Advocates of the voucher system say it would open up competition among schools and benefit the students by offering quality education. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 14, 2015.The school voucher system which allows parents to choose which school to send their kids to is the best way to ensure equal access to education, while making schools compete to maintain high standards, an advocate of the system said at a recent forum.Instead of the current system where the government funds schools, a voucher system would give that money to parents, said Wan Saiful Wan Jan of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).Parents can then choose which school to spend that money on, whether it is vernacular, religious or international schools.Since schools would then have to compete for those funds, they would be forced to offer quality education.In theory, the voucher system would benefit poor households, since they would finally be able to afford quality, private education for their kids, Wan Saiful said at the forum “Should the government choose what is best for your child?" on Thursday night.“Right now, parents do not have a choice over where to send their kids to, especially rural and poor parents," he said, and noted that underperforming schools were often the only options for low income and rural households.“Whereas rich parents have that choice as they can afford private schools.“So we should have a system where the poor can have that choice as well," he said at the forum.Ideas has floated the idea of a voucher system before, but has also admitted that it was unlikely to see it adopted anytime soon by the education ministry, as it would mean undoing the present system of government funding and management of public schools.Another panelist, Tengku Azian Shahriman of Putrajaya's efficiency unit Pemandu, spoke on the drawbacks of a full voucher system.Countries which had the voucher system experienced some form of academic and social stratification, where schools rejected children from certain backgrounds, she said.This is different from the present system where government schools have to accept children regardless of their parents’ background.“There are invisible barriers to enrollment. Some schools can choose to select only students from a certain background," said Tengku Azian, who is Pemandu's director of Education and Human Capital Development.“Or children with special needs won’t get accepted because a school would be worried that these kids’ low grades will affect overall performance and this would make it less attractive to parents."Another problem, she said, was profiteering, where some private schools dupe low income, less educated parents with promises of cheaper fees but with low quality lessons.A voucher system would also require a lot of enforcement and regulation so that schools accurately report their academic performance, and also to ensure they do not spread extremist beliefs.“I believe it would be better to have a gradual change, where there is more private sector involvement in our public schools," she said.Public-private partnership in schools is part of the Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB), in which private companies come in to take over some classes in public schools and enhance the learning experience for students.The MEB was recently rolled out for the period of 2013 to 2035, and one of its main thrusts is to grant schools more autonomy over administration and teaching.Responding to concerns, Wan Saiful agreed that inspection and assessment of schools under a voucher system must be rigorously done by the government.“But then parents 'enforce’ these standards on the schools by choosing the best ones to send their children to.“Inevitably, some schools will close down. But it is criminal to force children to go to under-performing schools in the first place."He said there was proof that student performance had improved under the voucher system, even among children from poor households, in countries where it was used, such as the Netherlands, Colombia and India.In Colombia, which is less developed than Malaysia when measured by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, students in their voucher system are less likely to repeat a grade, do better in exams and are able to earn more when they graduate and work, Wan Saiful said.In India, a majority of poor parents in the voucher system opt to send their kids to private schools even though those institutions lack the facilities of better equipped government schools.“Poor parents of kids in private schools in India claimed their children are more disciplined, have regular homework and are generally happier. So the system works for poor families."Wan Saiful admitted that there would be resistance to the idea but the public should start thinking of new ways to resuscitate the school system.“At the end of the day, this is about championing everyone’s right to quality education". – February 14, 2015.
ดูหนังออนไลน์ ละครย้อนหลัง หนังใหม่เข้าโรง
วันเสาร์ที่ 14 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2558
Voucher system can improve schools but is country ready, forum told
Advocates of the voucher system say it would open up competition among schools and benefit the students by offering quality education. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 14, 2015.The school voucher system which allows parents to choose which school to send their kids to is the best way to ensure equal access to education, while making schools compete to maintain high standards, an advocate of the system said at a recent forum.Instead of the current system where the government funds schools, a voucher system would give that money to parents, said Wan Saiful Wan Jan of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).Parents can then choose which school to spend that money on, whether it is vernacular, religious or international schools.Since schools would then have to compete for those funds, they would be forced to offer quality education.In theory, the voucher system would benefit poor households, since they would finally be able to afford quality, private education for their kids, Wan Saiful said at the forum “Should the government choose what is best for your child?" on Thursday night.“Right now, parents do not have a choice over where to send their kids to, especially rural and poor parents," he said, and noted that underperforming schools were often the only options for low income and rural households.“Whereas rich parents have that choice as they can afford private schools.“So we should have a system where the poor can have that choice as well," he said at the forum.Ideas has floated the idea of a voucher system before, but has also admitted that it was unlikely to see it adopted anytime soon by the education ministry, as it would mean undoing the present system of government funding and management of public schools.Another panelist, Tengku Azian Shahriman of Putrajaya's efficiency unit Pemandu, spoke on the drawbacks of a full voucher system.Countries which had the voucher system experienced some form of academic and social stratification, where schools rejected children from certain backgrounds, she said.This is different from the present system where government schools have to accept children regardless of their parents’ background.“There are invisible barriers to enrollment. Some schools can choose to select only students from a certain background," said Tengku Azian, who is Pemandu's director of Education and Human Capital Development.“Or children with special needs won’t get accepted because a school would be worried that these kids’ low grades will affect overall performance and this would make it less attractive to parents."Another problem, she said, was profiteering, where some private schools dupe low income, less educated parents with promises of cheaper fees but with low quality lessons.A voucher system would also require a lot of enforcement and regulation so that schools accurately report their academic performance, and also to ensure they do not spread extremist beliefs.“I believe it would be better to have a gradual change, where there is more private sector involvement in our public schools," she said.Public-private partnership in schools is part of the Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB), in which private companies come in to take over some classes in public schools and enhance the learning experience for students.The MEB was recently rolled out for the period of 2013 to 2035, and one of its main thrusts is to grant schools more autonomy over administration and teaching.Responding to concerns, Wan Saiful agreed that inspection and assessment of schools under a voucher system must be rigorously done by the government.“But then parents 'enforce’ these standards on the schools by choosing the best ones to send their children to.“Inevitably, some schools will close down. But it is criminal to force children to go to under-performing schools in the first place."He said there was proof that student performance had improved under the voucher system, even among children from poor households, in countries where it was used, such as the Netherlands, Colombia and India.In Colombia, which is less developed than Malaysia when measured by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, students in their voucher system are less likely to repeat a grade, do better in exams and are able to earn more when they graduate and work, Wan Saiful said.In India, a majority of poor parents in the voucher system opt to send their kids to private schools even though those institutions lack the facilities of better equipped government schools.“Poor parents of kids in private schools in India claimed their children are more disciplined, have regular homework and are generally happier. So the system works for poor families."Wan Saiful admitted that there would be resistance to the idea but the public should start thinking of new ways to resuscitate the school system.“At the end of the day, this is about championing everyone’s right to quality education". – February 14, 2015.
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