The Educational Policy for Disabilities Students in Malaysia
4- IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES OF THE POLICY
Implementation of educational policy for disabled students in Malaysia must be confirmed within the stipulated laws. Policies in academic performance are subjective to ministry of education guidelines and regulations. After a policy is implemented it may create unpredicted challenges. Effective implementation of a policy is a tight rope balance of rules and outcomes.
After formulation of a policy it has to be endorsed by both government and other participants before implementation. Since government’s regulation is mostly outlined through Acts and Charters, policy makers should ensure that the designed policy adheres to set regulation. Schools operating within their set mandates may not require approval of their educational policies since they are within the licensed practice. Due to bureaucratic nature of government, it takes long time to review education matters that concerns disability (Johnson, 1998). Changes in students learning needs may not be easily catered for due to rigid government policy review procedures. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Collaboration between government and other education participants is essential in creating right policies required for right educational policy for disabled students in Malaysia. Consultation and constructive discussion are important in policy reviews by different parties. Education legislation cannot be conducted by only one party. It is critical to ensure that all parties are represented or consulted before legislation. Proper regulation of education sector requires identification of roles and responsibilities of every participant in the education sector.
Some complex educational policies for students with special needs may require urgent approval from ministry of education or other related institutions. This becomes necessary when stated education policy has huge impact in the education sector or prone to some elements of risks. Duration of such policies must be clearly stated to enable authorities make precise decision before any authorization. It is also basic knowledge that a policy should state the duration it will operate after implementation. After a policy is approved, it is conversed to implementers who act on the policy. If a policy is not approved, policy makers must meet again and evaluate rejected policy. Policy makers can adjust rejected policy or formulate a new policy.
Why monitoring and evaluation?
Monitoring and evaluation is an essential part of policy implementation as already mentioned in procedure of policy development. This last stage of policy implementation is important in some ways. It helps in tracking policy implementation and scrutinize efficacy of various disability programs. It explains on why objectives are set and being achieved. Monitoring and evaluation enables thorough assessment of academic programs that are in immediate use at a given disability learning institution.
It is a challenging assignment to improve performance for disabled students in Malaysian schools without monitoring and evaluation. This examination stage offers oversight role that keeps performance on track. Monitoring and evaluation also helps in identification of constraints or resources limitation and offers solution to these challenges to facilitate successful implementation.
During monitoring of academic performance, continuous tests assessment tests are necessary. Tests help in offering corrective remedial after identifying areas of immediate action. They also help parents to offer their important feedback regarding disabled students performance. Continuous assessment tests are also important part of a learning process because they help students in practicing what they are learning. The evaluation process is also indispensible in revealing whether teaching approach is beneficial to disabled students.
Monitoring offers a chance to predict future outcomes. Academic performance is a gradual process that can be determined from early stages (Nash, 2004). It is possible to tell how students are likely to perform in their main examinations from continuous assessments. Monitoring and evaluation process enables comparison of actual achievement and projected achievement. This is important in suggesting amount of effort required for achieving desired performance.
Monitoring and evaluation can act as a source of consolidated information for the disabled students’ policy in action. It is a process where questioning is done in a professional manner without vexing policy implementers (Jencks, 1988). It is also important stage that can attract financiers and other well wishers since it offers progress and accountability mechanisms. Academic policy monitoring creates a link between teachers, students and parents; who are main decision makers in education policies. Knowledge generated by monitoring and evaluation processes should not stop at only capturing of information that relies only on quantitative parameters but it should also address the question “why” which is posed during M&E.
Importance of monitoring and evaluation of education for students with disabilities
Monitoring and evaluation is important in regards to any education system since it provides Accountability. It is through monitoring and evaluation in schools that good leadership is practiced which leads to accountability and hence school improvement is the end result of this process. In order to achieve effective monitoring and evaluation of education systems, record keeping and proper reporting systems must be put in place. Through such measures it is possible to verify if school resources are spending according to plan or not. It also helps to determine whether the teaching methods applied in the school are delivering the intended educational outcomes. Usually school management teams have better ways of learning and improving from past experiences so as to improve planning and more efficient allocation of resources if best practices in monitoring and evaluation are put in place. It is through such measures that schools can become accountable for the resources they are allocated.
Performance of educational institutions is enhanced through monitoring and evaluation systems that evaluate both students and teachers. By the proper use of technology, school management teams and teachers can access data that is used to provide guidelines on ways of improving the performance of students. Teachers can perform assessment on performance and behavior of the students so as to identify areas where students are failing. Lastly, monitoring and evaluation of education systems and schools helps in future planning of the institutions. The school management teams can plan on the areas that fill the gaps that need to be covered and provide an appropriately balance between targets attained and possible opportunities in the future.
Key Elements of Monitoring & Evaluation Process of Educational Policies
Monitoring and Evaluation process requires essential elements to attain stipulated objectives. Incase some of these elements are lacking, this process may be halted hence inconveniencing different parties benefiting from a policy being implemented. Therefore, there are some key elements that should be present during this vital process of policy implementation. First, monitoring and evaluation process should have a central coordinating point where implementation structures converge (Gillies, 2008). This is the point where each role is defined and assigned. Central point helps in aligning learning institutions’ organizational structure to enhance coordination.
