KUALA LUMPUR: The perception that visits by officers from District Education Officers (PPD) to schools are to find faults should be changed, said Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin.

Instead, he said, the PPD should be regarded a friend to help improve the schools.

In a post on his official Facebook, Radzi said as an institution closest to the school, PPD 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.

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

"Good relations between the PPD, 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 PPD officers from Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur, Sabah and Labuan, who participated in the second series of the PPD 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 PPD officers from Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Putrajaya, Pahang and Sarawak.

Radzi said to ensure the PPD 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 channeled to JPN, PPD and schools.

"With the experience and good relations that exist between PPD, schools and teachers, I am confident that efforts to strengthen the role of PPD 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