Teaching the teachers who will upgrade the workforce
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris trains teachers and conducts research into education to inform national policy-making

Improving the quality of Malaysia’s “human capital” – the workforce that will drive the new knowledge economy – depends to a large degree on enhancing the quality of education provided in the nation’s educational institutions. And that, in turn, means providing better teachers.

The federal government wants all classes in Malaysian schools to be taught by graduate teachers by 2010. Which means a massive upgrading of teachers’ qualifications is required, as many in primary schools as well as secondary schools are diploma or certificate holders only, having received their training at teacher training colleges rather than universities.

“Ultimately, we aim to improve the qualifications of about 250,000 teachers nationwide,” says Aminah Binti Ayob, Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), which is dedicated exclusively to teacher training and education. UPSI has a history going back as far as 1917 when the British established a teacher training college for Malayan teachers at Kirby in Liverpool.

In 1922, a college was built in the State of Perak and named after the ruler of the time, Sultan Idris Shah. In 1987, it was upgraded to a teacher training institution and finally given the status of a university in 1997.

Aminah Binti Ayob Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris

“It was decided that there should also be a university for education that specialises not only in teacher training, but also on other aspects of education, including human development and life-long learning, basic education and literacy, nationhood education, basic and special education, etc,” explains Dr Aminah. It’s role is also to undertake research in the area of education, directly helping the government to create educational policies for the country.

The university has eight faculties and offers a wide range of graduate and postgraduate qualifications. It also has a national research centre for early childhood education and a national education museum centre.

The main campus is located at the border of Perak and Selangor. However, there are plans for expansion. In 2002 the groundbreaking ceremony of a new 800-acre Sultan Azlan Shah campus took place at a location close by.

Dr Aminah says: “We are upgrading our facilities to spur development in research, in new fields of education, particularly in early childhood education, special education, guidance and counselling, sports and health education, language education, multi-cultural and religious understanding, science education and literacy.”

Links have been established with universities in Australia and New Zealand, and with Roehampton University in the UK to promote internationalisation of the curriculum, collaborative research, staff and student exchange and associated activities.

“We have identified three areas on which we will focus together: early and special education; higher education, professional development and training; and research in quality teaching and learning,” says Dr Aminah.