1. Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah
bermula 2011
Bermula tahun 2011, semua sekolah akan menggunakan satu kurikulum baru yang dikenali
sebagai Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR). Kurikulum ini akan dijalankan secara
berperingkat di seluruh Malaysia bermula tahun 1 2011. Kurikulum ini selaras dengan
perkembangan dan permintaan semasa yang menuntut modal insan yang lebih berkualiti
sejajar dengan zaman yang serba maju dan canggih kini.
Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran Malaysia, Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom berkata, KSSR tidak akan
menggantikan tetapi beriringan dengan Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah (KBSR).
Melalui KSSR katanya, pengajaran dan pembelajaran akan menggunakan modul yang akan
menggantikan buku teks oleh itu guru-guru sedang disedia dan dilatih untuk KSSR.
Ia diharap dapat meningkatkan penguasaan murid-murid sekolah rendah khususnya
dalam bahasa Melayu dan bahasa Inggeris.
Pendekatan teknik pengajaran dan pembelajaran (P&P) akan menjadi lebih menarik dan
interaktif di mana ia melibatkan penggunaan dua bahasa tersebut serta meningkatkan
penguasaannya bagi guru-guru untuk mengajar dalam subjek Matematik dan Sains sejajar
dengan matlamat kerajaan.
Buat peringkat permulaan, sebanyak 500 buah sekolah telah menjalani uji rintis mulai
31 Mac 2009 sehingga akhir Jun 2009.
Sebanyak 50 buah sekolah akan menjalani uji rintis semua mata pelajaran manakala
sekolah selebihnya akan menjalani uji rintis dalam mata pelajaran terpilih.
KSSR membahagikan mata pelajaran kepada tiga modul iaitu Modul Asas Teras, Modul
Asas Tema dan Modul Asas Elektif.
Tahap satu sekolah rendah (tahun 1 hingga 3) akan tertumpu kepada penguasaan 4M
(membaca, menulis, mengira dan menaakul) serta kemahiran asas teknologi komunikasi
dan maklumat (ICT), perkembangan sosioemosi, kerohanian, fizikal, kognitif, sikap dan
nilai.

2. Sementara tahap dua sekolah rendah (tahun 4 hingga 6) akan tertumpu kepada
pengukuhan dan aplikasi 4M, kemahiran asas ICT, perkembangan sosioemosi,
kerohanian, fizikal, sikap dan nilai.
Selain itu, kementerian juga akan memperkenalkan Kurikulum Standard Prasekolah
Kebangsaan (KSPK) bagi murid-murid prasekolah berumur lima dan enam tahun seluruh
negara.
Pada peringkat ini pula, tumpuan akan diberikan kepada perkembangan sosioemosi,
kerohanian, fizikal, kognitif, sahsiah, persediaan ke sekolah rendah serta pendedahan awal
mengenai kemahiran 4M.
KSPK akan memudahkan lagi murid-murid prasekolah ini untuk menyediakan mereka
memasuki alam persekolahan selain pendekatan yang lebih mesra dan menarik digunakan
bersesuaian dengan peringkat umur kanak-kanak prasekolah.

