Education

Sunday April 22, 2007

Tales from a smart school pioneer

The Education Ministry's Schools Division director Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim speaks about the challenges of setting up one of the first smart schools in the country.

BY KAREN CHAPMAN

IT was the challenge of trying something totally new that led Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim to volunteer to be among the first group of principals put in charge of smart schools.

The then principal of SMK Puteri Titiwangsa prepared herself by going for computer lessons, which she paid for out of her own pocket.

Noor Rezan stands in front of the former Bukit Bintang Girls’ School in Kuala Lumpur which was demolished following the school’s move to the first smart school complex in Cheras. – Filepic
“I wanted to prove that even someone from my generation could learn to use computers. Even though I was a bit technophobic in the beginning and afraid that one wrong touch of the key could send my computer crashing, I overcame my fear and later I even learnt to do my own Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

“By taking the lessons, I had a better understanding of computers and saw how they could enhance our education system,” shares Noor Rezan, now Schools Division director at the Education Ministry.

She was chosen to become principal of SMK (P) Bukit Bintang (Bukit Bintang Girls’ School or fondly known by many as BBGS) on Dec 16, 1998.

But instead of moving into the school's new premises in Taman Shamelin Perkasa in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, from Jalan Bukit Bintang as planned, there was an unexpected setback.

“We arrived at our new school with 11 lorry loads of boxes – imagine how we felt when we were told that the new building had a structural problem and we had to go back to our old premises!

“Then we found out that computers would not be supplied at the old school,” she says.

Starting with zero

It was an anxious time for everyone as the school was about to start and there were no computers at all.

The teachers had already received intensive training on new teaching and learning methods under the smart school concept.

“I was at my wits' end, trying desperately to get computers installed,” Noor Rezan recalls.

“I approached the ministry's Information Technology and Communication Division (BTMK) for help but was told we had to follow procedure, which included filling in some 20 forms!”

With time running out, she wrote to banks, non-governmental organisations and corporate bodies explaining the desperate situation the school was in and asking if they could donate used computers.

She managed to obtain 28 computers in this way and the school purchased 12 more.

Five months later, her application was approved but she was reprimanded for going ahead without official approval.

“Alhamdulillah, it was argued that this was a special case. We then were supplied with another 30 computers.”

After all the hard work, the school finally had 70 computers to justify its smart school status.

Other than equipment problems, Noor Rezan also had to face manpower challenges. Half of BBGS' teachers had opted for a transfer as they did not want to move to Cheras, so the school had 40 new teachers.

Although there was some friction initially, the teachers soon put aside their petty rivalries. Everyone worked hard to make the smart school project a success at BBGS.

In 1999, BBGS was chosen as a Model A smart school. As such, in addition to computer and multimedia laboratories, it had computerised classrooms, electronic resource centres, self-access centres and computers in science laboratories.

More challenges

After the initial hardware was put in place, Noor Rezan realised that many students were finding it difficult to adjust to the new mode of learning.

“It was my mistake. I had assumed that since most of them came from households with computers, there would be no problems.

“In fact, the students struggled to cope,” she explains.

The school then held training sessions on the smart school learning concept, which required students to play a more active role. Noor Rezan recalls an incident when she was approached by the ustazah about a student who would not stop crying.

“I invited the girl, who was from a Felda scheme, to my office. She told me she wanted to leave as she could not cope in a smart school environment.

“She was so used to the spoon-feeding method that she felt totally lost.”

Noor Rezan encouraged the student not to give up and told her that BBGS teachers would help her until she was more confident.

The advice paid off as the student managed to obtain seven As in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia.

With hindsight, Noor Rezan says it was a blessing that the school did not move earlier.

“We had made our mistakes and learnt from them so that when we actually moved to our new premises in 2001, we could adjust more easily.”

On Jan 3, 2001, history was made when the first smart school complex, consisting of SMK Seri Bintang Utara, SK Seri Bintang Utara and SK Seri Bintang Selatan opened for the new school year.

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