Do more for the for the kids, Rosmah tells varsities By Heidi Foo-NST 2009/06/13

Do more for the for the kids, Rosmah tells varsities By Heidi Foo 2009/06/13

Institutions of higher learning have been urged to expand their role by involving themselves in programmes for young children. Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said colleges and universities should follow the way of their foreign counterparts and break away from the academic chrysalis. “Early childhood development is often perceived as trivial and suited only for childcare centres and kindergartens, but through my visit to many well-known foreign institutions, I find that they are also involved in potential development programmes for young children. “Take for example the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, which has organised summer camps for gifted and talented children through the Centre for Talented Youth. “In Singapore, the National University of Singapore has set up a Science and Maths Secondary School to preserve the country’s skilled human capital in the fields of economy and education.” Rosmah, who is the patron of Malaysian Children’s Hope Foundation (MCHF), said this during the launch of Kem Harapan Sapura at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (Usim) here yesterday. She was pleased that Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia had organised a programme for talented children during the school holidays. Program Permata Pintarwas aimed at children aged between 9 and 15. Rosmah hoped Usim would adopt a similar approach and create a strategic cooperation with MCHF to embark on a programme for children. Kem Harapan Sapura saw more than 300 orphans and underprivileged children participating in a three-day camp jointly organised by Usim and MCHF, and sponsored by Sapura Group. Present at the launch were Datin Seri Raja Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin, wife of the Negri Sembilan menteri besar, Usim Vice-Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Shukor Husin and Datin Yazreen Yahya, wife of Sapura Group chief executive officer Datuk Shahril Shamsuddin.

USM ‘forced’ to take in 150 applicants-NST

USM ‘forced’ to take in 150 applicants

2009/06/20

PUTRAJAYA: The apex status Universiti Sains Malaysia will take in the remaining 150 of 4,574 applicants who had been wrongly informed that they obtained places at the university. Higher Education director-general Datuk Dr Radin Umar Radin Sohadi said USM would have to absorb them “as there are still places available in the university because of rejection of offers by other applicants”.

“All (150) of them have been placed with USM and they will enrol there,” he said when announcing the status of this year’s applications to local universities at his office yesterday.

The remaining 4,424 affected applicants had succeeded in gaining places at other local universities.

Dismissing claims that the admission of these students would deprive others, Radin Umar said: “They have been screened by USM and are accepted based on merit. They are good in both academic and co-curriculum. USM had vetted the students’ applications just like the others.”

He said, however, not all of them would get to pursue courses of their choice.

“The courses offered to them are based on their academic results and co-curriculum.”

Their enrolment, Radin Umar said, showed that “we do not ignore or sideline them”.

He said it was unfortunate that the blunder had occurred.

“The glitches, however, must not make us lose sight of our visions. We should accept this as a challenge.”

The online blunder by USM in its first direct intake of undergraduates led to some irate parents and applicants causing a ruckus at the university early this month.

The university had mistakenly uploaded the names of 8,173 applicants who had met the minimum criteria, stating they were successful in their applications although the list should only contain the names of 3,599 eligible students.

This had prompted Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin to say that the government would from now conduct a more thorough review of demands by universities to have more autonomy in several fields.

He had also said the government would be more careful before granting autonomy.

A special committee headed by Higher Education Ministry deputy chief secretary (management) Omar Abdul Rahman had been formed to investigate the matter.

A total of 22,000 people had applied for a place in the university.

Admissions to other universities are handled by the University Admissions Unit.

No sir, ‘marks-fixing is acceptable’- thesundaily 30 June 2009

by Tan Yi Liang

newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA: A former

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia

(Usim) law lecturer says Higher

Education Minister Datuk Seri

Khaled Nordin has contradicted

his ministry’s stand on

“marks-fixing”.

“He says marks-fixing by

universities is unacceptable

and should be investigated. I

have a letter from the ministry

saying otherwise,” said Yasmin

Noor, who had alleged that she

was victimised and pressured

to quit after refusing to pass

students who had failed her

course.

On Thursday, at the opening

of the annual National Higher

Education Conference, Khaled

said: “I think any attempt to

fix marks is unacceptable. We

cannot accept such things

because it is against professionalism.

“We hope, if there is any

complaint over such matters,

an investigation will be

conducted by the relevant

university.”

Yasmin said: “I complained

to the ministry after I was victimised

in June 2008 but the

ministry only gave its reply in

February 2009.

