KUALA LUMPUR: From next year, Form 4 students will choose from 89 elective subjects that will potentially determine their chosen career path.
The introduction of more elective subjects for secondary schools — 36 subjects under the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) package and 53 under Arts and Humanities — will replace the decades-old Arts and Science streams system.
Education Ministry’s deputy director-general (policies and development) Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim said the new Secondary Schools’ Standard Curriculum (KSSM) would see students grouped according to the subjects they choose from the two packages — STEM or Arts and Humanities.
The KSSM system, she said, was geared towards enabling students to choose subjects which suit their interests.
However, she advised students to make a wise decision in selecting the package that would pave the way to their preferred profession or field in tertiary education.
She said while it was possible for students to change elective subjects midway, it would be tough as they would have some serious “catching up” to do.
Dr Habibah said class settings would not differ much from the current practice of grouping students in fixed classrooms.
“Meaning, instead of having students move from one classroom to another to attend lessons for different (elective) subjects, they would still study in the same classroom,” she said at the ministry’s Education Technology Division yesterday.
The only difference, she said, was that the students would no longer be segregated according to their capabilities.
She said some schools might not offer all the elective subjects, as it would depend on the capacity and facilities available.
Dr Habibah said briefings were conducted for state and district education directors to explain the new curriculum.
The ministry’s Curriculum Development Division director Dr Mohamed Abu Bakar said students would be offered a broader range of elective subjects to allow them to obtain specific skills to better prepare them for tertiary education and the workforce.
“For instance, if some students are looking at furthering their studies in medicine, the civil engineering subject may not be suitable for them.
“Input from experts, including those in local higher learning institutes, were taken into consideration when formulating the content of the elective subjects.”
This, Dr Mohamed said, was to ensure that the subjects met the demands and standards of industries, professional bodies, as well as national and international certification bodies.
“Some of the students may opt to enter the workforce after school based on the vocational skills they have gained.
“This gives them more options instead of enrolling in universities (to obtain certificates).”
The system will, in the future, allow students to choose a professional career and obtain professional qualifications while still in school from, among others, the London Chamber of Commerce, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Business and Technology Education Council, UK, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and Malaysia Design Council.
The first batch of students from the KSSM system will sit the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination in 2021, and begin enrolling into institutes of higher learning in 2022.