EDUCATION BLUEPRINT CAN BRING SBPs TO NEW LEVEL OF EXCELLENCE

PUTRAJAYA, June 1 (Bernama) -- The 2008-2015 Education Blueprint for Fully
Residential Schools (PPSBP) will help bring about new level of excellence for
this type of schools, said Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said the blueprint, which placed emphasis on six thrusts to bring it in
tandem with the National Education Blueprint 2006-2010, would raise the
education level of such schools (SBPs) in a planned and structured manner.

"I wish to congratulate the Fully Residential and Cluster Schools Management
Division for having taken the initiative to prepare the blueprint for a planned
progress of the SBPs," he said.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said this at the 36th Excellence
Awards presentation ceremony for SBPs and launching of the PPSBP at the
Putrajaya International Convention Centre here tonight.

However, he said, the blueprint on its own would not act as the catalyst for
the transformation, but instead, an effective monitoring mechanism must be put
in place to ensure all its objectives were realised as soon as possible.

"I hope the division can come up with this mechanism and also provide
progress reports that can be incorporated into Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs)," he said.

Muhyiddin said efforts to raise the bar of SBPs needed to be done as the
competition for them now came from premier schools, cluster schools of
excellence, private schools and Mara Junior Colleges.

He said they should continue to produce world class leaders and students who
were all rounded in view of the fact that the management of SBPs had attracted
the interest of foreign delegations from countries like Oman, Brunei, Thailand,
Kuwait and UAE.

"In terms of academic achievement, based on the 2008 results, a total of
3,540 students obtained straight As in the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR)
examination. As for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, 1,466
students obtained grade A in all the subjects they took.

Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) is a Malaysian public examination taken by
Form 3 students. It was formerly known as Lower Certificate of Education (LCE)
and Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP).

While Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), or the Malaysian Certificate of
Education, is a national examination taken by all fifth form students in
Malaysia. It is set and examined by the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate.

"I am very pleased because their academic achievement was also balanced with
co-curriculum activities right up the international level," he said.



-- BERNAMA