“The ministry had responded

in favour of Usim,

despite me clearly detailing

the harassment in Usim.

“I had complained that a

senior shouted at me, accusing

me of being a failure and

that I should leave as I am not

suitable to teach in Usim.”

Yasmin, who was with

USIM’s law faculty, said she

only received a letter from the

ministry in February which upheld

the university’s decision

on altering and giving passing

grades to her failed students.

The letter states: “The Usim

Senate acted correctly in its

capacity as the highest authority

in academic affairs and has

the right to request that a student’s

marks be reassessed.

There was no wrongdoing on

the part of USIM.”

“I, therefore, challenge

the minister’s statement and

stand on marks-fixing being

unacceptable. I also never

got to meet the person whom

I complained to in the first

place, Department of Higher

Education director-general

Datuk Radin Umar, what more

the minister.

“I was also not notified that

the matter was being investigated

prior to my resignation

on Dec 18, 2008.

“Why did they not tell me

about this before I resigned,

otherwise I would not have

quit. Why didn’t they tell me

about the letter until February

2009,” she asked.

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Govt aid extended to post-grads in private institutions-Star

Published: Tuesday June 23, 2009 MYT 7:14:00 PM

Govt aid extended to post-grads in private institutions

By FOONG PEK YEE

KUALA LUMPUR: Those doing Masters and Phd in all the 24 local private institutions of higher learning can now apply for Government financial aid from this month.

However, there are conditions.

An applicant must be unemployed, retrenched, without regular income or a fresh graduate.

Those doing Masters programmes will get RM10,000 and those doing PhD progammes will get RM20,000 respectively.

Prior to this, only the country’s 20 public institutions of higher learning and three local private institutions of higher learning were qualified for the aid.

The aid, part of the second economic stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in March, would be opened to those who are below 45 (during the time of application) from now, compared to age 35 for applicants for Masters programme and 43 for PhD applicants.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Norden, in a written reply to a question from Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting (BN Kulai), as to whether the Government would extend the aid to local institutions like Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, said the applicants would also need to have a CGPA2.50 now instead of CGPA2.75 initially.

There are 10,000 places for Masters and 500 for PhD. At the Parliament lobby, Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung said 3,377 applications for Masters and 225 for PhD had been approved until this month.

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Give service with integrity, says Chief Sec-Daily Express

Daily Express Give service with integrity, says Chief Sec Published on: Saturday, November 25, 2006 Kota Kinabalu: The only service the public service can give is service with integrity, said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan. “Government servants need to deliver their service with integrity, otherwise somebody else, either from the inside or outside, will deliver it.” Mohd Sidek said this while closing the Integrity and Management National Convention 2006 here on Friday. According to Mohd Sidek, the theme of the convention, “Civil Service Integrity – Foundation for National Development”, has been chosen in line with the latest development, where customers’ expectation keeps increasing and demands a more responsive, transparent and effective service delivery system. Mohd Sidek said to increase the efficiency of the service delivery system, efforts need to be made to tackle bureaucracy and the service given must be beyond the ordinary. “The Prime Minister has urged that civil servants always become a facilitator for everyone, whether members of the public or the private sector. “Civil servants need to facilitate, not frustrate,” Mohd Sidek said. He also urged all civil servants to identify, assess and review present practices and make improvements to work systems and procedures, laws and regulations in use to ensure smooth implementation of policies and national development strategies. Mohd Sidek said the private sector also ought to work with its public counterpart to develop the country and that an environment that bolsters cooperation between the two needs to be created. At the present, there are many negative elements that try to undermine the integrity of the public service. Mohd Sidek said a lot of parties say weaknesses in the public service originate from corrupt practices, graft and misconduct. “To defend itself against these perceptions, integrity in the service needs to start from the grassroots level to the higher level of the service. “A government servant personally has no power, what gives him power is his position,” stressed Mohd Sidek. The Chief Secretary said the government takes integrity seriously and has created a strong mechanism and structure to make sure the integrity of the civil service remains at its highest form. “The Special Cabinet Committee on the Strengthening of Government Management and the National Integrity Plan have been implemented to tackle the issue. The government will fight corruption, graft and misconduct from all angles.” Mohd Sidek also urged all department heads to create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in line with the government’s decision to inculcate a culture of performance appraisal. “Priority needs to be given to main processes that have a high impact on the customers when creating the KPIs,” he said. He also wanted civil servants to inculcate noble values at the workplace and to work hard to develop the human capital as successes in future depend on the quality of the human capital at present.

