to be Smart Schools by the year 2010. As preparation to achieve this goal, MOE has to look at characteristics of effective schools as a
benchmark.
Effective School is a concept which comes in many shapes and sizes, and communities
across the country have that can be devised in various ways to create excellent schools. However, it shares a number of common characteristics such as a strong instructional
leadership, systematic evaluation procedures to determine students’ progress, good
structural design, well-defined
rules and discipline to create safe and conducive environment, class size and home-
school relationship.
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Both primary and secondary schools encountered many similar management issues. As a learning institution, one of the main issues is the management of school managers especially where their leadership and governance is concerned. Apart from this, Santrock (2001) the school managers of learning organization are responsible in establishing the safe
and
conducive learning environment in schools and therefore related to school and class size as well as home-school
partnership. Meanwhile, the classrooms where teaching and learning take place need to be managed effectively. Therefore, it is the responsibility of headteacher as the manager of primary school and principals as the manager of
secondary school to design the physical environment of the classroom for optimal learning, create positive environment for learning, establish and maintain rules, effectively deal with problems, effective usage of communication strategies
and
understand the development of the students.
The reviews of the research on effective schools concluded that the environment of schools does make a difference in students’ learning. Some schools are more effective than others, and the school students attend can make a significant difference in their level of academic achievements. (Berliner, 1990; Henson & Eller, 1999, 1983; Othman,
2001; Sabu, 2005). Most effective schools, however, share a number of common characteristics, which are detailed below:
Professional Leadership and Governance
It has often been observed that the “head of the school” is the key factor in how effective
the school is. In an effective school the “principal” acts as an instructional leader and effectively and persistently communicates the school's mission to the staff, parents, and students. The principal understands
and applies effective leadership skills to
enable both students and staff to achieve the desired school and student achievements. Almost every
single study
on effective school has shown that both primary and secondary leadership to be the key factor. Mukhtar & Muslizah (2004) has drawn attention
to the fact that no evidence of effective schools with weak leadership has emerged in reviews of effectiveness research. Reviews by Othman (2001) concluded that leadership is necessary to initiate and maintain school improvement. Leadership is not simply about the quality of individual leader although this is, of course, important. It is also about the role that leaders play, their style of management, their relationship to the vision, values and goals of the school, and their approach to change. MOE is aware of the important role of the headteacher/principal
in school improvement. In their efforts to enhance the professionalism of headteachers/principals at the primary school level, MOE has drastically developed an intensive graduate program for the head teacher/principal. UPSI
has been entrusted to conduct this program and there are 308 headteachers from various cohorts attending the program at UPSI
(Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Annual Report 2006). Today, Universiti Malaya dan Universiti Utara Malaysia is
also now offering the same program as the UPSI.
Shared vision and goals
In an effective school there should be a clearly articulated school mission and vision. My visit to various schools in the district of Tanjong Malim and Ulu Selangor have shown that only the school administrators are clear with their
school mission
and
vision. The school expects the teaching staff to understand the school mission and vision because it
is documented in the teachers’ Record Book which they write and refer as a teaching plan. Almost all teac hing staff
agrees that they should be told earlier about the school instructional goals, priorities, assessment procedures and
accountability. A short study done by Kamaruddin & Bhasah (2004) have shown that a large majority of teachers work individually in
implementing
assessment,
enforcing
rules
and policies
in school. Therefore
collegiality and
collaboration among the teachers can only be seen at certain occasions in school but for academic purposes is seen to be
less favourable. This phenomenon does not only happen in schools in the district of Tanjong Malim and Ulu Selangor,
but is also
found in other places in Malaysia. The
finding is supported by the interview with 82 headmasters who agreed that sharing vision in uplifting the school’s aspiration among the teachers is not internalised. They also agreed that at
the
primary and secondary levels, the recruitment of head teachers/principals and teachers should be based on the right set of criteria. Principals should be recruited from among those with a vision and high expectations
for those who are placed in their charge. According to Mukhtar and Musliza (2004), pointed out the importance of a sense of unity such as cooperation, effective communication, and shared goals were given less attention although they agree on its importance.
