Sabah targets 200,000 students for VLE
KOTA KINABALU: All primary and secondary schools in Sabah are encouraged to use the Frog Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) as a platform for teachers to write and record their Planned Daily Lesson (PDL).
Sabah Education Department (JPN) director, Datuk Maimunah Suhaibul, said that despite having over 1,200 primary and secondary schools, Sabah records only three schools which are currently utilising the VLE, namely SMK Tebobon, SMK Tambulion and SMK Taman Ria.
“I’m sure that more schools are using the VLE, it’s just that we haven’t identified them yet,” she said during a sharing seminar on best e-PDL practices via the VLE.
Maimunah said RM800,000 was previously allocated to print PDL books for the 40,000 teachers in Sabah.
She called upon the academic management sector to monitor and collect data and statistics on the number of schools using the online system to aid e-PDL recording.
In a JPN financial meeting, a new alternative needed to be introduced to continue with the PDL system without such a high cost, she said.
“The RM800,000 is the allocation from our ministry and it can be used to fund other activities, one of the alternatives being using the VLE for PDL.
“The PDL is a must for every teacher who teaches in a classroom, whether it is written, printed, typed and kept in a file or, using the latest means, stored online with the VLE as a platform,” said Maimunah.
In addition, she said, the second phase of the Academic Development Plan by the Ministry of Education targets a nationwide VLE usage of two million students.
“In Sabah, we are targeting 200,000 students and although we have not achieved that target, we will work towards it,” she said.
According to Maimunah, the VLE can be accessed from any place and saves printing costs. Last year, JPN had issued a circular which gave schools the choice of using the physical PDL books or the online method. Nevertheless, Maimunah encouraged the use of the VLE, as it has many benefits.
Also present at yesterday’s seminar was YTL Communication Sdn Bhd director, Shahirul Amran.
