Quality Control in Physical Education in Malaysia: Relooking at the National Strategy for Quality Physical Education

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to examine the Quality Control in Physical Education (QCPE) and specifically the national strategy for QCPE. The examinations of QCPE were in terms of continuous efforts in improving PE syllabus and pedagogy, teacher education supply and development, facilities, equipment and resources, monitoring and quality assurance, and community partnerships. The data collection methods were based on content analysis of the primary and secondary sources; government documents, physical education reports, UNESCO report, and research and journal papers were examined in providing relevant supporting evidence. The findings revealed that majority of PE classes were handled by non-PE majors, which has led to poor students’ perceptions and attitude towards PE. The PE administrative issues were related to the lack of monitoring of PE teachers by administrators, PE classes were used for other more important subjects, and majority of administrators did not organize staff training programme. For structure-related problems, it was reported PE facilities and equipment were inadequate in most schools. To overcome the challenges mentioned, numerous national strategies have been put in place. The Malaysian Ministry of Education continuously improved PE syllabus and pedagogy through reviews. In addition, the Education National Key Results Areas (NKRAs) under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) have been established to improve students’ performance in schools in addition to providing them with access to better quality education. This was implemented under the concept of high performing schools. Other national strategy involved governmental initiatives through ‘sport-for-all’ strategies within the Strategic Plan (2010–2015) of the Ministry of Youth and Sport Malaysia, the ‘1Student, 1Sport’ policy of the MOE, and initiatives by the MOE’s Teacher Training Division towards training more qualified PE teachers. Collaborative efforts by the private sectors in providing training for sport and recreation through private facilities have provided assistance to the teaching and learning in PE.