The Implementation of KSSR Curriculum

National Philosophy of Education (NPE) is founded in 1988 based on policy

documents and ideologies such as Cabinet Report in 1979, rational and critical thinking,
National Principle, Malaysian Society and cultures. The NPE is about the principles, ideas,
terms, education practices, policies and goals of education. Hence, it will provides educators,
teachers and curriculum makers with the framework for planning, implementing and
evaluating curriculum and helps in answering what educational institutions are for, what
subjects are important, how students should learn and what materials and methods should be
used. It acts as a guide for all educational activities in Malaysia and set the values and
principles of the Malaysian education system from the primary to the tertiary level. Based on
The National Educational Philosophy, “Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards
further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to
produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically, socially
balanced and harmonic, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is
designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who passes
high moral standards and who are responsible and capable of achieving a high level of
personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the
family, the society and the nation at large." In order to achieve the standard of 'First Class
Modal Insan', National Philosophy of Education has been implemented to perform high
credibility in students in schools in Malaysia. By implementing the curriculum effectively in
schools, it can develop the students cognitive, affective and psychomotor (physical) with
other potentials in students.

Generally, curriculum is defined as the course content offered by an educational

institution or courses taught in school or institution of higher learning. According to the
researcher ,Tanner (1980), he defined curriculum as the planned and guided learning
experiences and intended outcomes, formulated through the systematic reconstruction of
knowledge and experiences under the auspices of the school, for the learners’ continuous and
willful growth in personal social competence. However the other researcher, Goodlad and Su
(1992) gives definition of curriculum as a plan that consists of learning opportunities for a
specific time frame and place, a tool that aims to bring about behavior changes in students as
a result of planned activities and includes all learning experiences received by students with
the guidance of the school. In short, curriculum is a specific, well planned, arranged, contains
activity and implied in daily life.

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 To meets with the needs of all Malaysian and prepare the country to be able in the line
with the global level, Malaysian education system has been transformed from many times for
a better achievement. There are three types of changes of curriculum in Malaysia. The
National Curriculum also has been developed from KLSR (Old Curriculum) to KBSR (New
Curriculum) then to KBSR (Integrated Curriculum), KSSR (Standard Curriculum) and latest
is the KSSR (revised curiculum) for primary schools.

Firstly, Old Curriculum for Primary Schools (KLSR) implemented since the country
gained independence. In 1960, a Subjects Review Committee has been established to be
known as the Rahman Talib Report as the Minister of Education at that time was Abdul
Rahman Talib. This Committee was established to review the national education policy as
proposed in the Razak Report made on 1956 and early education policy before that the
Education Ordinance 1957. Rahman Talib reports have suggested some aspects of education.
One of the aspects is about the medium of instruction that is used at school. KLSR has
emphasized the concept of overall teaching whereby students just learn and accept what they
have been taught and there was also no group activity held which made students became
passive in class. Then a study was done by the Cabinet Committee on Old Curriculum for
Primary Schools (KLSR) and found that there are some weaknesses that must be overcome.

Next the Report of the Cabinet Committee has decided to implement KBSR (New
Curriculum) as the change to the improvements from KLSR on Implementation of Education
Policy issued in 1979. The KBSR was quite different than before because it stands for
Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah (Integrated Curriculum). The aims of KBSR are to
raise the literacy level of students, to develop their cognitive and thinking skills and to
provide them with an all-rounded individual development which will help them operate
efficiently within the social structure of this country. The principles of KBSR are more
towards integrated approach, equal education for all students, long-life learning, conducive
learning surroundings, organizational activities and classroom management must be flexible,
emphasize and master on 3M (reading, writing, arithmetic) and integrated assessment of all
learning activities in the classroom. The curriculum design emphasizes students study in
group and interaction between teacher and students, and students. In terms of teaching
strategies, student-centered is actively approach in the process of teaching and learning. This
is because it raises an interesting environment in classroom and stimulates the process of
teaching and learning. Students who could not master any subjects, the student will be sent to
remedial classes. Remedial classes are often used to stress the basics in a subject such as

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math or language. However, through this integrated curriculum, some students are ended by
being passive, not active in group activities, unable to polish their skills and abilities as they
are hidden by the active and dominant students.

