SSQS
SSQS
my
www.msc.com.my
Smart School Qualification Standards
(SSQS)
2008 © MDeC
Contents
MSC Malaysia 2
Introduction 5
SSQS Chart 18
Message from the Minister of Education, Malaysia
Under the 9th Malaysia Plan, Smarts Schools are expected to bridge the digital divide
and deliver on the Prime Minister’s promise that ‘ICT should not be elitist, but should 1
touch the lives of every individual’.
ICT is intended to form the nucleus that supports the reinvention of the whole nation
towards becoming a knowledge-based economy by 2020. ICT is to be used both as a
tool for education people and for revolutionizing the education system. Skills such as
digital literacy, effective communication, critical thinking and problem solving will
empower Malaysians to make our mark and compete more effectively in this
increasingly technology-based world.
The Smart School Qualification Standards (SSQS) and its associated Star Rankings,
mark a critical turning point in the evolution of Malaysia’s education system. The
SSQS introduces a two-pronged strategy based on guidance and training and helps
educators in Smart Schools better understand their role and expectations.
As the use of ICT continues to become more pervasive in schools, the SSQS sets
benchmarks that will measure the successful transformation of our national education
system. By monitoring the quality of our national education system, MDeC and the
Ministry of Education can focus on raising the bar on the quality of our education
system, with better policy planning and programme improvements.
Educators now have greater access to ICT resources through training workshops,
online value adding applications and on-site guidance. The SSQS provides the
necessary stimulus for change within our education system and ensures a better return
on investment from the deployment of ICT resources in schools throughout Malaysia.
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The SSQS is unique in that is possibly the first set of indicators created by a
government-driven organization for national roll-out and development, as opposed to
international comparison and benchmarking.
We hope that the SSQS will empower educators to inspire a new generation of students
that will be better equipped to fuel the nation’s evolution towards developing a
knowledge-based economy.
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The MSC Malaysia has since grown into a thriving and dynamic ICT hub, hosting
more than 900 multinationals, foreign-owned and home-grown companies focused
on multimedia and communications products, solutions, services and research and
development.
With this unique corridor, leading ICT companies from around the world are motivated
and incentivised to locate their industries in the MSC Malaysia and undertake research,
develop new products and technologies and export from this base. The MSC Malaysia
is also an ideal growth environment for Malaysian ICT Small and Medium Enterprises
to transform themselves into world-class companies. Furthermore, the MSC Malaysia
welcomes countries to use its highly advanced infrastructural facilities as a global test-
bed for ICT applications and a hub for their regional operations in Asia.
Seven innovative flagship applications were put in place to accelerate ICT growth and
development in the areas of telehealth, e-Business, smart card technology, electronic
government, technopreneurship – one of them is the Smart Schools project headed
by the Ministry of Education.
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In 2004, the MSC Malaysia National Rollout began, spreading the MSC Malaysia
benefits and value propositions nationwide and reaching out to both industry and the
community-at-large. By the year 2020, the MSC Malaysia Agenda will be extended to
the whole country. It will be a national transformation for Malaysia to become a
Knowledge-based Economy and Society, as envisaged in Vision 2020.
Multimedia Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (MDeC)
Your gateway to the MSC Malaysia is the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC),
a high-powered ‘one-stop agency’, focusing on ensuring the success of the MSC Malaysia
and the companies operating in it.
The MDeC has been incorporated under the Companies Act of Malaysia, owned and
funded by the Government. At MDeC, we combine the entrepreneurial efficiency and
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effectiveness of a private company, with the decision-making and authority of a high-
powered government agency.
Our role is to advise the Malaysian Government on legislation and policies, develop MSC
Malaysia-specific practices, and set breakthrough standards for multimedia operations. We
also promote the MSC Malaysia locally and globally, as well as support companies which
are locating within the MSC Malaysia.
We are dedicated to ensuring the MSC Malaysia is the world’s best environment to harness
the full potential of ICT. MDeC is a champion, facilitator and partner. We champion the
merits of the MSC Malaysia, facilitate the entry of companies and partner with the
Government and the private sector in realizing both a vision and an opportunity.
