Skip to main content

Home/ Malaysian Teachers & Education/ Group items tagged international survey

Rss Feed Group items tagged

izz aty

Archives | The Star Online. - 0 views

  • It does not matter if you are top of your class or have a string of degrees, that dream job will not be yours unless you can speak and write well in English.
  • 68% of the companies surveyed named communication skills as the top quality required in job applicants, followed by working experience (67%), interpersonal skills (56.2%) and passion and commitment (55.7%).
  • The MEF Salary Survey for Executives 2010
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said globalisation had changed the nature of jobs, making communication skills, specifically in English, a valuable asset for today's worker.
  • He added that this was an essential criterion even for professions traditionally seen as “backroom” staff such as engineers, technical personnel and scientists. “It is especially so for those working in multinationals and bigger firms,” he said. “Today, our clients are worldwide. In factories, for instance, engineers are a different breed from the past,” said Shamsuddin. “Now, they have to be involved in various aspects of business and interact with clients.”
  • Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers President Tan Sri Mustafa Mansur said the young ones who could not communicate in English were unable to negotiate the best deals in business transactions or investments. “We need to send people out to market our products, negotiate deals or get contracts signed. If they cannot communicate well in English, we will lose out,” he said.
  • Kelly Services (M) Sdn Bhd managing director Melissa Norman concurred, noting that six in 10 graduates who attended its interviews could not communicate effectively in English.
  • Norman said it was important to master English as it was widely used among the business community, both in Malaysia and internationally.
  • Various industry and business leaders also warned that the decline in English was affecting Malaysia's global competitiveness.
  • Shamsuddin expressed concern that many local graduates today could not speak or write proper English, saying this was a reason why they faced difficulties getting jobs in the private sector.
  • Pemudah co-chair Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon pointed out that, contrary to popular belief, it was important for civil servants to have a good command of English due to a growing borderless world. “The standard of English also affects the quality of the public sector as civil servants have to interact with international citizens and the business world as well as articulate Malaysia's stand on issues to the international community. These include negotiations on important agreements such as trade agreements.”
  • Noting that the quality of English in the country had declined over the last two decades, former Human Resource Minister Tan Sri Fong Chan Onn warned that the country would lose out to its neighbours that did not teach English in schools previously. “Thailand, Indonesia and China are making efforts to improve their English through their education system,” he noted.
  •  
    "Feedback from local and international employers shows that verbal and written communication skills in English remain the most sought-after attribute in prospective employees. According to a recent Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) survey, it is the most important trait employers look for when recruiting graduates."
izz aty

Where In The World You Can Find The Best Schools - And The Happiest Kids - 0 views

  •  
    "The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's triennial international survey compared test scores from 65 countries. Happiness was ranked based on the percentage of students who agreed or disagreed with the statement "I feel happy at school." Test scores were ranked based on the combined individual rankings of the students' math, reading, and science scores."
izz aty

Malaysia has highest level of English proficiency in Asia - Latest - New Straits Times - 0 views

  • climbed two notches higher to 11th place from 13th position last year in the EF English Proficiency Index which saw over 60 countries being surveyed.
  • Malaysia, which was placed in the ‘High Proficiency’ category, had overtaken Singapore who fell behind to 12th position in the world ranking. Malaysia scored 58.99 points in the survey while neighbouring Singapore received a 58.92 score.
  • The analysis of evolving English proficiency over a six-year period (2007 to 2012 inclusive) uses test data from nearly five million adults.   EF Academic Affairs and Research Network head Dr. Christopher McCormick said: “Comparison of countries with their neighbours, trading partners, and rivals provides a fascinating study in divergent national priorities and educational policies worldwide,”
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • some Asian countries, such as Indonesia and Vietnam, have transformed their English proficiency over the six-year period.
  • “China has also improved, although less dramatically. Japan and South Korea, despite enormous private investments, have declined slightly,” the statement said.
  • English language skills were improving in Brazil, Russia, India, and China.   “This year, India and Russia have moved ahead of China, and Brazil is closing in fast.
  • “While the rest of Europe is already proficient in English or steadily working towards that goal, France is on an entirely different trajectory.”     However, the EF found that the Middle East and North Africa were the weakest regions in English.
  • 06 November 2013
  •  
    "Malaysia has the highest English language proficiency level in the entire Asian region, according to a latest research by Swiss-based international education company EF Education First (EF)."
izz aty

England's Ranking in International League Tables | National Union of Teachers - NUT - 0 views

  • The Sutton Trust report said that big variations in England’s education rankings in global league tables can be misleading, should be treated with caution and can obscure the true challenges facing schools.
  • apparent differences in performance between different global tables, are the result of three key factors: Different countries are included in the different tables; League tables exaggerate the importance of raw test scores; and Some countries do better on one survey than another, perhaps because the surveys test different aspects of literacy, numeracy and science.
  • Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, said:“Whatever the average ranking of English education, we need to focus on reducing social segregation which is greater in England than almost all other OECD countries
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • We also need to improve teaching standards across the board and not focus so much on structures if we are to match those countries that consistently outperform the rest of the world – not just places like Hong Kong and Japan, but successful European education systems – and use their achievement as our benchmark
  • School systems that offer parents more school choices are less effective in raising the performance of all children
  • UK state schools outperform private schools;
  • Financial constraints limits school ‘choice’ for low income families
  • PISA 2009 had some interesting things to say on schools systems, choice and equity, finding, for example that: Comprehensive school systems produce better and more equitable results;
  • Exclusions and school transfer of pupils reduces performance.
  • Pisa is unequivocal in saying that: “The bottom line is that the quality of a school system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.”
  • The top ranked countries were Finland and South Korea where, despite huge differences, there was a shared social belief in the importance of education and its “underlying moral purpose”. These countries also had among the lowest levels of school choice and Finland had the lowest levels of school autonomy.
  • The Pearson report concluded that spending on education was important but less so than other factors. For example it said successful countries gave teachers a high status and have a ‘culture’ of education.
  • also emphasised the importance of high-quality teachers and the need to find ways to recruit the best staff – including raising teacher status, professional respect and pay.
  • OECD, PISA 2009 Results: What Makes a School Successful? – Resources, Policies and Practices (Volume IV) (OECD Publishing, 2010)
izz aty