On the year 2011, Standard Curriculum for Primary Schools (KSSR) is introduced as
an effort to reorganize and improve the existing curriculum to ensure that students are
provided with the knowledge, skills and values and relevant to the current needs and
challenges of the 21st century. Implementation of KSSR aims to increase student interest in
the subject of English. KSSR are based on curriculum design of 6 cords which are
communications, spirituality, attitudes and values, humanities, physical development and
aesthetic, Science and Technology and personal skills. KSSR use the elements of creativity
and innovation, entrepreneurship and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
explicitly focusing on 4M (reading, writing, counting and reasoning). For now, students in
Standards 1 to 3 are using this curriculum while Standards 4 to 6 are still using KBSR. The
objectives of KSSR are to create well rounded and innovative individuals; provide a holistic
platform for learning, and to reduce over emphasize on academics. Besides, the strengths of
KSSR are more towards practical, less stressful for teachers and students, better interaction
between students and teachers, students can focus more on major subjects; Mathematics and
Science and also students can spend more time on co-curricular activities. Through KSSR,
students can be more independent, able to recognize and polish their skills and abilities,
optimistic and knowledgeable. On 2017, revised Standard Based Curriculum for Primary
Schools (KSSR) is implemented. The curriculum for primary schools was revised to include a
balanced set of knowledge and skills such as creative thinking, innovation, problem-solving
and leadership among the students. The revised curriculum emphasizes on the teaching
centered on the students and focuses more on problem-solving, project-based assignments,
updating subjects or themes and implementing formative assessments. Changes can be
clearly seen in the aspect of curriculum documentation, curriculum design, curriculum
organization, and curriculum content. In addition, teachers with high qualities and leadership
will be placed at schools nationwide to ensure that the students who needed additional
guidance would continue to have access to the right assistance for their success. In this
review, I would like to elaborate more on aspect of assessment for KSSR.

Firstly KSSR is the combination of both formative and summative assessment. Thus
teacher play an important role as the teacher will access more on the development of skills of
the students. KSSR emphasizes on the implementation of a school-based assessment method

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to make teaching and learning more interesting and fun and not exam oriented. The teacher
does not evaluate the performance of a student using the exam method and the examination
results which determine the level of performance of the students in the classroom but rather
used the school based assessment to ensure more authentic and holistic assessment. The
assessment is based on both formative and summative evaluation which is done at the end of
particular lesson, unit or term by assessing them individually. This will enable the teachers to
identify the students' ability and performances in studies. School-based assessments are
formative and are carried out continuously to track progress and achievement of students in
learning. In this way, student will be no longer to sit for the exam as the exam is burden for
them. In addition, activities are carried out according to the needs of the students to ensure
that students reach the global standards. In addition, the implementation of KSSR is very
suitable with the needs of this globalization era. Through this approach, the teaching and
learning techniques will be more interesting and interactive in which it will involve the use of
two different languages, which are English and Malay Language in the process of teaching
and learning. The government also has outline and emphasis on usage of Bahasa Malaysia
and strengthening English in line with the abolition of the PPSMI policy. With this
assessment also students will also be able to expose themselves to be more critical and
creative as they can do something that they are interested in as a whole and the students are
not set with the exam papers. In my opinion, this approach is suit with the current needs of
the education, and with this approach the students will be more holistic, as they perceived
more understanding in the learning and not just rote memorization.

The other new thing that is introduced by KSSR is about the usage of the portfolio in
every student. A student portfolio is a systematic collection of student work and related
material that combine all the student’s activities, accomplishments, and achievements in one
or more school subjects. Thus, through the portfolio assessment, all student activities can be
monitored as their work is combined in the portfolio. The document records the all activities
and achievements of the students during their school session for the teachers and parents
references. In addition, it also allows the teacher and parents to assess their child's learning
progress and track the students' strengths or weaknesses continuously. Through this new
approach, it allows teachers to evaluate students more effectively through the achievement
standards level which is the bands that range from one to six. Band one is the lowest level
and it measure whether the student is successfully master the learning syllabus before process
to the next band. Besides through this assessment, it also help teacher to facilitate and

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empowers teachers to review student learning records and find out their weaknesses.
Teachers can also think of number of ways to overcome their weaknesses. Thus, it can
produce students with a high level of competitiveness and thus increase the student
determination toward the excellence.