MDeC ensures that companies interested in entering the MSC Malaysia have what they
need to succeed. MDeC stands ready to work with investors, foreign and local, big or small,
to ensure that the MSC Malaysia fulfils its promises.
Smart School Qualification Standards (SSQS)
INTRODUCTION
The Smart School initiative was launched in July 1997 as one of the seven flagships of
the Multimedia Super Corridor. Much has been achieved since the initial Smart
School pilot project by the Ministry of Education which resulted in an outstanding
initiative – the establishment of the selected “88 Smart Schools”.
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These 88 Smart Schools were initially identified to act as the reference nucleus for
Smart School concepts, materials, skills, and technologies developed by the MoE.
However, research analysis from the Impact Study (2005) indicated that the
infrastructure set up by the MoE, including the provision of computers, applications
and ICT Co-ordinators to the various schools, was not managed and utilised
optimally.
As such in April 2006, the National IT Council chaired by the Prime Minister
endorsed the Minister of Education’s proposal that MDeC create a systematic
transformation of the selected ‘88 Smart Schools’ into model schools. This included
promoting best practices in technology-enabled teaching, learning and school
management.
MDeC was given the mandate to develop an easy model for replication by the 88
Smart Schools. These 88 Smart Schools will in turn act as role models to showcase
utilisation and maximisation of ICT usage in education through the infrastructure
provided by the MoE. Based on a 2-pronged approach, MDeC together with the MoE
has provided guidance and training on basic management and transformation
principles of positive “Monitoring” and “Value-adding”, to achieve this goal.
The indicators show how ICT should be used not only as a basic operational tool
(such as the number of computers and online connectivity) but also as a
communications tool which promotes the development of:
• creativity
• interactivity
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• collaborative learning
• critical thinking
• problem-solving
UNESCO’s Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education provides a situational
analysis regarding the development and impact of ICT in Education. It offers methods
of collecting indicators, comparisons of indicator themes in selected countries as
well as several case studies on the use and impact of ICT in education.
One of the users of UNESCO’s programme is African SchoolNet. The African
Education Knowledge Warehouse (AEKW) is a pan-African education portal which
services African SchoolNet practitioners, policymakers and school-based
communities on ICTs in education across Africa.
In Europe, the eEurope+ Final Progress Report provided a set of indicators to
benchmark the introduction of new technologies into education and everyday life.
The report showed that all Acceding and Candidate Countries have made
significant efforts towards the implementation of a knowledge-based society but
also highlights the need to stimulate the development of interactive, multi-media
rich and multilingual content, as a driver for broadband deployment. The 11
implementation of e-government services, the integration of ICT training into every
students’ education and the deployment of lifelong ICT training were other
measures recommended.
Efforts and evaluation tools to integrate ICT in education are available globally but to
determine national impact of ICT locally, a localised set of indicators or criteria is
required for measurement and ranking. Performance indicators to monitor the use
and impact of technologies also provide useful information to respond to challenges.
Strategically, the thrust of the entire programme is one of monitoring and guidance (as
a form of subtle and gentle enforcement) activities backed by value-add (or
reinforcement) support in identified areas.
Utilization: monitors the extent to which the school makes use of ICT in its
operation, management, teaching and learning activities. Utilization accounts
for 40% of the Star Ranking appraisal as it forms the integral part of
transformation.
Examples of KPIs for Applications are: at least 5 modules used for operations
management, LCMS and MoE courseware are used for teaching, and website
presence and maintenance.
4. Star Ranking
The aim of this exercise is the quarterly Star Ranking, where Smart Schools are
measured in the ICT Focus Areas and ranked between 1 to 5 stars.
Schools which do not qualify for any Star Ranking may regard that as a clear
indication that they do not qualify as model smart schools, and urgent steps need
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to be taken to regain position on the development track.
