Articles

Cause of Poor OECD Rankings: Incompetent Teachers?

Published by SchoolAdvisor | May 19, 2015

Incompetent teachers are the main culprit behind Malaysia's dismal OECD ranking, asserts the Parents' Action Group for Education (PAGE).PAGE chairman Datin Noor Azimah Rahim believes that flaws in how teachers are recruited and trained were adding damage to the already archaic Malaysian education system."Yes, definitely the result of our education infrastructure," she said, referring to Malaysia being ranked 52nd out of  76 countries based on its expertise in Mathematics and Science."Because the problem also rests with the selection and training of teachers, the monitoring and measuring of  performance of teachers, the remuneration and reward of teachers and the school management." she said.Concerned Parents of Selangor (CPS) coordinator Shamsuddin Hamid insists that the tumble in the quality of teaching resulted from the relaxing of the entry requirements to teacher training colleges.He also said that in South Korea, being a teacher is an exclusive privilege, where only 5 percent of the population qualify for the tests to become a teacher.“Teachers are very looked up there. Here? Cikgu is nothing,” he said.Malacca Action Group for Parents in Education (MAGPIE) proclaimed that the poor standard of Malaysian teachers is  due to their lack of zeal, intense desire to teach and their apathetic attitude.MAGPIE chairman Mak Chee Kin said teachers were not selected based on their calibre and excellence, resulting in  the downfall of students' progress.“Again, the quality of our teachers. They have no commitment and are not academically progressive. It hinders our  progress,” he said.They also agreed with the OECD’s conclusion that Malaysia’s economic yield would be elevated by FIVE times if the country made sure that ALL its 15-year-olds received a basic level of education.