Chief Sec is cracking more than the whip-The Star

Friday January 18, 2008

Chief Sec is cracking more than the whip-The Star

As the Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan is bent on bringing back the glory to the civil service, and though he has achieved much, it remains an uphill battle.

WHY NOT?
BY WONG SAI WAN

SOME time last year, two senior civil servants went to a district office in Selangor. One of them wanted to pay his quit rent, but because it was lunchtime, they were turned away and told to return after 2pm.

When they returned later, the two were again made to wait. Fed up, they asked to see the district officer who, unfortunately for him, was not in his office.

The two senior officials were Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan and Public Services director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam. They are civil servants number one and number two.

Needless to say, that district office has been restructured, and the Selangor State Secretariat also got an earful from Sidek and Ismail.

It is a wonder how that clerk did not recognise Sidek and Ismail, but the saving grace for the rest of us is that these two have felt for themselves what most of us go through whenever we deal with a government agency.

For Sidek, making people wait, and asking them to come back is a “very sensitive issue”.

“I come from a very small kampung called Cherok Paloh in Pekan, Pahang, where most of the folks are rubber tappers,” said Sidek.

“In those days, for them to deal with a government department meant having to go to town; and the journey took almost half a day. And to go to town to settle such matters my fellow villagers had to miss tapping rubber for the day.

“More often than not when they got there, the department clerks and officers would turn them away because it was either too late or they were too busy. This meant the villager either had to spend a night at a surau or try coming back again the next day.”

For the Chief Secretary, or the KSN (Ketua Setiausaha Negara) as he is respectfully referred to by all civil servants, what happened in that district office in Selangor reminded him of the woes of his fellow villagers.

“It was Cherok Paloh all over again for me, and I was determined to change all that. The people are our clients and should not be treated like that. We in the civil service must be efficient and provide quick service,” said the KSN.

I have had many opportunities in the past year to exchange views with Sidek on the civil service and have been surprised many times by his comments on his 1.2 million colleagues.

Sidek set out to change things, and one of the first he looked into was the issuing of passports and ICs.

When the anti-red tape committee, called the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah), was set up by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi a year ago, Sidek was appointed to co-chair the committee with businessman Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon.

Pemudah is a joint initiative by the Government and private sector to improve the delivery system and simplify business operations.

At the first meeting, Yong and his group of businessmen impressed upon Sidek the need to improve on the delivery system, and pointed to the issuance of passports and ICs as two examples of things that needed urgent fixing.

Sidek responded straightaway. According to those present at the meeting, he immediately turned to the officers in charge of Immigration and ICs and asked why it took weeks and months to get a passport or IC renewed.

Many of the private sector members of Pemudah admitted they were sceptical when the officers promised to speed up the process.

A few months later, the officers reported back that renewal would be almost instantaneous.

Today, it takes a few hours, and at most a day, to renew one’s passport or IC. I renewed my passport within a day while a colleague managed to get his MyKad done within an hour.

Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam, a member of Pemudah, likes to tell anyone who would listen how much Sidek and his civil service team have greatly improved the service delivery.

“From the Inland Revenue Board to visas for expatriate workers and the registration of companies, service levels have improved by leaps and bounds,” he said.

“Which other country in the world can boast of passports being issued within a day or a company registered within an hour?”

Tan Sri G, as he is fondly known, is the West0port chairman and had privately told several senior newsmen when Pemudah was first established that he expected to quit within six months, and held little hope of the delivery service being improved.

Today, he is possibly the biggest supporter of the civil service and goes all over the world to tell of the great strides made. He is also very insistent that the credit belongs to Sidek. (Go to www.pemudah.gov.my to see the whole list of improvements made)

So why then are the people still complaining about the Government?

According to the KSN, when people complain about the Government, more often than not they are complaining about local governments – the city councils and other local authorities.

Last year, Sidek, Ismail and several other senior officials “visited” Selangor and had a “long” talk (read: tongue-lashing) with the state’s civil servants, especially those from the councils.

One particular council in Selangor has his personal attention – the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ). According to his aides, of all the councils in the country, Sidek received the most complaints against the MPAJ.

“I have adopted the MPAJ so that it gets my personal attention,” was the polite response Sidek gave when asked about his frequent visits to the council.

