MOE to ensure students master minimum level set - Radzi

Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said the matter was among issues discussed with the Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) in Perlis today.

"We discuss how to ensure that students can complete the curriculum within the stipulated period. For example, Year One pupils are ready to go to Year Two," he told reporters after attending the Malaysia Prihatin Programme with PTAs in Perlis at the Civic Hall today.

Radzi said the MOE would continue to organise such programmes with all important components in the national education ecosystem to share the challenges and obstacles faced by the MOE over the past one year as well as provide explanations and share views on current issues.

Meanwhile, the Perlis' Parents, Community and Private Sector's Involvement (PIBKs) chairman, Associate Professor Dr Abdul Jalil Ramli suggested that a special module be created by the MOE to help parents to teach their children, especially Year One and Year Two pupils.

"If we look at the consequences of COVID-19, Year One pupils follow face-to-face learning sessions only after three months and some of them enter Year Two when they are yet to master the 3M (reading, writing and counting) skills," he said.

He said the module would help parents to teach their children at home, with priority being given to Year One and Year Two pupils to avoid a wide gap in terms of 3M skills.

"Priority should be given to Year One and Year Two pupils as they need to master these basic skills to ensure that they are left behind in lessons," he said.

He said most of the pupils who could not master the 3M skills were from low-income families due to a lack of internet access and devices to enable them to participate in the home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) classes amid school closure due to the pandemic.