Education Ministry to rebrand Form Six colleges - Fadhlina

 

The Education Ministry is planning to rebrand Form Six colleges as pre-university colleges, says minister Fadhlina Sidek.

She said the move will give it a new image, adding that it is also the ministry’s commitment to ensure that the STPM examination will be an option among students who wish to pursue their studies.

“With the rebranding of the Form Six education system (there will be term changes) from pupils to students, teachers to lecturers, principals to directors, and senior assistant teachers to deputy directors,” she said when speaking at the best student award ceremony for 2022 STPM, the Malaysian University English Test and the Malay Language Proficiency Certification for Non-Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur today.

When asked after the ceremony, Fadhlina (above) said only the job titles of those employed in rebranded Form Six colleges will change but the salary grades will remain the same.

She said the ministry has also granted autonomous power to the principals of Form Six schools, effective immediately, to relax the conditions for principals to offer spots to qualified students who want to continue their studies if there are vacancies.

“It is part of the ministry’s efforts to reduce dropouts because previously the admission process for Form Six students was via an offer from the ministry.

“The ministry might overlook students who are eligible to continue their studies at the STPM level,” she said, adding that giving principals autonomy will be an effective and efficient way to provide opportunities for students to pursue their studies.

The ministry is also working to increase the number of excellent Form Six teachers, who currently account for only about 0.5 percent or 60 teachers out of the total number of those educating Form Six students.

She added that the ministry will also review the criteria used to evaluate these teachers to improve their quality and professionalism.

On the registration of Form Six students, she said 67 percent of those who were offered spots have registered and confirmed to pursue the studies, so far.

On another development, Fadhlina said 10,000 candidates have applied to resit the SPM examination, comprising candidates who did not sit for the exam from various years. She added that another 20,000 people are still being identified.

The ministry had previously confirmed that nearly 30,000 registered candidates did not sit for the SPM 2022 examination.

- Bernama