University of Nottingham Malaysia hosts Leadership Conference

The University of Nottingham Malaysia organised the 2019 Leadership Conference with the theme of Implementation of Education Reform in Malaysia, attracted over 130 officers from the various ministries in the Ministry of Education, academics, researchers, school leaders and teachers which was held on 16 March 2019.

The objective of this conference is to disseminate a nationwide research on education reform in Malaysia funded by The HEAD Foundation.

The conference was opened by University of Nottingham Malaysia Vice-Provost (Research and Knowledge Exchange) Professor Deborah Hall, and it was graced by Ministry of Education, Malaysia Deputy Director-General of Education Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim; Ministry of Education, Malaysia Director of Educational Planning and Research Development Division Dr Haji Ahmad Rafee Bin Che Kassim; Ministry of Education Malaysia Director of Institut Aminuddin Baki Dr Mehander Singh; Ministry of Education Malaysia Chair of the National Education Policy Committee Professor Ibrahim A. Bajunid; Director of Global School Leaders Malaysia Cheryl Ann Fernando; The HEAD Foundation Professor Saravanan Gopinathan; The HEAD Foundation Managing Director Chng Kai Jin; The HEAD Foundation Director of Operations Vignesh Louis Naidu and University of Nottingham Malaysia Head of School of Education Professor Ganakumaran Subramaniam.

The interactive conference format provided a platform for researchers, participants and the officers from the Ministry of Education to interact and exchange ideas on findings and to provide suggestions.

In his keynote address, Professor Tony Bush, the lead researcher of the research project, reported that centralised hierarchy affected effective dissemination and implementation of policy initiatives. The partial adoption of policy initiatives hindered the Ministry of Education's plans to improve teaching and learning.

The respondent to the findings, Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim acknowledged the challenges delineated in the research and presented a series of ongoing initiatives that the Ministry of Education Malaysia embarked on to address the issues. Her responses demonstrated the efforts put in by the MoE in creating a better education system in Malaysia.

Other co-researchers of the project, Dr Ashley Ng Yoon Mooi and Dr Wei Keong Too, from University of Nottingham Malaysia School of Education, presented findings from the perspective of instructional leadership and English language policies respectively. Both presenters sought a more systematic training of relevant policy implementers and enactment of policies. Other highlights of the conference included a panel of discussion among the invited guests and a round table discussion for all conference participants. The discussion in both events included the five system aspirations of Access, Quality, Equity, Unity and Efficiency listed in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 and ways forward for the implementation of education policy reform in Malaysia.

According to Dr Ashley Ng: "The leadership conference has been held for three consecutive year by the University to provide a platform for researchers, policy makers, students, teachers and parents to discuss matters that is close to their hearts – education."