Next, it is important to inculcate strong values and character in students through

education. The KSSR curriculum also introduced of several new subjects that are beneficial
towards the students. The new subject that was introduced such as the history subject can
promote patriotism and enhances responsible citizenship in students. By studying history, the
students will finds out about the nation and o discovers how the country interacted with other
societies. Thus with the information gain by the students will enables the students to be more
appreciate the nation and becomes more responsible citizen. In addition, first-year students,
one to three year old students will also be taught about sex education taught through the
subject of Health Education. Through this subject, the students will be given early exposure
on human development, relationships, marriages and families, self-reliance, health and sexual
behavior as well as society and culture. Thus, students will be more aware in their
interactions in and out of school surrounding.

Creativity and innovative are the most fundamental elements that has to be associated
to the society in order to compete globally in this 21st century. Therefore, in order to achieve
this goal, an effort should be stated from the beginning of the education system. In order to
produce innovative and creative minded students, elements of creativity and innovation
should be applied in the teaching and learning process so that the teaching and learning
process becomes more dynamic and attractive to the students. This is suitable with the
implementation of KSSR curriculum which consist elements of creative and innovative in
learning. The element of innovation is very essential and should be applied in teaching and
learning practices, as students will begin to gain interest in the subject. Therefore, if the
teacher does not apply the element of innovation in his teaching and still maintains a boring
traditional way of teaching, of course, students will lose interest in a subject and see it as a
less interesting subject. Successful learning process also will be successful when the teachers
put efforts to make engagement between learning and syllabus. It only can be done through
classroom activities and it is really significant for the development of students in the
classrooms. Thus, from the application of this element of creativity and innovation, students
are born to bring the changes in their lives as well as to the nation. Another objective of
implementation of KSSR is to produce individuals who have positive self-image and high

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self-esteem. With character building emphasized, it is hoped that the student would not only
have the adequate knowledge and skills but would also have strong leadership qualities and
character to face the challengers of the current scenario. With the variety of curriculum and
co-curriculum activities implemented in schools, it will help to nurture the skills of the
students in leadership. In addition, the involvement of students in uniforms and uniform units,
at the same time can train the students to become more mature and confident as well as
prepare them to face challenges in future. This element is the most crucial to be a good
leader. A good leader also should always make sure that they do well at all times. This is
because leaders are role model of everyone. Therefore, KSSR has emphasized the skills in
each student. When a leader has a good self-esteem, the student will definitely be respected
and thus produce a good generation.

KSSR curriculums also focus on the character building and values. The students are
requiring working together and helping each other in the learning process. Besides the
students are also no longer divided based on their academic achievement, but then the
learning process a mixed the students together. This is to ensure collaborative learning
among the students where students with the higher academic will help and teach the slower
ones. Thus, this process of learning will promotes values such as kindness and helpfulness.
Besides the removal of the exam oriented system will allow students to acquire knowledge
more productively. Students no longer will feel the pressure to cramp as much as they can
and vomit it all out for their exams. The focus now is on gaining knowledge, understanding
information and being able to retaining it for a longer period of time.

KSSR also emphasizes on the physical and aesthetical aspects. This is because
physical health is very as through active body, it will help to boost the healthy minds. If the
body is active and healthy, it will absorb positive values in the minds of an individual and this
will indirectly make a student as an individual who is always positive. Furthermore, the
process of imagination, creativity, and talent is also crucial for the transformation in the field
of education. When the body of the student is fit and healthy, their thinking can also be can
more creative and innovative.

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 As for the conclusion, KSSR has its own strengths and weaknesses. Based on the
Philosophy of Education, it is clear that the purpose of education is for the development of
the wellbeing person as a whole and balanced so that one can become knowledgeable,
responsible, honorable, and pious. The philosophy of Education is the core of the education
system in the country. This philosophy was formulated on the realization that the country
must have direction and goals in the right system and educational programs. The reformation
that had been made also is suitable with the changing needs of the time and in line with
current needs. All the adjustments in the curriculum which focus more on skills such as
calculating, thinking, learning, scientific and technical are need to be made to prepare
citizens that are able to cope with the challenges of the 21st century. In addition, The
Ministry of Education always tried the best to improve the education systems in Malaysia
especially from the first stage, which is in primary school. Teachers and students have to
understand and trying their best to give the cooperation with the new structure of curriculum
that has been revised by the ministry of education. The primary education is a good starter to
train the children to be the best among the best by using the curriculum of education in
Malaysia.