KUALA LUMPUR: Primary school children should not be burdened with learning complex vocational skills, and instead should be empowered to master the 3M (reading, writing, and counting).
National STEM Association president and founder Emeritus Datuk Dr Noraini Idris said the Education Ministry's plan to introduce Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) elements in primary schools should be put on hold until the 3M skills have been fully developed.
"The ministry themselves reported that over 122,000 Year One pupils have not mastered the 3M.
"Don't burden them further with more tasks, otherwise the number of pupils who cannot read, write and count will increase," she told the New Straits Times.
On Sept 9, it was reported that 28 per cent of the 448,113 Year One pupils for the 2024/2025 academic session had yet to master 3M.
Education director-general Azman Adnan said the 122,062 pupils had been identified for the ministry's Literacy and Numeracy Intervention Programme through early screening conducted by teachers in July.
Noraini said primary school students, especially in Years One to Three should be moulded to read, write and count through play and outdoor activities, and should also learn to develop thinking and reasoning skills.
"We can incorporate TVET-natured skills through other co-curricular activities, and teaching living skills, but not as a subject itself."
She said in Japan, for example, students are taught about agriculture by doing "light" activities such as planting vegetables.
"In other countries, children are brought to supermarkets to teach them arithmetic and reasoning skills. They are given a certain amount of money, and asked how and why they were spending them.
"These are some things we can do to teach children, by incorporating fun and smart learning.
"If we wanted to introduce TVET in primary schools, we can start with those already in Years Four to Six. Once they already have the necessary 3M skills, they can then be exposed to computer skills," she added.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh yesterday said the ministry would begin incorporating TVET elements for Year One pupils starting 2027.
He had told the Dewan Rakyat that pupils would be exposed to TVET through integrated learning, which combined various disciplines in science, technology, digital studies, visual arts, music, and health education.