Human capital is another important element of monitoring and evaluation. As part of ensuring efficient of policy implementation process, well qualified and trained teachers and other stakeholders must be involved. All stages involved in policy process require expertise and knowledge to be effectively executed. Hunan capital plays a critical role from policy initiation to completion of a policy. While human capital is a core element of a policy process, partnership is a minor element but still important. It may not be possible to implement disabled students educational policy in Malaysia without partnering with all stakeholders in the education system.
Before initiating process of a policy procedure, it is always important to develop a policy framework that states policy requirements. A policy framework is an element that offers an over view of the policy details. It describes required inputs, procedure and expected results while providing ways of assessing policy progress. Cost projection is another element of a policy implementation process. This element is important in determining if there are adequate resources for executing a policy. For instance, educational policy for disabled students in Malaysia must take into account cost implication of any policy being implemented.
Monitoring and evaluation is a continuous function of management which is meant to assess whether progress is made in achieving a set of expected results. It is important to carry out this process in order to identify bottlenecks in the implementation of education programs and to identify if there are any unexpected effects from an educational program for students with disabilities. In regards to education of disabled students in Malaysia, the process of planning, monitoring and evaluation makes up the result-based management (RBM) approach whose purpose is to help in decision making towards a set of explicit goals. Planning aids in focusing on the results of education polies aimed at improving education of disabled students in Malaysia while monitoring and evaluation helps to learn from the challenges and successes of the past as well as those encountered during the implementation phase of an educational policy.
Once a program for improving academic achievements in disabled students is agreed upon, it may face some hurdles while being implemented. These are policy implementation challenges that require to be corrected before disorienting the whole policy process. For instance, a policy to improve academic performance comes with huge costs which include curriculum and teaching program adjustments, additional materials, inputs and teachers’ motivation costs. If schools are not adequately prepared in terms of finances such policy may not be successful.
Most policies require transition and implementation time-frames. Time is a scarce resource that is never sufficient for success seekers (Eccles, 2009). When a deviation from stipulated time occurs, various policy aspects may be compromised hence making policy unsuccessful. Time is a major change in most policy implementations. People implementing policies must be cautious to avoid being caught up by policy dead-line.
Culture and beliefs in Malaysian education system is yet another challenge likely to affects disabled students performance. Myths and beliefs are great challenges that might be contributing to poor performance by disabled students. Either, a culture of laxity and excessive leisure is a recipe for poor performance in academics. Human beings are subject to conditioned behavior (Wigfield, & Eccles, 2002). Too much freedom given to students can negatively affect their school performance through involvement in time-wasting activities considered as fun. However, a balance between studies and recreation must always be drawn because both are important part of a successful life.
Bureaucracy is yet another challenge that may face implementation of academic improvement policy initiatives. Academic achievement is a process that requires combined. Harmonization of this effort can get convoluted especially when there are unattended physical limitations among the students. Learners with challenges require numerous supporting systems that many schools may not afford to offer. This is also part of bureaucracy that new disability educational policies in Malaysia should address.
Apart from implementation challenges affecting educational polices, there are also several challenges that directly face learners with disabilities in Malaysia (World Health Organization, 2011). Transport limitations hinder these learners from accessing various learning institutions. There is also flaws assessing needs of disabled learners in some schools especially where new special needs are reported less often.
Learners with disabilities in Malaysia face the challenge inadequate funding. This has been cited as the major reason for diminished and delayed special education services at both elementary and secondary levels. In most cases, accommodation decisions are based on financial consideration and not on assessment of the particular needs of students with disabilities. At the secondary and tertiary levels, the funding of schools is very complex with some programs having eligibility requirements that raise human rights concerns.
Students with disabilities in Malaysia also face the challenge of physical inaccessibility. The students continue to face physical barriers to education facilities such as the lack of ramps and elevators in multi-level buildings at school, inaccessible washrooms, heavy doors and lack of transport to and from school. Furthermore, students at the post-secondary level continue to face problems while trying to secure accessible housing.
The accommodation process also poses a challenge to students with disabilities in Malaysia. In most cases accommodation is not provided in a timely manner, is often insufficient and in some cases it is not provided at all. Lack of individualization is also a problem faced by students with disabilities. In this regard, at the elementary and secondary levels some schools rely on blanket approaches to providing accommodation instead of assessing the needs of each student an individual way. Apart from physical facility requirements, students with disabilities in Malaysia continue to face negative attitudes and stereotypes in the education system. Lack of adequate knowledge about sensitivity to disability issues on the part of educators, students and staff make is very difficult for students with disabilities to access education equally
Reference list :
Eccles, J. (2009). Who am I and what am I going to do with my life? Personal and collective identities as motivators of action. Educational Psychologist, 44(2), 78-89.
Gillies, D. (2008). Educational potential, underachievement, and cultural pluralism. Education in the North, 16, 23-32.
Jencks, C. (1988). Whom must we treat equally for educational opportunity to be equal? Ethics, 98(3), 518-533.
Johnson, P. (1998). Progression in children’s understanding of a ‘basic’particle theory: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Science Education, 20(4), 393-412.
Nash, R. (2004). Equality of educational opportunity: In defence of a traditional concept. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 36(4), 361-377.
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2002). The development of competence beliefs, expectancies for success, and achievement values from childhood through adolescence. Development of achievement motivation, 91, V120.
World Health Organization (WHO), (2011). World Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO Press.