SPEAKERS NOTE

TITLE: KSSR

I am Thayalan a/l Sellamuthu. From TESL group A. Im here today representing the
students to discuss about KSSR.
Todays round table discussion is organized to discuss the Implementation of KSSR in
the primary schools in Malaysia and the issues related to it. I will talk about the benefits
of KSSR and also I will touch the other problems that I found in this system as well.

Introduction:
The KSSR was implemented in stages starting in 2011 as part of Malaysia educational
reform. Under this approach the students have benefited a lot. Data collected from
interviews involving three Year 1 Chinese language teachers found that teachers have
very positive perspective towards KSSR and the overall both teachers and students
have benefited from this system. However, there are also weakness that need to be
acknowledged and improvements to be made.

Under this system teachers are given greater responsibility to design quality lesson that
align with the learning outcomes as they are the key person to assess their students
and they have a better understanding of the context of the subject area. This provides
opportunities for teachers to continuously monitor their students and to give constructive
feedback to improve students learning abilities (Brown 2011; AACU,2011). This concurs
with views made by Brown (2011). He reiterates

In KSSR, Students are able to progress according to their ability, good students
progressing faster and weaker students given more time to learn( Chapman 2010),
due to concept of being autonomous in their own learning. This is line with the view
advocated by Chapman (2010) who states that students who are responsible for their

learning or become autonomous learners are able to develop and maximize their
learning potentials.

Main Points
Encourages Personal Progress:It encourages the students progress. In this system the lesson is designed by the
subject teacher; it provides a platform to use a broader range of assessment methods in
assessing students abilities. Teachers do not limit the assessment to traditional test
method. In such cases, role-play, project work, presentation and other methods were
used in the classroom. It encourages students to develop their creativity and develop
their talent. In addition it also encouraged students to develop their thinking and
analytical skills. Hots and I-Think tools are greatly emphasized. Different types of
assessment is used to measure students achievement is more holistic as a whole.

Develop Positive Attitudes

In primary language subjects, the curriculum focuses more on speaking than writing.
Therefore students have more chances to practice their speaking skills through daily
activities, for example role-playing and discussion. As a result, students are more
articulate and less shy than they were in the old system. They have shown increased
confidence in communicating with people and can do so politely and effectively. The
students also like to contribute ideas during discussion or in class activities, showing
their commitment to learning. They feel the system has reduced the pressure of exams
and that the students now are happier, and therefore enjoy learning more.

Enhance Collaborative Skills

The activities, such as group work, role-play and practical work, not only give immediate
feedback to teachers about students progress, it has also encouraged the students to
collaborate with their peers. They enjoy sharing ideas, discussing and solving problems
together, and working towards the learning outcomes because the system has reduced

the unhealthy or unnecessary competition among students. The students have

improved their collaboration skills with their colleagues.

Promotes Creative Teaching and Learning Activities

Under this system teachers must use different methods to assess students learning
outcomes. Teachers must use different teaching methods to ensure the effectiveness of
the learning. Sometimes they use colourful pictures or real objects to stimulate students
thinking, sometimes they play games such as board games, bingo or scrabble to
increase students vocabulary, and they also give them worksheets for practice. This
KSSR system ensures that no one will be left out, they have to monitor every
students progress every day to ensure the effectiveness of every lesson.

Negative factors in KSSR

Even though KSSR good but yet there some problems exist in the so called system.
Some students who are weak are not able to cope with the demands of this new system
such as conducting their own research to complete their projects. They may find this
new way of learning rather over whelming. Consequently, some may lose interest in
learning due to the amount of work particularly when they are lagging behind.

Conclussion
The KSSR system benefits the students. What the students appreciate most of all is the
move from an exam-oriented culture to a more relaxed and exam-free environment. The
students are happier, have more confidence and learn better and be better team players
when working as a group. However the fact is that teachers find KSSR increased
teachers workload especially paper work rather than teaching in the classroom. Some
are not confident in implementing the system, some are lack of knowledge towards
KSSR especially the veteran teachers struggle in ensuring the policy holds. All teachers

in this system admit that there were glitches or teething troubles, mostly in preparing
the instrument and in finding ways to embed the assessment into their classroom
activities.