Malaysia Education Dean's Council 2019 Report ( Week Without Walls)

On the previous 11^th of October, we were supposed to have a class (Computer Assisted Language Learning) TSL 641 with Dr. Izaham but apparently that particular week of class, our faculty implemented “classroom without walls’ for the whole week. Meaning, we did not have to attend any of the classes but we were given tasks by our lecturers and presumed to be done during that week. As for Dr. Izaham's class, he had given us a task by attending a seminar called as Malaysian Education Dean's Council which was held at DK500. If I am not mistaken, the seminar is held once every year in a selected university in Malaysia and UiTM was given an opportunity to host the seminar for this year. All the representatives from each university will muster and discuss the ideas they have during this seminar as it serves as a platform of discussion for every researcher. Hence, Dr. Izaham had instructed us to attend this seminar and we had to dissect the important aspects  or discussions from two slots of the seminar.

We barged into the first into slot which was conducted by a representative from University of Malaya, Prof. Dorothy Dewitt. Her respective topic for the seminar was Transformasi Pendidikan serta latihan teknik and Vokasional (TVET) Malaysia. The distinguished speaker from University of Malaya emphasized on the IR 4.0 which is universally known as Industrial Revolution 4.0. She mentioned that our country has to shine in this particular field as the other countries are evolving rapidly in the midst of globalization. Vocational schools and colleges have to play a big role in augmenting and rectifying the skills needed for the students to establish themselves as highly skillful workers. I indubitably agree with the speaker as we have to prepare the students to be at a level where the ineptness is not a debacle anymore. Prof. Dorothy Dewitt also highlighted that the students must ooze some important aspects and emerge in the waves of globalization.

Based from the clarification made, I am aware that our country has to compete with other massive and well developed countries such as United State of America, Australia and Korea. The waves of Industrial Revolution 4.0 are already flowing in our country and the fifth wave is imminent. Hence, the vocational schools and colleges have to mold the students to become very competent in their respective courses and fields. As I was heavily immersed in the idea from the speakers, I foresee that robots and machines will takeover jobs that are considered as sub-par skills needed and this will raise some concerns regarding to this matter. I presume the speaker has explained the gist in revamping the TEVT. As a student, I second to this matter as it illuminates our vision for the next 10 to 20 years.

After the first slot that we listened to, we stayed around for another slot conducted by a speaker from International Islamic University Malaysia. The name of the speaker was Prof. Noor Lide Abu Kassim. She was a representative from IIUM and her topic for the seminar was Assessing Language Competency. We realised that IIUM is full of students, not just from our country but also from foreign countries. Therefore, English language is used in every course offered in the university. IIUM has students from all over the world but a number of students are not proficient English language. All students from that particular university have to take a test known as English Proficiency Test. They have to take it in order to classify them whether they are weak in English Language or not. If they were low proficiency students in English language, they will be placed into language support courses. The implementation of this English Proficiency Test has been done for a quite time in IIUM but since the advent of Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), IIUM has taken a initiative to transform the current test with the latest standardization.

To make it happen, the researchers and IIUM lecturers have been discussing about this matter and wanted to establish a new test which caters to Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), Malaysian University English Test (MUET) and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) standardization. For me, this initiative is very salutary for the students as it can aid in calibration of the test result. This test also uses Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) as a whole which they adopted Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) in the test rubric and construction. In my opinion, constructing a test which is equivalent to Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and EPT is very challenging but it is a prominent initiative to enhance the language competency assessment. By just scrutinizing briefly the presentation, I believe IIUM will make the best out of the new developed test as it brings the new calibration and accuracy in assessing the students’ language competency. We as the upcoming English educators, we acknowledge this idea is a turning point for some tests to be implemented with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) standardization and it is totally beneficial for the educators to assess the students in many parts of the language components. This vital initiative called upon by the IIUM researchers is going to produce effectiveness in a few years despite the hitches.

As I have accumulated new and rife information from this seminar, I have brought myself to a realization which is each thought that we make might help ourselves or maybe the nation to spring towards success. By sharing the ideas among educators will resolve a solid debacle slowly. The problems that we have in our education system are entangled together from every part of the nation. But with the right key which is visualized by each idea or discussion from the educator, we can solve the problem together with a sense of rebuilding the nation with such potent mentality.