Trust schools gain ground

Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
My View - The Sun Daily
August 19, 2015

AT a time when "trust" seems to be thinning out these days, the Trust School Conference held last week in the capital seems to fill much of that void. The three-day gathering of more than 1,000 educators and students mainly from the trust schools did wonders to instil the much-needed confidence that education transformation as outlined by the Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013-2025) is alive and on track.

(Trust schools are government schools jointly managed with private partners under the umbrella of the Education Ministry.)

During the conference better insights were gained through show-and-tell activities involving not just the teachers but also students and parents as well as the community. It started off with a big bang when a panel of four primary and secondary school students from different states demonstrated how they benefited directly from the Trust School Programme. Not only were they adept at taking questions on their feet, but equally important they did so with remarkable intelligence and wit. This is not a coincidence because much of the conference was student-centred and we saw this over and over again involving other students too. Even more so when all the participants were bussed to seven such schools around Kuala Lumpur and up to Pulau Indah to sample for themselves first hand what the trust schools are all about. The all-around verdict was a rousing endorsement – the Trust Schools Programme is a clear booster to all six student aspirations as crafted in the education blueprint.

Behind the success of the students invariably were a large group of passionate and dedicated teachers and administrators who made the magic happen. The packed conference hall listened intently as to how learning in the trust schools, ranging from high-performing urban ones to those in a far-flung rural areas in Sarawak, were conducted. It literally transformed the learning culture, beginning with the learning processes to equally significant aspects of instructional leadership, collaboration and teamwork among teachers, parents and the community in most, if not all the trust schools.

The basic aim is to try and cultivate a new kind of learners, whereby the responsibility of learning is given back to the student in line with the 21st century needs of a life-long learner. Putting these together in systematic and innovative ways, can result in mind-boggling outcomes.

Last year, for example, SJK (T) Kangkar Pulai took the Cluster School Award, SK Bandar Uda 2 was the Bai'ah Recipient for Outstanding Ranking, while SK Kampung Layau got the Best Orang Asli School Award to name a few. The teachers too bagged their own accolades at the state and national levels.

We are indeed encouraged by such clear achievements, and by the positive responses and reception from an increasing number of schools that came under the public-private partnership scheme.

This has enabled the Trust School Programme to enrich the lives of over 3,000 teachers and more than 40,000 students throughout the nation. Though these numbers are still relatively small, it continues to add to the body of convincing testimonies that education transformation is not a pipe dream, but can be realised with a well-planned and thought-out strategy of training, implementation and close monitoring. In other words, it is also evident enough that there can be no short-cuts and quick piecemeal ways to achieve quality until acculturation of bold new habits are deeply inculcated throughout the educational ecosystem. The experience of the trust schools that began in 2010 with a cohort of 10 vastly different day schools showed that at least three years are needed to ensure a new culture takes root, that is, equivalent to the period allocated for each "wave" in the jargon of the education blueprint before changes can be effected. Anything less will run a higher risk of failure which the nation can ill-afford.

The conference this year was the third in a row and each time it has got better and better. The learning curve, steep as it was, is now comfortably recognised as viable and deliverable. All those who made the trust school transformation a realisable dream ought to be congratulated since the seeds planted some years ago are beginning to grow and bearing leaves, though it is still a long way to go before full fruition.

In the same breath, the sceptics must now decide whether to lend support towards greater and faster replication of the trust school model in its original form or stand out of the way without making it more difficult than it is. At all costs, the trust must continue to remain high as failure is not an option.