High Academic Expectations
Positive expectation of student achievement, particularly amongst teachers and parents, is one of the most
important characteristics of effective schools (United States Department of Education, 1989). A large number of studies in several countries have shown a strong relationship between high expectations and effective learning (Mortimore,
1995). This is concerning teaching and learning and it depends on quality
teachers who are always aware of the
instructional requirements
and know that students are expected to meet high academic expectations. At this point, we need to look at teacher education as we believe it can maintain and promote successful learning outcomes. High
expectations have also been described as a “crucial characteristic of virtually all effective schools” (Levine & Lezotte,
1990). The important point as far as teachers are concerned is that low expectations go hand in hand with a sense of lack of control over students’ difficulties and a passive approach to teaching. According to the report MOE (2005), there is
still lack of trained teachers
in the rural and remote areas (Figure 1). The lacking is in the critical subjects
like
Science, Mathematics and English. Until 2004, the lack of graduate and non-graduate teachers are 1395 in Science, 342 in Mathematics and 1796 in English (Ministry of Education, 2005).
Effective schools must provide opportunities
for staff and trained teachers to regularly enhance their skills. This is to ensure the individual academic success of all students. Effective schools are learning organizations, with teachers and
senior managers continuing
to be learners, keeping up to date with their subjects and with advances in understanding
about effective practice. We use the term “learning organization”
in a second sense in which is learning has the most effect when it takes place in the school itself or is school-wide, rather than specific to individual teachers. Being aware
of
this issue, MOE has taken specific measures such as offering postgraduate diploma programs in teaching for
graduates who wish
to make teaching as their profession, holiday programs for temporary teachers, giving incentives to
those who are willing to work in remote areas and it looks like the percentage
of
untrained teachers has reduced as
shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Percentage of Untrained Teachers in Primary School
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Total Male Female
Source: Educational Management Information System, MOE
Orderly and Conducive Environment
There are several factors in the school climate which are related to students’ achievement (Purkey & Smith, 1983). An effective school
maintains an
orderly and safe climate which will contribute to a favourable environment in learning and teaching. A study done by Sabu (2005) has shown that the majority agree that some schools have not achieved a conducive and safe environment for students. This is based on several incidents
that shocked the nation recently. Previously, there have been reported cases of “gangsterisme” in Kuala Kangsar, Perak. According to a study conducted by Noran Fauziah et.
al (2002) and Abu Bakar et.
al (2005) indicated that “bullying” is very common in primary as
well as in secondary schools, thus giving us an impression
that present schools are not safe. According to a report by the
Royal Malaysian
Police, 7614 students between the ages of 15 to 18 are involved in juvenile cases from 2000 to 2001
(Salina, 2002). Salina (2002) noted that secondary
school students are involved in loafing, free socializing, extortion,
fighting, theft, rape, murder and lately black metal culture. On 30th March 2004, we were shocked with the report of serious social ills
when bullying and gangsterisme occurred in some schools. However, our simple survey found out that
70% still believed that our schools are still able to maintain
an
orderly and safe climate in teaching and learning. Students are encouraged to participate in learning process and engage in extra-curricular activities provided by the school. Our surveys also found that majority of parents believe that residential and controlled schools have an orderly
and
pleasurable learning environment.
Steps have been taken by MOE to keep an orderly and pleasurable learning
environment in schools by appointing school counselors
and discipline teachers in every school. Today all school in
Malaysia has set up counseling
services and disciplinary board to overcome disciplinary
issues to look of the students.
For
serious offences the students will be placed in rehabilitation centers.
Systematic Evaluation Procedures
Effective schools use systematic evaluation procedures to determine students’ progress. Students’ progress is
continually assessed to diagnose, evaluate, and provide feedback and graduation ceremonies, honor rolls, societies’
awards, and other official recognitions of accomplishment to recognize their achievements. In addition, effective schools accept responsibility for the outcomes of instruction and use achievement measures for program evaluation. Bear in mind that effective schools develop assessment programs that lead to improved instruction and increased
student learning. In almost all Malaysian schools, student academic progress is measured frequently using a variety of assessment procedures. Every month students will sit for their monthly examination, plus the mid-semester and final
examinations. With the present situation the teacher’s role takes on a new dimension. He or she is no longer a subject
teacher per se, but is also an assessor,
as well as doing the work of a general clerk. The increase in the work load also contributes to the fact that most teachers feel uncomfortable as assessor in class. The fact that teachers have to ensure
their students obtained good grades
is also considered as important as teaching itself. The concentration is no longer on
teaching the subject matter but on coaching the students on how to answer examination questions. Hence exam-oriented
is becoming the culture of the school today. Teachers will be questioned if the percentage of students failing the subjects is considered relatively high. A study done by Kamaruddin & Bhasah (2004) shows that our school assessment
still have not yet fulfilled the characteristics
of
effective school assessment. It has been said that for many years Malaysian
schools
system
is
leaning
towards exam-oriented. In Malaysia, students’ evaluation is divided
into centralized examinations and the school based assessment. The Examination Syndicate Division is the body responsible
for handling centralized examinations such PSAT, LSA and MCE. As such, the schools conduct the school based assessment while the examinations syndicate conducts the external examinations.
