Do textbooks still hold any value in students’ education?
Malaysia’s Ministry of Education is making plans to do away with textbooks in schools.
The move is primarily motivated by the pertinent issue faced by students – the burden of carrying heavy school bags daily. Cutting back on textbooks will also fit in with the ministry’s plans to broaden the curriculum.
“Among the solutions being studied – students may not need to bring textbooks to schools and an enquiry-based education concept can be applied as in done in developed nations which do not rely on textbooks in the classroom,” said education minister Dr Maszlee Malik.
“This solution is realistic and can be implemented because it does not involve any cost, as well as facilitate students and teachers.”
The school bag problem was one of the main issues raised last week by various parties, especially parents. The ministry had been collecting suggestions on areas of the education system that needed improvement and forming proposals accordingly.
As of 2 June, they’ve received more than 11,000 suggestions and problems with the existing system. They were all uploaded onto a special Google Docs platform created to collate complaints and opinions.
Another issue raised was the Second Wave Malaysian Education Standard system used by teachers nationwide, the New Straits Times quoted Maszlee saying.
The education ministry aims to hold a press conference to address the issues, including possible solutions.
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