The Star Online: Nation
The Star Online: Nation |
- Armed masked men rob goldsmith
- DPM: Improving teacher quality is top priority
- AIDS Council: Guidelines on gay and lesbian children is discrimination
| Armed masked men rob goldsmith Posted: 19 Sep 2012 09:03 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Three men, armed with two pistols and hammer, robbed a goldsmith shop at Taman Sri Selayang. The three masked men rushed into the shop and escaped with RM10,000 worth of gold in the 6pm robbery on Wednesday. It is learnt that the store did not have any security guard. Gombak deputy OCPD Supt Rosly Hassan said the robbers smashed the glass display cabinet with hammer to get the gold items. They threatened the shop owner and her sister at gunpoint, took away few gold bracelets and fled in a Perodua Kancil. The shop owner's son M. Rajesh, 37, said only his mother and aunt had been in the shop during the robbery. This was the first time the shop had been robbed since started business two years ago, he said when met at the scene. The CCTV installed in the shop had recorded the whole incident, he added. |
| DPM: Improving teacher quality is top priority Posted: 19 Sep 2012 06:58 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Improving and empowering teacher and school leadership will be given top priority under the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2012-2025, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. The deputy prime minister said since 60 percent of teachers were expected to remain in the education system for another 20 years, efforts to improve their skills and capabilities were of the utmost importance. These include providing opportunities for them to undergo continuous skills training and competitive career-development path, he added. "We want to see in the not too distant future, teaching quality will be different," he said in the "Soal Jawab" programme on TV3 moderated by Media Prima executive director (news and editorial operations) Datuk Ahmad A Talib Wednesday. Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said starting this year, the selection criteria for trainee teachers was upgraded where only 30 per cent of outstanding graduates were offered teaching courses. He said teachers would be equipped with higher-order thinking skills to enable them produce students with higher level of thinking. The ministry is contemplating of providing an exit plan for teachers who are not fit to teach, he said, adding that, "We have not decided to do it yet. If they are not fit to teach where should we put them. That will be determined later." Meanwhile, he said the district education office (PPD) would be restructured in tandem with the sixth shift outlined in the new education blueprint preliminary report where more experts would be deployed to strengthen schools and education quality. He said the PPD revamp, which would be carried out in phases, started this year and was expected to be completed by 2014. On the new education blueprint preliminary report, he said it was formulated after going through reports made by Unesco, the World Bank, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Trends In International Mathematics and Sciences Study and Programme for International Student Assessment, and research by local scholars. Muhyiddin said more than 12,000 people attended a roadshow on the proposed education revamp where over 7,000 proposals and 156 memorandums were received, and nearly 90 per cent of them were taken into account in producing the report. "So, if there are those who say that theirs (suggestions or proposals) had not been taken into account, it is not true," he added. Muhyiddin said a series of open houses would be held from Oct 6 to showcase the new education blueprint preliminary report for public scrutiny where stakeholders could give their views, and seek clarification and feedback. The final report is expected to be completed by December before it is submitted to the Cabinet for approval prior to its implementation next year, he added. - Bernama |
| AIDS Council: Guidelines on gay and lesbian children is discrimination Posted: 19 Sep 2012 05:40 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) has rejected the introduction of guidelines to help parents and teachers identify so-called gay and lesbian symptoms in schoolchildren. In a statement here on Wednesday, MAC president Datuk Dr Raj Karim said, singling out people based on their sexuality was the very foundation of discrimination. The unfounded guidelines would only breed intolerance among schoolchildren, and those exhibiting the perceived 'symptoms', would be subjected to discrimination, ridicule and bullying by their peers, she said. "We know, all too well, the negative impact such practice has on the lives of sexual minorities, especially those living on the fringes of society. "It will drive them further underground and force them to live in greater fear of being 'identified'," she added. "We must not allow such stigmatising condition to permeate our education system and it's our responsibility to ensure all children are given opportunities for positive personal development and growth and protection against harm," said Dr Raj. The guidelines were recently published by the Teachers Foundation of Malaysia and the Putrajaya Consultive Council of Parents and Teachers Associations. Related Stories: |
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