APRIL 1 — A maths and physics teacher from a remote village in Kenya won the prestigious Global Teacher Prize this year. Peter Tabichi was announced the recipient of the US$1 million (RM4.07 million) prize at a ceremony last month in Dubai, beating 10,000 nominations from 179 countries.
Tabichi was faced with desperately limited resources at his school, including not enough books or teachers. Classes were taught in groups of up to of 70 or 80. The lack of a reliable internet connection meant he had to travel far to a cybercafé to download materials for his science lessons. Many of his students have to walk seven kilometres along bad roads that can become impassible in the rainy seasons to reach the school. On top of that, he donated 80 per cent of his salary to help support students who could not afford uniforms or books. Almost all the students were from very disadvantaged families, many were orphaned or had lost a parent. Drug abuse and teenage pregnancies were common.
Despite these setbacks, Tabichi’s students had beaten students from the best schools to win national and international science competitions, including an award from the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom. Many children who were expected to drop out of schools, and girls supposed to be married off early, had now gone on to college or universities.
What Tabichi achieved confirmed that good teachers with love and care can make all the difference whatever the limitations. The dedication and concern for the children can overcome all obstacles.
Malaysian teacher Muhamad Khairul Anuar Hussin from Johor Baru was nominated and shortlisted for the Global Teacher Prize this year. In 2017, An English teacher from Sabah, Mohd Sirhajwan Idek, won the other prestigious International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Excellence in Teaching Award in Paris. Our Education Minister Maszlee Malik himself paid an emotional tribute to his teacher Ustaz Sakijan Muri for inspiring him to become a minister at Education Mandate 2019 in January.
Finland has one of the best education standards in the world with consistently outstanding Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results. Its education policies are highly-praised but the real success is down to the having good teachers.
In Finland, teaching programmes are the most rigorous and selective professional schools in the entire country. Highly prestigious, the teaching profession is immensely popular that only one in 10 applicants is accepted each year. The “lucky” successful applicants are selected based on various criteria across a broad spectrum and not those with highest academic scores. Academically best students are not necessarily the best teachers. Similarly, best students won’t necessarily make the best doctors. Successful education systems are more about getting the right people to become career-long teachers. This can be seen by the fact that many of the best students did not become the best teachers. They do need to have the love for working with children, patience for dealing with their disobedience and rebellions, and the passion to teach — whatever the ups and downs and setbacks they may encounter in their careers and their personal lives.
Secondly, good teacher training. In Finland the teachers are thoroughly trained and prepared for the great challenges ahead. Many of us parents will know the difficulties of dealing with our own two or three children at home, let alone 30 to 40 children of very diverse backgrounds and problems. Each child is idiosyncratic in his or her own ways. In Finland, they are required to complete an advanced, research-based Master’s degree in Teacher Education University of five to six years’ duration before they are allowed to teach. Teachers are also required to participate in in-service training every year to keep upgrading themselves.
Thirdly, full trust in teachers. Finnish teachers are given a high degree of trust and autonomy in their jobs. They are allowed a great deal of responsibilities and unfettered flexibility in what and how they teach. Every teacher and every child are a unique combination and requires an individual approach. There are no specific pre-prepared plans or instructions, no sample questions or answers to follow. Teacher performance isn’t observed and graded. The teachers do not need to provide evidence to prove their teaching. Instead, annual development discussions with school heads provide feedback on a teacher’s own assessment of their strengths and weaknesses. In this way, the teachers can adjust and adapt their teaching specific to the needs of a particular class and children based on the specific community and culture of the community the schools are located.
Finally, and most importantly, good teachers will impart on the children the confidence in themselves and the positive attitudes to take up future challenges. We want our next generation educated holistically to beyond book knowledge and standard examination answers. In Malaysia, the number of teachers alone in government and government-aided schools were 422,369 in 2016. So we need many good teachers to bring up our education standards.
In summary, the most important key in improving our education standard lies in getting many good teachers. The government must concentrate on making the teaching profession attractive and prestigious. It is a noble profession, but we need to get the most suitable applicants passionate about teaching and provide them the most rigorous training, and to trust them with their teaching abilities by allowing them flexibility in the way they conduct their classes. We need to address the concerns of the teachers, to improve the job environment and promotion prospects, cutting down bureaucracies and paperwork, as well as accord them due respect and recognition for their work and sacrifices throughout their careers.
*Media statement by Dr Ko Chung Sen, State Asemblyman for Kepayang, Perak, on April 1, 2019.
**This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
