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KUALA LUMPUR – Two Malaysian schools are in the running for a share of the US$250,000 (RM1.1 million) for World’s Best School Prizes.
Malaysia Trusts School SK Kempadang in Kuantan has been shortlisted to run in the top 10 for World’s Best School Prize for Innovation while SMK Kg Jawa in Klang is listed in the top 10 for the World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity.
The five World’s Best School Prizes celebrate schools for the pivotal role they play in developing the next generation of learners and for their contribution to society’s progress especially in the wake of Covid-19, said T4 Education in a statement today.
It was launched this year by T4 Education in partnership with Yayasan Hasanah, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Accenture, and American Express.
The top three finalists for each of the five World’s Best School Prizes – Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives – will be announced later this year.
After a public advisory vote, the winner of each prize will be chosen based on criteria by a judging academy comprising academics, educators, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, government, civil society, and the private sector.
The winners will be announced in October at World Education Week. A prize of US$250,000 will be equally shared among the five winners, with each receiving an award of US$50,000.
All 50 shortlisted schools across the five prizes will share their best practices through toolkits that showcase their “secrets” to innovative approaches and step-by-step instructions on how others can replicate their methods to help improve education everywhere.
SK Kempadang faced twin challenges in 2021 – not only did it have to contend with teaching and tracking student progress in the pandemic, but also with the Education Ministry’s decision to scrap the UPSR examinations in favour of school-based assessment .
The school’s innovative solution was to create Smartzoom, a fully automated tracking system that follows students’ progress in their studies. It uses data input on Google Sheets and Google Chrome as all Malaysian teachers have a designated Google account linked to the ministry.
Using that data, staffers were able to devise lesson plans tailored to their classes. Supporting teachers as well as panel heads were given training material in the form of YouTube videos and workshops that helped them with the transition.
The majority of SK Kempadang students come from the B40 group.
As for SMK Kg Jawa, it was once in the bottom two out of the 38 schools in the Klang district for its academic results, but has since seen its scores improve by 20%. It was given an award for the highest online attendance during the pandemic.
With a student body of which 75% are from families with lower household incomes, SMK Kg Jawa was once associated with urban poverty, poor attendance, and had lost the trust of the local community.
In the past, its classrooms were marked by vandalism, theft was commonplace, and vulnerable students were often groomed into local gangs. When the school requested funding from sponsors to purchase better equipment in 2017, it was denied. A year later, the school’s academic results were low – just 59% of its students obtained their leaving school qualifications.
But in 632 days, SMK Kg Jawa managed to turn it around – when a new principal was appointed in August 2020.
Under his helm, SMK Kampong Jawa embarked on an intensive data-driven approach to attendance and made more than 500 phone calls to parents to learn more about students and their home environments. For those that still didn’t attend class, school counsellors would make home visits themselves.
SMK Kg Jawa designed online classes that experimented with breakout rooms and collaborative learning structures that offered close peer-to-peer support and ensured small group sessions were productive and engaging.
In one case, the school was able to help a student’s family move to a better home. – The Vibes, June 9, 2022