Schools: Recess Revolution

20/06/2010

KOH SOO LING

Students collecting old newspapers for recycling.

A GROUP of students gave the a school security guard a packed lunch.

He thought they were selling food for fund-raising to raise funds .

No, The students said but it was absolutely free.
This was an act of Recess Revolution, Recess Revolution is a movement/mobilisation of young people who are maximising “recess time” (“waktu rehat”) in schools to make a statement of what they believe in, their beliefs and to make create an impact by being a positive influence right where they are in school.

It is a coming together of like-minded youths to do something together in their schools with a mission to make a difference and to bring about positive change (i.e.

revolution).
Sometimes It can also mean not doing something: non-action or non-compliance, for example, when they young people are tempted to comply with perform wrong deeds like such as cheating or bullying.

others.

Started by ACTS cChurch Malaysia under the guidance of Reverend Kenneth Chin and Pastor Andy Yeoh, the movement has got some teens nationwide excited about doing random acts of kindness for their peers or teachers.

Rev.
Kenneth Chin says: “In the over 20 years of my involvement in youth work for more than 20 years, I have found two indispensable and indisputable truths — love and a worthy cause worth living for — contribute towards positive and lasting change or transformation that happens especially in the lives of young people.

– (1) LOVE and (2) a CAUSE worth living for.

“So through Recess Revolution, young peopleYouth can live out their conviction that change begins with them through Recess Revolution.

This is then followed by a commitment to make a difference through selfless acts of kindness and love with one clear objective — to bring change to their schools and their nationcountry.” So what exactly are these acts of kindness? For a start, Arthur Keng from SMK La Salle Klang did something different set the wheels in motion during the examination week.

Together with He and his friends , they decided to buy bought several test pads from with their own money.

Keng also managed to get got his brother to sponsor a certain amount.

They bought 400 sheets of test pad paper altogether and gave them to students who did not bring theirs.

Keng said: “Most of my friends were shocked that we were so kind enough to give gave them away free test pads without even limiting how many they would takea limit on the number.

We did it because we believe small acts of kindness can go a long way.

A school can only changes not through a revolution of violence but through a revolution one of love.” Audrey Chew from SMK SS17, Petaling Jaya has a similar story to tell.

A few of the students made little origami baskets with ribbon handles and put hard-boiled eggs in them to give away to commemorate Easter.

Day.

All together they boiled They gave away 120 eggs to give away to their friends and teachers.

in school for free.

Audrey Chew says: “It was quite an experience.

When we boiled the first batch of 120 eggs, we found that some were bad.

However, we managed to purchase 120 buy new eggs and boiled them again the next day.

before school started and Many of our schoolmates and teachers were touched by the gesture.” On a bigger scale, some students have collected old newspapers for recycling.

Besides that School gardens are also presently being spruced up under an offshoot project called Revo Garden.

The Four four schools which are participating in this project namely are SMK Subang Utama,, SMK La Salle, Klang, SMK USJ 13, SMK Seksyen 4 Bandar Kinrara and SMK La Salle, Klang in Selangor.

The Adult volunteers and Sstudents, with the help of those in college, students and adult volunteers work together to clear up the present school garden of weeds and grass.

Then they put a new layer of fresh soil over the entire place space and plant new shrubs and trees.

The desire to give the school a garden is not at the expense of the school’s its budget but as a gift from the students.

to the school.

Once the Revo Garden is establishedcompleted, the students will have something physical to pass on to the next generation of students from the Recess Revolution movement to continue to care for.

Pastor Andy Yeoh summarises: “We believe for real change to happen, love needs to be practised.

I am extremely encouraged by students’ genuine acts of love.

and kindness.

It used to be just a dream, that someday students they would do a little more than just studying in school since life is, after all, more than just books and exam scores.

“But today, this dream is becoming more and more a reality.

Students are showing up, standing up and speaking up in school through love — both in words and in deeds.” – to make a difference by being different.” Associate Professor Koh Soo Ling is with the Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA

Read more: Schools: Recess Revolution http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Schools_RecessRevolution/Article#ixzz0sVt9e5Mj

Khairy: Educational transformation could pull back pool of human capital

20/06/2010

KUALA LUMPUR: The country can pull back its pool of human capital now abroad if educational transformation takes place in local universities, said Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

He applauded the Government’s move to create Talent Corporation under the 10th Malaysian Plan (10MP) to attract and retain skilled human capital, but said the corporation’s role should not be merely about bringing talent back into the country.

“The corporation has to also ensure that these people are placed in a working culture that will prompt them to continue to stay here.

“Imagine if we managed to attract academics who have been successful in other countries to come and work here, but once here, they face the problems of internal politicking and bureaucracy at local institutions,” said Khairy. Talent Corporation’s key functions will include sourcing for top talents, including Malaysian graduates residing overseas, to come to Malaysia.

