District education officers are friends - minister tells schools

The perception that visits by officers from District Education Office to schools is to find faults should be changed, said Education Minister Radzi Jidin.

Instead, Radzi (above) said, the district office should be regarded as a friend to help improve the schools.

In a post on his official Facebook, Radzi said as an institution closest to the school, the district office should be the agent responsible to disseminate and explain the national education policy, planning and the education direction of the ministry to the target groups, comprising teachers, schools and parents.

“District officers must always go to the visit schools to identify problems, and needs and find immediate solutions to solve them. They must be a facilitator between the school and the State Education Department, and also the ministry if the matter cannot be resolved at the district level.

“Good relations between the district office, school administrators and teachers will help the smooth implementation of every policy, planning and educational transformation outlined by the ministry,” according to the post.

Radzi said he emphasised this during his meeting with 146 district officers from Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur, Sabah and Labuan, who participated in the second series of the District Convention at the Aminuddin Baki Institute, Bandar Enstek, Negeri Sembilan last night.

The convention is a follow-up of the first convention held last week which involved 142 district officers from Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Putrajaya, Pahang and Sarawak.

Radzi said to ensure the district officers could carry out their responsibilities efficiently and to the optimum, the ministry always strived to strengthen the delivery system so that accurate information could be channelled to the State Education Office, the district office and schools.

“With the experience and good relations that exist between the district office, schools and teachers, I am confident that efforts to strengthen the role of district officers can be done in line with the transformation of education outlined by the ministry.

“Make changes together! Nothing beats hard work!” he said.

- Bernama