What is Smart School?

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become very powerful tool recently for imparting knowledge and training students to face the challenges posed by the information-based global economy and development. A result, this has increase in the demand for basic computing hardware in schools and higher institution all around the country. Paradigm shift from pencil and paper-based teaching to an ever-increasing reliance on electronic learning has been aware by governments.

            Hence, respective education policies stressing on the need for greater technology access for students. In order to achieve the full potential of ICT for enhancing the learning experience, it is vital to increase the number of students with access to computers. The retrofitted PCs offer an attractive and cost-effective opportunity for installing computers in 10,000 schools across the country. PC refurbishment forms an integral component for the success of programs such as the Smart School initiative in Malaysia.

            The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad conceptualized the Vision 2020 plan for the country. This vision aimed to map out the steps required for a sustained growth in the long term and achieve all the desired economic and social objectives by 2020. A technologically literate and analytically thinking population forms the cornerstone of this vision. This coupled with the education system’s aim to nurture students into spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally inclined individuals, lead to the formulation of the Smart School Concept. Smart School is a flagship application of the Multimedia Super Corridor.

BACKGROUND OF SMART SCHOOL

            The Malaysian Smart School is defined as learning institutions that have been systematically reinvented in terms of teaching-learning practices and school management in order to prepare children for the information age. The Smart School Flagship was one of the seven applications identified under the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) initiative. The MSC Smart School Flagship Application is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). The Telekom Smart School (TSS) industry consortium provided the ICT expertise for the initiative.

            The history of the Smart School project is rooted in the two-pronged objectives of the flagship, which are to jumpstart the MSC towards building a knowledge-based economy, contributing to the growth of the ICT industry and creating a pool of talent resulting in high-value job creation. The other one is to prepare the citizens for the information age through an innovative education delivery process.

            The Ministry of Education started to conceptualise the Malaysian Smart School in 1996 and subsequently began its 3-year pilot phase with 88 pilot schools in 1999. Pilot schools are 88 residential and non-residential primary and secondary schools located in rural and urban areas throughout Malaysia that participated in the study to make all 10,000 schools in Malaysia smart by 2010.

            The aim of the Smart School is to change the culture and practices of Malaysia’s schools, moving away from rote-memory learning toward fostering creative thinking skills. Smart schools are provided with computerized classrooms and LCD projectors, electronic resource centre, computers in science labs, self-access centres and WIFI hotspots. The other ICT initiatives are TV Pendidikan and Pelaksanaan Pengajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI); teaching of science and mathematics in English in 2003.

GOALS AND STRATEGIES