The truth is, not only did he personally change the work processes at the MPAJ, but many personnel had also been changed, transferred or demoted.

Sidek has dedicated this year to bringing change to all local governments.

Many of us are excited with his declaration, but unfortunately our enthusiasm is not shared by those who face his wrath. It is quite sad to hear the comments made by certain lower rung civil servants against Sidek and his team.

I am afraid that some of these Little Napoleons will not only be satisfied with bad-mouthing Sidek and the changes he wants to bring about, but may go out of their way to sabotage the progress made.

At the same time, I am sure most of the 1.2 million civil servants are honest people who want to do their best to provide excellent service to the people. I just hope that they will not be influenced by the ill-intended minority.

To these Little Napoleons, I would like to acquaint them with the meeting Sidek has on every first Tuesday of the month, where promotions and demotions are decided.

“It is held in the Cabinet room, and many civil servants dread the decisions made in that place,” said an aide to Sidek.

Since he took office on Sept 3, 2005, Sidek has been judicious in making such decisions. Several directors-general have found themselves left in the pool as punishment for their inefficiencies and inapt performances, while some junior but capable ones are promoted quickly.

Many are uneasy with the speed these decisions are made but me, I say: why not?

A suggestion I would like to make is that the names of those who had been punished and those promoted deservingly be made public so that the people know that Sidek is more than just cracking the whip.

The people want to know what action has been taken, and if made known, will definitely result in reduced complaints.

Improving the public service delivery is not only about changing processes, but also the mindset of the civil service and the people. Dealing with the Government should be as painless as possible for both sides.

A Question to the Minister of Higher Education

Dear Readers & Well wishers

theSun on 26th June 2009 reports that the Minister of Higher Education said: ‘ “Marks fixing” by universities is unacceptable and should be investigated by the respective universities”.

My query to the legally qualified Minister of Higher Education:

“If the University itself  SANCTIONED SUCH “Marks fixing”/Marks manipulation, IT (THE UNIVERSITY) WOULD NOT INVESTIGATE ITS OWN WRONGDOING”  The Minister of Higher Education should apply the principle “One should not be the judge of his own cause” . Therefore  USIM & MMU which practised “Marks manipulation” TO MY DETRIMENT should not be THE  judge of THEIR own causes/misdeeds…..!

Allow me to produce here the Ministry of Higher Education’s official reply to my complaint of my victimisation (8 months after I complained, in USIM’s favour) because I refused to manipulate marks:

 ”Senat USIM telah bertindak wajar atas kapasitinya selaku authority tertinggi dalam hal ehwal akademik dan mempunyai hak untuk memohon markah pelajar dinilai semula”

 

Pada perenggan 4 surat tersebut, pihak KPT menulis:
“Setelah mengambil kira kesemua aspek perbincangan antara saya, Puan dan juga Pengurusan USIM, saya mendapati bahawa tidak timbul sebarang salah laku dari aspek perundangan berhubung kes Puan.”

 

Please find below my first complaint to the Director General Of Public Universities Ir Radin Umar on 10th June 2009:

On Tue, 6/10/08, my real name@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: my real name@yahoo.com

>
Subject: Dihukum tidak efficient kerana enggan manipulasi markah
To: radinumx@mohe.gov.my, dg@mohe.gov.my
Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 8:02 AM

 

  

Askm Dato’

 

Saya my real name, Pensyarah Di USIM. Saya telah dipaksa memanipulasi markah pelajar dan meluluskan pelajar kerana hanya dua pelajar lulus. Saya tidak mengubah markah kerana saya telah memberi markah dengan adil mengikut skema jawapan dan telah membuat kelas tambahan sebanyak 6-8jam sebelum peperiksaan untuk memperkasa pengetahuan pelajar.

 

Saya telah menerima surat daripada Dekan Fakulti Syariah & Undang2 menyatakan fakulti kecewa kerana saya enggan bekerjasama “memanipulasi markah” (my understanding, the exact wordings were “melihat/menyemak semula secara menyeluruh kaedah dan sistem penilaian yang dilakukan”.)

 

Dekan juga menuduh saya tidak efficient dalam pengajaran saya.

 

Dato’, saya mohon bantuan pihak Dato’ kerana saya dihukum kerana enggan memanipulasi markah pelajar agar ramai lulus  kerana ianya tidak beretika. No telefon saya ialah my hand phone number.

Terima kasih.

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