| James Kon |
TO MAINTAIN high quality education nationwide, the Ministry of Education (MoE) will begin implementation of the School Self-Evaluation (SSE) in government schools, this year.
The SSE report should be completed by September 2018, with the action plan of each respective school ready by October this year.
The SSE scheme is not new as the Department of Schools Inspectorate introduced the initiative back in 2014, and the system is already in its initial stage of implementation in seven schools.
The implementation of the SSE in government schools was officially launched with a ceremonial lecture titled ‘Whole School Evaluation: the Drive For School Drive Evaluation’, at the MoE yesterday.
The event was officiated by guest of honour Nadia Lee Siew Hoon binti Abdullah, the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Core Education) at the MoE.
The deputy permanent secretary pointed out in her keynote address that “the School Self Evaluation has undeniably played a vital role in raising the quality of education in many education systems in the world.
“International findings have shown that the involvement of schools in implementing self-evaluation schemes is very significant in strengthening the action plans of schools towards school improvement.”
She continued: “The initiative has been proven successful in education systems in the region like in Singapore through the School Appraisal Board which has introduced a school self-evaluation scheme a long time ago. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region meanwhile has utilised the evaluation process since 2003. Both regions possess an established education system.”
On the SSE, Nadia Lee Siew Hoon said that “it can play an important role in planning and ensuring schools’ action plans are more strategic and systematic as well as more focussed on the aspects that need improvement, and can also help to achieve the schools and Ministry of Education’s targets”.
It is hoped that the SSE can help support the various initiatives of the MoE to achieve its 1.1 and 1.4 national Key Performance Index, which is to increase the number of quality teachers, education standards at schools, literacy and numeracy of students, and performance of students in public examinations – all of which are aligned with the objectives of Brunei Vision 2035 of producing an educated generation who are highly skilled and able to measure up against high international standards.
The implementation of the SSE is based on the Whole School Evaluation framework that stresses on four main domains which need to be assessed: leadership and management; learning and teaching; ethos and environment; as well as students’ learning outcomes.
The deputy permanent secretary also explained that checks and support mechanisms are needed to ensure the validity and effectiveness of the SSE in the schools. The effectiveness of the system will be gauged further with an external review carried out by the Department of Schools Inspectorate as the appointed quality assurer to make sure that the school self-evaluation is implemented more effectively and efficiently.
She also urged for unity in terms of collaboration and support from all relevant stakeholders to help achieve the objectives of the MoE in raising the quality of education in Brunei Darussalam.
Zainal Abidin bin Haji Kepli, the Acting Director of Department of Schools Inspectorate meanwhile highlighted that “the rationale behind the introduction of the SSE is (because internal) evaluation can help principals and school leaders identify the strengths and weaknesses in each school. From (the system), more focussed planning can be prepared to further improve schools by optimising their strengths and overcoming challenges”.
Also present at the ceremony was Hajah Anis Faudzulani binti Haji Dzulkiflee, the Acting Director General of Education.
The post Government schools to have self-evaluation from this year appeared first on Borneo Bulletin Online.