Merry Christmas

Rurouni Kenshin 2 - The Great Kyoto Arc Official Trailer

Wah, the Kyoto arc, I don't know how they are going to fit all the characters in one movie.

TIMSS and PISA results

Some of you might have heard of these 2, if you are in the education field. While some ministers boasts that we have the best education system in the world, the results say otherwise.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provides reliable and timely data on the mathematics and science achievement of U.S. 4th- and 8th-grade students compared to that of students in other countries. TIMSS data have been collected in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011. The next data collection is in 2015.

This is not a two cent NGO, the results are acknowledged worldwide, unless you are in denial. Their website if you want to refer http://nces.ed.gov/timss/

Here is the result for 2011, well, part of it anyhow

Here is the full reference in the website http://nces.ed.gov/timss/table11_3.asp

The average score is 500, with Malaysia scoring 440.

What about this PISA? No, it's not the leaning tower that we are talking about

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. To date, students representing more than 70 economies have participated in the assessment.

Their website http://www.oecd.org/pisa/

And the result for 2012

For the full result http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/PISA-2012-results-snapshot-Volume-I-ENG.pdf

If you look carefully, you will see that Thailand has a higher score than Malaysia.

Time to wake up..

2013 - The Lost Year

I have not updated my blog since June 2013. Well, it's not that I was dead or something, but I was busy trying to save the world, actually Malaysia. Currently I am working in an institute that trains Malaysian Teachers, and I "heard" a lot of praise of the good job that we are doing. But, when I look back at the reality, yeah, we can get a student to get 17A in SPM, but there are people who can't handle life, like the 24 years old engineer who commited suicide because he cannot handle the stress of the first job, so i wonder are we really doing a good job, or are we just blowing our own trumpet (syok sendiri). Some ministers even declared our education the best in the world, but timss and pisa results really knock us back to earth.

Looking back, it has almost been 3 years I have left the education field. In these 3 years, I still contact my students, get involved in their projects and regularly visit them. I guess I never left, its just I am not physically there anymore, but I kniw the happenings at the college. I have read somewhere that

"Jerry Jarrett told me when he walked away from the wrestling business, he thought he hated the wrestling business.

Then after he was away from it for a while, he figured out that he didn't hate the wrestling business, he hated who he was in business with in the wrestling business." - Jim Cornette.

Well, I guess that is true, that's why now I am waiting for my change to go back to teach, it's just a matter or time and opportunity. By next year is my target, its just the matter of place in location. Actually since last year, I thought of leaving, but i decided to give people a chance, but I guess it is not worth it. In the end, you should decide what you really want to do in life.

More on that later. But I did evolve since I left education field, so I guess that was the right thing to do at the time. But now, this is the right thing to do.

And yes, I will regularly update my blog again, since I need a reason to live too. Till next time.