3. KSSR – the ideal and the reality
Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom issued an order on 14 October 2010
that, the Education Ministry would formally launch the KSSR (Kurikulum Standard Sekolah
Rendah) for all primary one students in 2011.
This means that from 2011, primary one students’ school syllabuses and class attendance will
differ from their elder brothers and sisters. Their class time of 1,380 minutes will also be 120
minutes less than the 1,500 minutes class time of their elder siblings. The school bus industry
has earlier indicated that it would not send the primary one students who will be dismissed from
school earlier than other students, home early. So schools have begun to look for strategies to
"fill" the extra 120 minutes. School must balance the arrangement of these four periods of class,
as it should not increase the student's academic pressure. It is best if it could meet the needs of
KSSR interactive and fun teaching objectives.
Under the new program, the number of Malay periods in Chinese primary schools has increased
to 10. This was set with the aim of consolidating the national language policy. Education
Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has guaranteed that only bilingual teachers who know both
the Chinese and Malay languages will be sent to teach Malay to primary one students in
Chinese primary schools. And that the order will be issued before the semester begins. It is
hoped that all Chinese primary schools will have sufficient number of bilingual teachers, so that
the students can commence classes successfully.
Furthermore with the cancellation of the policy to teach Mathematics and Science in the English
language, the number of Mathematics periods have reduced from the original 10 (six periods
teaching in Chinese language, four periods teaching in English) to six. All teaching will be done
in Chinese. English periods will be raised from the original two to five; this is in line with the will
of the Chinese community.
However, Malaysia still seriously lacks English teachers. The main reason for the increase in
English periods is to strengthen the grasp of the English language, and to improve the standard
of English in the new generation. To achieve this goal, the standard of English teachers must
also be improved. It is time for the Education Ministry to plan for the training of more teachers,
to address the problem of shortage of English teachers.
From my friends who are teaching staff, I realised that their feelings on KSSR are that a lot of
paperwork is involved, directly increasing the burden on teachers. Teachers often find
themselves short of time to teach and to do paperwork at the same time; and the calls to the
Ministry to reduce the workload of teachers have never ceased. Under the KSSR program,
teachers need more time to interact with students, yet the paperwork has increased rather than
decreased. People find it hard to understand the rationale indeed.
Teachers also face the problem of how to do internal assessment. Many teachers feel lost on
the evaluation criteria even after the briefing, and are also not clear on how to complete the
evaluation forms. It is understood that there are specific instructions for each skill for the
languages, but there is none for Science. The learning benchmark for KSSR is 100% and
teachers must ensure that every student meet the standard. This has also given teachers a lot
of pressure.

4. When teachers asked questions about assessment at the briefing, they were given the answer
"go back to discuss with the school, the decision on how to assess is by the school".
The KSSR is a new program that people look forward to, as it aspires to give students a fun
learning environment and get rid of the practice of cramming to learn, through the injection of
creativity and innovative thinking in the curriculum. But the response from the teachers seems to
convey that there are gaps between the ideal and the reality, and that the goal of educational
transformation is not easily reached.

5. Books in BM due to KSSR curriculum
A RECENT StarEducation letter under the heading “Why are books in BM?” has raised some
concerns and the Education Ministry would like to clarify the matter.
The Ministry acknowledges that the switch in the medium of instruction for the teaching of
Mathematics and Science from English to Bahasa Malaysia (better known by its Malay acronym
PPSMI), was to be done in stages and completed by 2012.
However, the Ministry had recently come up with the MBMMBI (Memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia
dan Memperkukuhkan Penguasaan Bahasa Inggeris), a policy which aims to uphold Bahasa
Malaysia and strengthen the English Language.
It is also to ensure that the national primary school curriculum is in line with the Government
Transformation Programme.
An evaluation was recently carried out following which improvements were made to the KBSR
(Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah), which in turn resulted in the development of KSSR
(Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah).
KSSR will replace KBSR in stages starting with Year One students this year (2011). The KSSR will
comply with the ministry’s recent policies including the MBMMBI.
This means the development of all subjects under the KSSR other than English must be in Bahasa
Malaysia since the latter is the medium of instruction.
The Ministry has carried out relevant training to expose primary school teachers to successfully and
meaningfully impart the improved contents, required skills and expected values inherent in the
KSSR.
The initiatives carried out are aimed at informing teachers, parents and other associated
stakeholders of the changes which are taking place in the field of education, particularly primary
school education in Malaysia.
The implementation of KSSR is a progressive and bold initiative by the Ministry to address the
shortcomings in the KBSR. It is also aimed at preparing the future generation for the challenges
ahead.
CORPORATE COMMUNICATION UNIT, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION MALAYSIA