Concentration on Teaching and Learning
The core activity of schools is teaching and learning and matters relating to the school teachers. These would appear to be obvious activities
in an effective school but research suggests that schools differ greatly to the extent in which they concentrate on their primary purpose. Othman (2001) noted that school effectiveness
is clearly
dependent
upon effective classroom teaching. Similar conclusions about the importance of teaching and learning at the classroom level are evident in the review by Creemers (1994).
A number of studies have shown that correlations between focus on
teaching
and learning and school and teacher effectiveness. In some cases this focus has been defined by quantifying
teachers’
and
pupils’ use of time, and in others it has been defined in terms of other measures of the school’s concentration on the actual process of learning and on achievement. It is clearly vital for schools and teachers to focus on the quality as
well
as the quantity of teaching and learning which takes place.
School and Class Size
Carson & Badarack (1989) reported that small class size is far better off and it is associated with the increased in
students’
performance. A study was done by Kamaruddin & Bhasah (2004), shows that the occurrence of small class
size school is very rare in Malaysia except for residential schools and science stream classes. However, many studies indicate that a small sized class of below 20 students has been proven to be advantageous and efficient.
Table 2: Class Size of Regular Schools in the District of Tanjong Malim
Name of School Average no. of pupil/student in class
Methodist Primary School Tanjong Malim Primary School National Type (Tamil) Primary
National Type (Chinese) Primary
35 – 40
35 – 45
30 – 35
40 - 45
35
– 40
35
– 45
30
– 35
40 - 45
Secondary School Lower Secondary Upper Secondary
40 – 45
45 – 50
35 – 45
35
– 40
33
– 35
35 – 45
Source: Kamarulzaman &
Bhasah (2004)
Table 2 shows a survey done in a few school in the district of Tanjong Malim and Ulu Bernam, the classroom size is between 35 to 50 students in each class. The scenario happens to almost all secondary schools which are big in size.
In
Malaysia, a few primary schools serve as a feeder to one secondary school resulting in the increased number of
students. Many problems manifest in large school size with diverse differences
among the students and are rather
difficult to observe positive interactions between teachers and students. In facilitating interactive learning, this situation is ineffective. In such a big class size, majority of the students are passive listeners
and class discussion cannot be well
initiated.
Students’ Rights and Opportunities
A common finding of effective schools research
is that there can be quite substantial gains in performance when the self-esteem of students is raised, when they have an active role in the life of the school, and when they are given a
share of responsibility for their own learning. Levels of self-esteem are significantly affected by treatment by others and are a major factor determining achievement (Mortimore, 1995;
Marohaini, 2001). In Malaysia, every child has a right to be
educated and
it
is
the government's responsibility to
provide them with education. Malaysian government’s
commitment
towards education is contained in the Federal Constitution and the Education Act of 1996. It is stated that
the
provision of free education to every child of school-going age, for a
period of eleven years. It is said that Malaysia is
fully committed in providing Education for All in order to eradicate illiteracy.
MOE is also sensitive to the multi -racial
issues in Malaysian population and the government does not only allow the establishment of the National school to use the Malay language as the medium of instruction but also National-type
schools using Mandarin and Tamil as the medium of instruction.
Meanwhile, disabled children have the right not only to be educated but also special care and training. Looking at the needs, Department of Special Education Program, an agency under the MOE, have provided educational opportunities and facilities to the students and they need to be placed in the most enabling environment such as Special School for Visually, Special School for Hearing Impaired, Consolidated Class Program
and
Inclusive Education
Program for children with
learning disabilities (Education in Malaysia, 2005). As in other developed countries, a young
child has the opportunity to go to preschool established by the government and private kindergarten before they enroll in regular
school. For
young disabled children, a special nursery school program which provides special care, education
and
treatment is known as “early intervention
program”. A study conducted by Norani (2005) found that 73% of the formal preschool in Malaysia has accepted the disabled children and majority
of
them are children with learning disabilities. The findings showed that 9% of the preschool-age children were children with special needs.
