NILAI: Form Six education should not be bound too tightly by rules but be given some space even though it is conducted on school grounds, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Form Six environment required a change because it resembled a post-school setting, unlike the matriculation system where schooling years ended in Form Five.
“I will bring it up with Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek so that Form Six isn’t treated like school (in terms of) culture and the environment. I also went to Form Six.
“In Form Six, we need to establish methods in the way teachers treat (students). Students need to be given more space to interact rather than being constrained by rules,” he said at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) here yesterday.
He added that many Sixth Formers had called for rules to be changed in previous dialogues.
He also urged university leadership to quickly reshuffle new knowledge-based curricula such as Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT).
“It doesn’t need to wait for the Convention Board of Studies to be brought to the Senate. Change has to be quick,” he said, while sharing that institutions such as Oxford University, in the United Kingdom and Georgetown University, Washington, moved rapidly in education transformation, based on his teaching experience there.
He said industrial training was needed to reduce unemployment.
“That’s why Petronas is now involved in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes in Batu Rakit, Kimanis and Pengerang; Proton has taken over TVET in Pekan and several other big companies have taken over,” he said.
