The last time I wrote, I spoke about some of the changes in the education system and the Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah or the KSSR. Today, let us explore the many benefits of the system and how it can enhance our children’s learning.

KSSR is for the primary school. It is for a time when children learn and master many basic skills that eventually will be the foundation for the acquisition for higher order skills. What they achieve in the primary school will in many ways determine their success in various disciplines in the future.

One of the main areas of change in the KSSR is the progressive learning that children have to go through. Teaching has to be accompanied by learning. Although this may seem like something obvious to al of us, in reality, many children go through the system without learning and mastering even the basics of reading, writing and mathematics. The new system places an emphasis on ensuring that learning takes place. When children are taught each new skill or topic, they will be evaluated. Evaluation can be in a very informal atmosphere, either in the form of quizzes, homework or even in group activities. Whatever work children produce will be kept in the school as ‘Evidence’ of their performance. In fact, many schools have special rooms to store and keep the records of student’s performance and progression in each area. When a child is evaluated of a particular topic or skill, he or she is expected to have acquired at least a predetermined standard of achievement. Failing to do so will require that child to be given some extra coaching and retesting until the child reaches the target score. The child can now move to the next topic.

The benefit of this is that ‘no child gets left behind.’ Every child, regardless of his or her ability will somehow acquire basic skills. It is hoped that with the KSSR, we will be able to do away with illiteracy completely. Every child will be able to read, write and count unless that child has a learning disability. The new system gives the teachers the space for reteaching and re-evaluating students over and over until they ‘get it’. Students who are slower in grasping the concepts taught will have the time to catch up with their friends before proceeding to the next topic. For special need children, they will be identified and sent to special schools for intervention measures.

Apart from this, the new system has put a greater emphasis on the use of technology in the teaching and learning process. Students are encouraged to use technology and seek information. Spoon feeding and rote learning is no longer the name of the game. Technology has made information readily available and students are taught to look for information, evaluate, reason and come to conclusions. If thinking skills were emphasized before now ‘reasoning skills’ and ‘reflecting on consequences’ are also pushed to the forefront. In the new system, students are also encouraged to voice their opinions and take a stand on the many issues discussed during the teaching and learning process. Today, we need our children to be able to speak clearly and to voice their opinions supported with solid facts. Having a string of As in their examinations but being too afraid to speak or lacking the courage to voice their opinions will not get our children very far. The KSSR hopes to overcome this shortcoming.

The Language Arts component in the KSSR curriculum also adds the element of fun in the learning process. Students are no longer forced to only sit in on place while learning. The use of drama, singing, dancing and games will make the lesson and school a fun place to be in. Students will no longer find school boring and rigid. They will have more space to develop their skills and do activities they love as the structure of the system allows students a certain amount of space and freedom of expression.

The focus on character building and values is yet another positive point of the system. Students are encouraged to work together and help on another in the learning process. Students are not streamed according to their academic ability and learning takes place in a mixed ability environment. Those who are quick are encouraged to help and teach the slower ones. Fellowship and humanitarian values such as kindness and helpfulness are stressed. The move away from an exam-orientated system to the KSSR will allow students to acquire knowledge at a more manageable pace. There is no longer the need for pumping in and overloading of facts and extra classes for the purpose of obtaining perfect scores. The pace is slower and the stress levels are lowered. Students no longer will feel the pressure to cramp as much as they can and vomit it all out for their exams. The focus now is on gaining knowledge, understanding information and being able to retaining it for a longer period of time.

Students of this system will no longer be labelled as ‘Smart’ or ‘Weak’ and be scarred for life. They would have good self esteem and be more confident in facing challengers. The classroom will be a fun place to be in and students will no longer try to skip school. Those who would have been formally placed in the ‘weak’ classes will no longer feel the stigma of being underachievers. Their friends would be students of different abilities who would be willing to help them when they need any assistance with their studies. This should help keep all our students in school and make learning fun.

This article was written by Madam Kalai Lingam. Madam Kalai has 27 years of teaching experience in government secondary school. She opted for early retirement in 2013 to pursue her love of writing, and is currently writing a book. Madam Kalai is well versed in the Malaysian Education system, having been a senior English teacher and school administrator for many years.