Tag - Education

Kota Kinabalu: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) became the first university in East Malaysia to receive the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Management System certification from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) on Thursday. According to Niosh Chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, Niosh will continue its effort to work with other industries, specifically educational institutions, in creating a safer environment for all employees. "An educational institution is a place to train future human resources but it is also a workplace for most people and we want to set up an Occupational Safety Health (OSH) system for the benefit of all its employees and students," he said. According to him, Niosh currently works closely with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to make sure that the university is a safe place for all. "Previously in 2012, we have also collaborated with UMS through the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and with that we had provided safety training education," he said during the handing of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Management System OHSAS18001 & MS1722 certification to the university's Chancellery Administration Office, Internal Audit Division, Islamic Centre, Information Technology and Communication Division, OSH Centre and EcoCampus Centre. Earlier, UMS Vice Chancellor Professor Datu Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah also urged all UMS staff to pay serious attention to their health and safety aspects in their daily work routine to assure quality and excellent work production. He also said they have decided to expand the OSH system to other faculties and departments in stages. The effective implementation of OSH Management System at workplace will help an organisation to: i. Save operational cost of compensation to workers, medical fees and others apart from reducing the premium of insurance as the OSH hazard or risks that have been predetermined and control by the organisation. ii. Reduce number of incidents and accidents and costs by both. iii. Increase morale of staff, their motivation and the company's performance and productivity. iv. Comply the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 1994, Factories and Machinery Act (FMA) 1967 and other OSH requirements. v. Develop OSH culture. The total number of accidents at workplaces decreased from 81,810 from 2002 to 63,359 whereas cases related to deaths decreased from 1,224 in 2002 to 933 in 2014. Cases related to industrial accidents also decreased from 63,423 in 2002 to 35,309 in 2014 whereas for commuting accidents, the number however increased from 18,387 in 2002 to 28,050 in 2014. "We are frequently exposed to danger risks at work…but with this certification, it shows that UMS has made an effort to ensure the safety and welfare of their employees," said Lee. "I hope that the certification scope will be expanded to other departments as it would benefit not only the organisation and employees but the public and country's development as well," he added. Source: Daily Express

Kota Kinabalu: University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF) adopts the American style classroom approach where students gain exposure outside the class, and then assimilate the knowledge they learned through problem-solving, discussions and debates, said Dr Alan W.T Lim, UCSF's Dean from the Faculty of Management and Entrepreneurship. "This approach is new in Malaysia. It's new to us, but we are advocating this," Alan said during a meeting with American Lance Knowles, who is Co-founder and Head of Research of DynEd International Inc, and Interdisciplinary Circle of Science, Arts and Innovation (ICSAI) Chairman, Fazidah Fariyah Md Ali. The meetup was in regards to the International Conference on Language Literature, Culture and Education 2015 which was held on April 25-26 at UCSF's campus in Sembulan. It was the first international conference from ICSAI to be held at a local university in the State. More than 60 international presenters and participants took part. The classroom approach is going to be challenging, said Alan, due to the differences in culture. "We were brought up in a different manner. We listen to our parents and teachers. In our culture, they are always right. This other approach on the other hand, requires students to be more inquisitive and thus, forces lecturers here to do better research." He pointed out that Malaysian students lack communication skills and critical thinking which is something UCSF wishes to address. In response to this, Rashid agreed and shared the challenging aspect of his experience as a teaching assistant in the US. "I noticed that American students are very inquisitive. They continuously challenge you with so many questions. They are eager to learn and read prior to entering a class. Students in Malaysia don't do that," Rashid said. Lance, who is familiar with this approach, said that it's commendable because instead of being passive learners, students get to solve problems. "It is in their struggle that they will acquire new skills. This is about moving from a knowledge-based education to a skill-based education," he said. "Give them the problems. They will have to solve them and not copy or memorise information. "But the question is, how many teachers in Malaysia are determined enough to go through with this classroom approach when so many of them are so entrenched in their old ways?" As for English, when asked to comment about an article where the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (Melta) pointed out that the English proficiency level in the country is not that high (published in The Star, March 30), he said this is not unusual in South East Asia. "Countries like Vietnam and China are facing similar situations. It's not just Malaysia. "In the US, in the state of Texas, for example, there are a lot of Hispanics who can't speak English. "They are not from a wealthy class, get involved in gangs and can only talk to their friends in the neighbourhood. That's what matters to them," he said. In 2013, it has been revealed that two-thirds of 70,000 English teachers in Malaysia failed to reach a proficient level of English. In response to this, he said it all has to do with how people are being taught and in most cases, English is taught as an academic subject as opposed to a skill. "They themselves haven't had the necessary practice to develop true fluency. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's typical. If we test teachers, they would usually test at a level below working proficiency." He said DynEd can assist on this matter, but change can be difficult. Once people are comfortable with a certain point of view, they usually don't want to change, he explained. "It has to come from a large number of people." To illustrate his point, he shared an experience when he won a contract in Malaysia. "Unfortunately, they omitted teacher training because according to them, buying computers is much more easy. "It made newspaper headlines. Once you deal with a human dimension, it requires leadership and complexity. Change is not always easy and there is not just one theory in regards to change." UCSF is the first school in the State to be using DynEd. It is the world's leading provider of English language learning software and is also used at ministries, private institutions as well as other universities throughout Malaysia. DynEd's instructional system combines one-on-one computer-based self-study and regular meetings with a DynEd-trained teacher or coach. This "blending" of computer and teacher time uses the strengths of both to maximise results. Also present during the meeting at UCSF were UCSF's Dean from the Faculty of Development and Multicultural Studies, Professor Datuk Dr Abdul Rashid Abdullah, UCSF's Head of English Department, Zuleika O. Curreem, ICSAI Executive Committee Member, Iskandar Abdul Wahab and ICSAI Academic Advisor, Lokman Abdul Wahid.   Source: Daily Express

KIULU: More than 200 pupils from several schools turned up to get free hair cuts at SK Pekan Kiulu here, in conjunction with the back-to-school programme, Sunday. Launched by Assemblyman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, the programme saw 25 graduates from the Human Resources Department's School of Hairdressing and Make-Up in Papar assisting in providing the hair cuts. Aimed at reducing the burden of parents in preparing their children for the new school session which begins today (Monday), the free hair cut project was jointly organised by the Kiulu Assemblyman's Office and Kiulu Social, Culture and Economic Movement headed by academician Dr Rosalyn Gelunu. Each of the pupils also received writing materials, hair clips and sandals. Source: Daily Express