20,000 Year Six Pupils Can't Read or Write Well: Part 3

Following my posting on this here it is heartening to know that there is real follow through when I read the article 6,000 ‘special’ students identified in the NST Jan 14, 2006 (reproduced below). In the report, Education director-general Datuk Dr Ahamad Sipon acknowledged the presence of special needs students - "clear signal that they either had learning disabilities or special needs". It is now up to the Ministry to continue this initiative of early intervention rightly pointed out that the next step should be to "determine if they were dyslexic, hearing impaired, or had other health problems".

I hope this effort will continue with greater effort. Of course the real issue is what do we do with students who have already been diagnosed with one learning disability or another - parents still have a lot of effort to put in.

While, the current effort is good, its a reminder that ineffective education policies takes away two generations of our Malaysians.

Eagerly looking forward to the new Education Blueprint to be released tomorrow.

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6,000 ‘special’ students identified

By Koh Lay Chin

15 January, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: An unexpected result emerged from a remedial programme aimed at ensuring Year One pupils could read and write. Besides halving the number of students nationwide who had trouble reading and writing, the Education Ministry also managed to identify 6,000 children who had learning disabilities and required special needs education.

These children had scored zero to nine marks out of a full 60 marks in their final exit test for the remedial programme, a clear signal that they either had learning disabilities or special needs, Education director-general Datuk Dr Ahamad Sipon said.

Around 163,835 Year One pupils who had trouble reading and writing were entered into the Early Intervention Programme for Reading and Writing (KIA2M) last year, later taking "exit tests" to determine who could re-enter normal classes.

After the second and final exit test was conducted at the end of last year, the ministry studied the numbers.

A total of 50,253 pupils had not passed the test, therefore requiring further attention to ensure they could follow the classes throughout their primary school life.

Out of that number, the 6,000 had scored such low marks that the ministry put them under their Special Education Department to determine if they were dyslexic, hearing impaired, or had other health problems.

Sipon said that although not 100 per cent of the KIA2M students passed the programme, he regarded the initiative as a success which would be continued and improved over the years.

Out of the total 469,038 Year One students nationwide, the number represented less than 10 per cent, which was an acceptable figure considering that even some developed countries had percentages of children who could not read and write of up to 15 per cent, he said.

"It must also be remembered that the number does not mean the students cannot read and write at all, just that they are experiencing various levels of difficulty. Some, for example, scored 44 or 43 out of 60, where the passing mark is 45," he said.

The KIA2M classes began last April, where teachers focused on using more creative and interactive ways to help the children in reading and writing in Bahasa Melayu, Physical Education, Music and Art subjects.

This year, the KIA2M will be enhanced and will see three exit tests carried out instead of two to allow faster "filtering" and, therefore, more time to concentrate on slow learners.

Sipon said some states had also taken the initiative to help their charges after they did not pass the programme, therefore ensuring the students were better prepared for Year Two.