KUALA LUMPUR: To pursue her ambition of becoming an accountant, Form 4 student Eliya Zaherra Noor Azam chose arts and humanities, despite being offered the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) stream.
The student of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan King George V, Seremban, Negri Sembilan obtained excellent results in Form 3 Assessment (PT3) last year, scoring 9As.
“I am more interested in accounts than in pure science, so I choose to be in this stream. Schools accommodate if students want to change subjects,” she told Bernama.
The Ministry of Education has made changes to the syllabus starting from this year’s school session by abolishing the science and arts stream, in line with the implementation of the Standard Based Curriculum for Secondary Schools (KSSM).
Through the implementation of the KSSM, there are two main subject packages offered to students, namely the STEM and arts and humanities.
Meanwhile, in Negri Sembilan the Education director Datuk Pkharuddin Ghazali said at present, the school session at the 125 secondary schools in the state focused on giving briefings on the subjects students could choose from according to their capabilities and which suit their interests.
In Johor, the State Education Department has issued circulars on the selection of subject packages to all principals in the 230 secondary schools in the state.
Its director, Azman Adnan, said that it was aimed at providing understanding to principals as well as counselling teachers to ensure students get information on the choice of subject packages according to their own preferences and capabilities.
In Malacca, State Education director, Dr Mohd Azam Ahmad said detailed briefings on the implementation of the subject packages was given to all principals, teachers and school management since October last year.
He also said the school could contact the State Education Department if if there are not enough teachers especially for teaching the new subjects offered such as Technical Graphics Communication.
In Perak, the State Education director Dr Mohd Suhaimi Mohamed Ali said they were analysing the number of Form 4 students who chose the subjects based on their interests, and believe that there would be no problem in getting teachers to teach these subjects.
He said schools should also play a role in guiding students to take subjects according to national development needs.
In Sarawak, the director of State Education, Dr Azhar Ahmad said they were still monitoring the school subjects and the teachers available.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) hopes the Education Ministry can provide an opportunity for schools to abolish the arts and science streams in stages.
NUTP president Aminuddin Awang said thorough preparation needed to be done so that teachers who teach the core subjects would not be burdened in the event of multiple assignments.
This is because, not all schools have teachers who have ‘options’ that are compatible with the elective subject packages that the students apply for. — Bernama
