by S BIRRUNTHA / pic TMR FILE 

THE Ministry of Education (MoE) is currently focusing on improving resource management, especially the use of utilities in schools to ensure there is no waste of resources.

Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said his ministry has been gathering information from the District Education Office (PPD) regarding the usage of utilities in schools.

He added that the management of utility resources is important so that they are not used more than necessary, as it leads to useless consumption and expenditure.

“The efficiency of resource management is currently being reviewed and we will launch a utility dashboard that shows utility usage for each school.

“So far, school teachers and principals do not know the amount of water and electricity bills in their respective schools because they are paid in bulk by the PPD.

“During the Movement Control Order, the water bills of some schools reached thousands of ringgit. I even know of an institution with a water bill totalling RM90,000 a month,” he said during the launch of the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 forum in Kuala Lumpur today.

The minister explained that through the gathering of information, the ministry will be able to ensure that resources such as water and electricity are used optimally.

He noted that the move does not mean that the ministry is stingy or restricts allocations but wants to ensure that there is no waste.

“Not being stingy but not wanting to waste. We don’t want to see any waste happening in the education sector,” he said.

Radzi also added that with the introduction of utilities dashboard, the ministry through the State Education Department (JPN) and PPD can monitor school utility bills in their respective areas.

“This is also an effort which is part of the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 that is aimed at transforming resources and reducing wastage,” he said.

On another note, Radzi said among the most successful and quick transformations under the blueprint were the use of ICT and the digitisation of education.

He said during these two years, the fastest way to digitise education is when teachers and students adopt ICT and incorporate digital tools into learning.

“Previously, not many teachers were trained in the use of ICT and digitisation but because of Covid-19, teachers and students are rapidly trying to learn and understand it.

“If in the past, not many teachers understood or never used Google Classroom, now almost everyone can use it and even use other applications,” he noted.

Radzi emphasised that the MoE does not want to lose that momentum in terms of digitisation and wants to continue the adoption of new technology in the education system.

“The digitisation and use of new technology will also be used in training new teachers in addition to improving academics so that they are more holistic,” he said.

The one-day Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 forum organised by the Education Implementation and Performance Unit is the result of collaboration with strategic partners of the MoE, namely Google For Education, Apple Malaysia, Digi.com Bhd, Microsoft Malaysia, the Malaysian Digital Economy Corp and the Ministry of Health.

Commenting on this, Radzi said in the implementation of educational transformation guided by the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025, strong and meaningful collaborations are very important throughout the implementation of the blueprint from 2013 until now.

He noted that among the initiatives that are being implemented are public-private partnerships and the involvement of parents, the community and the private sector which encourage and support various targeted collaborations to the achievement of the blueprint’s aspirations.

“We wanted to give the opportunity to our strategic partners to share success stories with MoE in transforming education and also to open more meaningful and guided collaboration.

“Apart from the sharing session on the main stage, various ‘future-forward’ activities provided by strategic partners at the forum who are involved in the implementation of educational transformation are highlighted with the help of students and teachers from selected schools,” he said.