Khairy was speaking to reporters after he participated as a panellist in the “10th Malaysia Plan: Responses from Young Leaders” forum at the UCSI University on Thursday.

Fellow panellist and Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua agreed with Khairy, saying there was a need for less bureaucracy and politicking in local universities.

“Promotions (of academic staff) should be given according to merit,” he said.

On the private sector, Khairy said the country should move towards innovation and productivity rather than rely on big projects.

“I will rather like that the 10th MP give more attention to vocational training in order to create skilled workers here, because they are the building blocks to innovation and productivity,” he said.

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Maintain overseas undergrad scholarships, says Wee

20/06/2010

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth wants the Public Service Department (PSD) to maintain the overseas undergraduate scholarships – as the system has been successful in retaining bright students to serve in the public sector upon graduation.

Scholarship holders who had graduated were currently holding high positions, said party Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong.

“Over 3,000 Chinese students have received the scholarships since 2001 and they will be serving in the public sector for 10 years,” he told reporters after chairing the wing’s central committee meeting at Wisma MCA here yesterday.

Minister in the Prime Minister Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz had recently said the Government would phase out the 1,500 PSD scholarships for overseas degrees beginning next year.

Dr Wee, the Deputy Education Minister, said the Government should not deny bright children from poor families the chance to study overseas.

Separately, the MCA National Youth Education Bureau urged students with pre-university qualifications who are applying to enter public universities for the 2010/2011 academic session to check their status.

Students should start checking their applications throughwww.mohe.gov.my.

“Those who fail to obtain any entry can submit their appeals online athttp://upu.mohe.gov.my latest by June 28.

The bureau advised applicants who needed assistance to download the MCA National Youth Appeals forms at its youth website (http://youth.mca/org.my).

Applicants need to submit the forms before June 24 to: Biro Pendidikan Pemuda MCA Kebangsaan 7th Floor, Wisma MCA, 163 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur.

For more information, call the MCA National Youth Secretariat at 03-21618044.

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DPM: Govt aims for more Chinese teachers in national-type schools

20/06/2010

PAGOH: The Government hopes to have enough Chinese teachers not just in verna-cular schools but in national-type schools as well with the absorption of qualified Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) holders.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that in future, UEC holders who met the criteria, would be allowed to further their training for four years at the Institute of Teacher Education before being posted to national-type or vernacular schools.

He said there was a need for Chinese teachers especially with the Government’s move to ensure all national schools had enough Chinese and Tamil language teachers for the Pupils Own Language (POL) classes.

“Although the Government does not recognise the UEC certificate, we want these people to have a career path so that they can advance.

“But we (Education Ministry) are still discussing whether the students must have a complete SPM certificate or only pass several subjects like a competency test,” he told reporters after attending the Pagoh Umno delegates conference here yesterday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had recently announced that to ease the shortage of Chinese school teachers, the Government would allow UEC holders to enter the Institute of Teacher Education.

Muhyiddin also dispelled the misconception that the Government did not recognise the UEC as the syllabus was different from the national system.

In the past, we had also not recognised certificates from Islamic religious schools as well.

“We only recognised the High Religious Education Certificate last year following changes made to the syllabus,” he said.

Muhyiddin said the Government had allocated RM1.8bil annually for the salaries and allowances of teachers from 1,700 Chinese and Tamil schools nationwide.

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Lecturers to be tightly screened

20/06/2010

PAGOH: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin wants a tighter screening process for all lecturers to ensure terrorist ideology does not infiltrate the country’s institutions of higher learning.

He said a lecturer’s background was screened currently but this was not enough, adding that the screening must cover both public and private institutions.

“This is a worrying development as initially, we thought it was only students (who were targeted), but now lecturers are also suspected to be involved. This affects the country’s security,” he told reporters after attending the Pagoh Umno delegates conference here yesterday.

Muhyiddin said the police should have a special briefing for all university vice-chancellors to enable them to be alert of suspicious movements.

It was reported recently that police had detected attempts by Jemaah Islamiah (JI) to revive its struggle by recruiting youths, including university students.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein gave his assurance that the situation of terror threats to the country was under control and the people were safe.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said the police were investigating all forms of extremism in the country and were not only focused on religious extremism such as practised by JI.

Musa said a discussion between the police and all public institutions of higher learning was expected to be held on Tuesday to find an answer in tackling the menace and whether lecturers were really involved in spreading extremist doctrine to students here.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung urged private higher education institutions to not only look at profit when recruiting international students.

He said they must ensure that all documents submitted by the students were genuine before accepting them.

Dr Hou said the ministry wanted to ensure that students did not misuse student visas and get involved in vice activities.

“We will work together with the Home Ministry to ensure that only genuine students are issued student visas,” he said.

He said stern action would be taken against institutions that accepted ineligible students.

Related Story:
Visitors calm despite terrorist threat reports

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