Table 3: Number of Children with Special Needs in Schools
School
|
No. of Student
|
No. of School
|
||
Visually impaired
|
Inclusive
|
Primary
|
156
|
12
|
Secondary
|
235
|
13
|
||
Special
|
Primary
|
235
|
3
|
|
Secondary
|
121
|
3
|
||
Hearing Impaired
|
Inclusive
|
Primary
|
594
|
33
|
Secondary
|
917
|
40
|
||
Special
|
Primary
|
1752
|
25
|
|
Secondary
|
706
|
3
|
||
Learning
Disabilities
|
Inclusive/
Consolidation
|
Primary
|
7052
|
656
|
Secondary
|
2515
|
320
|
||
Total
14283
|
||||
Source: Department of Special Education 2006
To ensure the quality education
can
be achieved, MOE has provided support services to the students in primary and secondary school such as scholarship, text book loan scheme, nutrition and health program, supplementary
food
scheme and counseling services in school. At the primary and secondary school level, selected students are awarded
with
Federal Minor Scholarship. In the year
2000, about 166,164
students received Federal Minor Scholarship. The
text
book on-loan scheme covers primary and secondary school levels and in the year 2007 the scheme is offered to all pupils and students regardless of their family social-economic status. Similarly for nutrition and health program
provided to all students to ensure and improve the standard of health. The Supplementary Food Scheme is the extension
of this program and it caters for the poor students throughout the country. In 2004, RM153.1 million was spent on this
scheme (Ministry of Education, 2005). To cater for the students’ well-being, MOE has directed that every primary and
secondary school has a Counseling and Guidance Unit headed by a full time school counselor. The school counselors are primarily concerned with the students’ welfare, providing career guidance, organizing motivational courses and
talks. In 2003, 2,378 primary schools had full time school counselors and meanwhile 3,173 secondary schools had their full time school counselors (Ministry of Education, 2005).
Home-School Partnership
Effective schools research generally shows that supportive relations and cooperation between home and schools
have
positive
effects.
Parents involvement
is
the
participation of parents in every facet of
the education and
development of their children from birth to adulthood, recognizing that parents are the primary influence in children’s lives. Coleman et al (1993) has drawn particular attention to the benefits of schools fostering parents’ involvement
in their children’s learning. In Malaysia, almost every school has established their Parent-Teacher
Association (PTA) in enhancing educational activities and the students' performance. In some schools, the parents will coordinate to create a
safe environment and needed services for children and youth, identify ways the community and business can interact
with students and the school, and encourage the community to use the school facilities. A survey was done by Sharifah
Zuraimah (2005) on parental involvement in nine secondary schools in the state of Negeri Sembila n and Melaka. Table xx shows the unfavorable result of four aspects of parental involvement in school i.e. communication between home
and
school (mean = 2.32), the school promote and support parenting skills (mean = 1.55), parents were allowed to play integral role in assisting teaching and learning (mean =
1.64), parents are welcomed to school (mean = 1.70) and parents as partners in the decisions that affect students (mean = 2.39). But the school encourage collaboration with community (mean = 3.59) seem to be quite favorable.
Meanwhile, a research done by Azizah
(2001) indicated that the schools
seemed to involve parents more in activities that are non-academic
such as to inform parents regarding their children's
misconduct in school (mean = 3.71), to invite parents to school functions
such as the Sports Day or Speech Day (mean
=
3.67) and to ask parents for donation and funds (mean =
3.56).
TABLE 4: Parental involvement in Secondary schools
Promoted and supported parenting skills 196 1.55 1.29 82.1
Parents
role in assisting teaching
and learning
196 1.64 1.30 43.9
Parents are welcome to school 196 1.70 1.65 68.7
The school encourage
collaboration with community
196 3.59 1.44 63.9
196 2.39 1.27 68.7
Source: Sharifah Zuraimah, 2005
A short study on a few schools in the district of Tanjong Malim
and Ulu Bernam shows that there is less
supportive relationship and co-operation
between parent and teachers although the Parent-Teacher
Association (PTA) has been established at every school. Most head teachers and principals expressed their disappointment with the poor
attendance and participation during PTA’s meeting which had a turnout of only 10% - 15%. Our observation found that
parents’ involvement in educational activities is still unsatisfactory. Parents are not encouraged to come to schools especially to enquire about their children’s academic achievement and discipline in schools. Parents can only come when there are called by the school to collect the children’s report card after the mid-term examination. There are
teachers who feel uneasy with
the
presence of parents in schools and consider their coming to be an
interruption to their teaching process. Many parents have reported that they do not get satisfactory treatment from the teachers.