Statistics: how many people have autism spectrum disorders? - | autism | Asperger syndr... - 0 views

  • The latest prevalence studies of autism indicate that 1.1% of the population in the UK may have autism. This means that over 695,000 people in the UK may have autism, an estimate derived from the 1.1% prevalence rate applied to the 2011 UK census figures.
  • Emerson and Baines (2010) in their meta-analysis of prevalence studies found a range of people with learning disabilities and autism from 15% to 84%, with a mean of 52.6%.
  • Around a third of people with a learning disability may also have autism.
  • ...19 more annotations...
  • The NHS Information Centre, Community and Mental Health Team, Brugha et al.(2012), found between 31% and 35.4% of people with a learning disability have autism.
  • Baird et al (2006) found a male to female ratio of 3.3:1 for the whole spectrum in their sample.  The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey looked at people in private households, and found a prevalence rate of 1.8% male compared with 0.2% female, (Brugha et al, 2009). However, when they extended the study to include those people with learning disabilities who had been unable to take part in the APMS in 2007 and those in communal residential settings, they found that the rates for females were much closer to those of the males in the learning disabled population, (The NHS Information Centre, Community and Mental Health Team, Brugha et al., 2012).
  • For over 30 years, Sula Wolff, in Edinburgh, has studied children of average or high ability who are impaired in their social interaction but who do not have the full picture of the triad of impairments
  • more than 50 years since Leo Kanner first described his classic autistic syndrome
  • The specific pattern of abnormal behaviour first described by Leo Kanner is also known as 'early infantile autism'. Kanner made no estimate of the possible numbers of people with this condition but he thought that it was rare (Kanner, 1943).
  • autism spectrum disorders are under-diagnosed in females, and therefore the male to female ratio of those who have autism may be closer than is indicated by the figure of 5:1. The under recognition of autism spectrum disorders in females is discussed in Gould and Ashton-Smith (2011)
  • the clinical picture overlaps with Asperger syndrome to a large extent. However, these children represent the most subtle and most able end of the autism spectrum. The majority become independent as adults, many marry and some display exceptional gifts, though retaining the unusual quality of their social interactions
  • they often have a difficult time at school and they need recognition, understanding and acceptance from their parents and teachers. The approach that suits them best is the same as that which is recommended for children with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism.
  • Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Surveillance Year 2008 Principal Investigators (2012) Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders - autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 14 sites, United States, 2008. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance summaries, 61(3), pp. 1-19. Available to download at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6103a1.htm  [Accessed 15/05/2013]
    • izz aty
       
      http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/myths-facts-and-statistics/statistics-how-many-people-have-autism-spectrum-disorders.aspx The word 'autism' was first used by Leo Kanner in the term 'early infantile autism' which was used to describe a specific pattern of abnormal behaviour. 
  • The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network in the USA looked at 8 year old children in 14 states in 2008, and found a prevalence rate of autism spectrum disorders within those states overall of  1 in 88, with around five times as many boys as girls affected (Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Surveillance Year 2008 Principal Investigators, 2012).
  • The National Center for Health Statistics in the USA published findings from telephone surveys of parents of children aged 6-17 undertaken in 2011-12. The report showed a prevalence rate for ASD of 1 in 50, (Blumberg, S .J. et al, 2013).
  • 2.64% was found in a study done in South Korea, where the researchers found two thirds of the ASD cases were in the mainstream school population, and had never been diagnosed before., (Kim et al, 2011).
  • both the increase in estimates over time and the variability between countries and regions are likely to be because of broadening diagnostic criteria, diagnostic switching, service availability and awareness of ASD among professionals and the public, (Elsabbagh M. et al, 2012).
  • The Department of Health then funded a project to build on the APMS study and look more closely at the numbers of adults with autism that could not have been included in the original study. This included people in residential care settings and those with a more severe learning disability. The study was led by Professor Terry Brugha of the University of Leicester, who also led on autism research for the APMS 2007.  Combining its findings with the original APMS, it found that the actual prevalence of autism is approximately 1.1% of the English population, (The NHS Information Centre, Community and Mental Health Team, Brugha, T. et al., 2012)
  • Blumberg, S. J. et al (2013) Changes in prevalence of parent-reported autism spectrum disorder in school-aged U.S. children: 2007 to 2011–2012. National Health Statistics Reports, No 65. Available to download at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr065.pdf   [Accessed 15/05/2013]
  • Emerson, E. and Baines, S. (2010) The estimated prevalence of autism among adults with learning disabilities in England. Stockton-on-Tees: Improving Health and Lives. Available to download at http://www.improvinghealthandlives.org.uk/projects/autism [Accessed 10/05/2013]
  • Idring, S. et al. (2012) Autism spectrum disorders in the Stockholm Youth Cohort: design, prevalence and validity. PLoS One, 7(7): e41280 Available to download at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3401114/ [Accessed 15/05/2013]
  • Elsabbagh, M. et al (2012) Global prevalence of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. Autism Research, 5 (3), pp.160-179. Available to download at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aur.239/pdf [Accessed 15/05/2013]
  • World Health Organisation.  (1992). International Classification of Diseases. 10th ed. Geneva: WHO.
1 - 5 of 5
Showing 20 items per page