CONCLUSION
It was found that effective school has a great impact on educating
the citizens. Although effective schools is no longer a
new concept in Malaysia since it was introduce in 1995 but the development and realization towards it is still in the infancy stage and a long way to be translated into effective strategies. Hence, the Ministry
of
Education should be
more proactive with the implementation of effective schools in Malaysia. The
important point we want to highlight here
is that these characteristics
can
be used to describe in the context of higher learning institutions. They are relevant in
explaining the functions of universities and what can be done towards realizing the organizational effectiveness. Hence,
the
need for cultural change is imperative which calls for the transformation of organizational values, norms, structure
and
processes. This transformation does not mean that the essential
values for academic
freedom, intellectual creativity and the new wisdom must be sacrificed. In achieving the organizational
change, top management
of universities must
articulate the changes that are required with utmost commitment and perseverance.
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Ulasan
artikel
Artikel
ini membincangkan tentang sekolah berkesan. Dalam penulisan di atas, penulis menyatakan
bahawa terdapat 6 dimensi yang menentukan sama ada sekolah itu berkesan ataupun
tidak. Yang pertama adalah kepimpinan instruksional. Sekolah berkesan perlu
kepada kepimpinan instruksional kerana ia menjamin kurikulum yang di ajar
tersebut adalah dinamaik dan sesuai mengikut perubahan zaman. Melalui
kepimpinan instruksional juga perkara utama sekolah iaitu pengajaran dan
pembelajaran diberi focus yang utama.
keduanya ialah visi dan misi sekolah yang dikongsi bersama warga
sekolah. Ia bukan hanya diimpikan oleh pengetua secara berseorangan tetapi ia
adalah harapan satu seklah dan semua pihak bergerak untuk mencapai sasaran
tersebut. Seterusnya adalah ekspektasi akademik yang tinggi. Pada pendapat saya
tanpa sasaran yang tinggi, sekolah akan berasa cepat berpuas hati dan
terperangkap dengan keputusan yang
sederhana sahaja dan tidak dapat menghasilkan keputusan yang maksimum dan tidak
mencabar warga sekolah untuk pergi lebih jauh. Di samping itu penulis juga
mengatakan kepada perlunya prosedur
penilaian yang sistematik untuk sekolah berkesan. Sistem yang sistematik amat
perlu bagi sekolah berkesan kerana saya merasakan kita telah melakukan
penilaian di sekolah, namun begitu kegiatan untuk menganalisis dan muhasabah
diri tentang pencapaian dan kemampuan kita kurang sekali diberi perhatian. Ini
mengakibatkan kita mengalami masalah kerja dilakukan semata-mata untuk
melengkapkan kerja. Ataupun boleh dikatakan sekadar melepas batuk di tangga.
Tanpa perancangan yang teliti dari analisis data yang tepat, kita tidak dapat
memahami kekuatan dan kelemahan pelajar dan mendorong kita memberikan
preskripsi yang silap bagi permasalahan pelajar. Penulis juga mengatakan bahawa
sekolah perlu mengadakan suasana yang selamat dan kondusif untuk pembelajaran. Tidak dapat dinafikan
mengikut teori keperluan Maslow sememangnya keperluan asas manusia harus
dipenuhi sebelum kita menjangkakan prestasi yang terbaik dapat di janakan oleh
warga sekolah. Maka keselamatan perlu diberi perhatian sewajarnya. Selain itu
suasana yang kondusif juga bagi saya adalah suasana sekolah yang menyokong
kepada pembelajaran tanpa mengira sempadan ruang dan waktu. Maksudnya pelajar
diberi peluang untuk belajar bukan sahaja di kelas tetapi di mana sahaja dan
bila masa sahaja. Untuk ini sekolah boleh mengadakan program-program berkembar
dengan institusi-institusi lain dan mengembangkan bakat pelajar dengan lebih
dinamik. Akhir sekali penulis juga menegaskan hubunngan sekolah dengan komuniti
juga menambah keberkesanan sekolah. Sekolah tercipta kerana adanya komuniti dan
komuniti yang terbina adalah hasil dari lepasan sekolah. Pernyataan ini
menunjukkan bagaimana rapat hubungan yang sepatutnya di jalankan oleh sesebuah
sekolah yang berkesan. Jika kita mengasingkan entiti sekolah dengan komuniti,
maka kita telah menghasilkan pelajar yang tempang. Bukan tempang dari segi
fizikal tetapi dari segi sosialnya. Maka penambahbaikan perlu dilakukan dari
segi 6 dimensi yangtelah dinyatakan. Maka ia menjadi peranan pengetua untuk
meningkatkan keberkesanan sekolah supaya ia bukan sahaja membina intelektual
malah membina Negara.
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