It is hoped that the 88 schools will make use of the ranking system to qualify
themselves as 5-Star Smart Schools.
The Star Ranking is awarded based on a unified score from the indicators to:
Serve as a device for monitoring
Provide information for specific actions to uplift schools
Facilitate decision and policy making
The Star Rankings are:
Basic Plus Star ranking for Smart Schools with basic features,
with slight additions but falling below the average
conditions for all indicators.
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Median Star ranking awarded to Smart Schools with fair or
average conditions of all the indicators.
Utilization 14. Student-PC contact hours after school ≤ 60 minutes 61-120 minutes 121-180 minutes per 181-240 minutes ≥ 241 minutes
(40%) hours for learning purposes per week per week week per week per week
– ICT integration in
15. Usage of Resource Centre/Access Centre Once a month Once in 3 weeks Once in 2 weeks Once a week Daily
teaching, learning
for ICT-related work by student
and school
administration 16. Update of activities and data on the Once a year Once in 6 months Once every 3 months Monthly Weekly
relevant modules by IT Coordinator in
Web Based School Management System/
other ICT-based system
17. Update of school portal by IT Coordinator Once a year Once in 6 months Once every 3 months Monthly Weekly
20 HUMAN CAPITAL 1. ICT competency level of Administrator Very Low Low Average High Very High
(40%) 2. Number of ICT-related courses attended 1 2 3 4 ≥5
– ICT competency
by Administrator in the last 3 years
of Administrators,
Teachers, 3. Frequency of ICT Smart-partnership once a year twice per year 6 times a year monthly weekly
IT Coordinators programme with community
and Students 4. Number of in-house ICT training courses 1-2 per year 3-4 per year 5-6 per year 7-8 per year ≥ 9 per year
conducted
5. Frequency of dissemination of information once a year twice a year 6 times a year monthly weekly
regarding ICT by Administrator
6. Frequency of change management once a year twice a year 4 times a year 6 times a year monthly
conducted by Administrator
7. Number of types of ICT-related support 1 per year 2 per year 3 per year 4 per year ≥ 5 per year
from the community
8. Number of innovative programmes 1 per year 2 per year 3 per year 4 per year ≥ 5 per year
conducted in schools
9. ICT competency level of teachers Very Low Low Average High Very High
10. Additional ICT competency level of Very Low Low Average High Very High
teachers
11. Number of ICT-related courses attended 1 2 3 4 ≥5
by teachers in the last 3 years
School BASIC BASIC PLUS MEDIAN ADVANCED ADVANCED PLUS
Smart Ranking
School Indicators
Indicators (0 < x < 20%) (20% ≤ x < 40%) (40% ≤ x < 60%) (60% ≤ x < 80% (x ≥ 80%)
HUMAN CAPITAL 12. Number of in-house ICT training courses 1 per year 2 per year 3 per year 4 per year 5 per year
(40%) conducted by teachers
– ICT competency
13. Frequency of dissemination of information once a year twice a year 6 times a year monthly weekly
of Administrators,
regarding ICT by teachers
Teachers,
IT Coordinators 14. ICT competency level of IT Coordinator Very Low Low Average High Very High
and Students 15. Number of ICT-related courses attended 1 2 3 4 ≥5
by IT Coordinator in the last 3 years
16. Number of in-house ICT training courses 1-2 per year 1-4 per year 5-6 per year 7-8 per year ≥ 9 per year
conducted
17. Frequency of dissemination of information once a year twice a year 6 times a year monthly weekly
regarding ICT by IT Coordinator 21
18. ICT competency level of students Very Low Low Average High Very High
19. Additional ICT competency level of Very Low Low Average High Very High
students
20. Number of sources Student refers to for 1 2 3 4 5
ICT-related knowledge
APPLICATION 6. Must have a website for the school One website One website One website, One website, One website,
(10%) and updated updated with one updated with two updated with all
– IT Coordinator of the following of the following of the following
for the schools criteria: criteria: criteria:
• maintained • maintained • maintained
• interactive • interactive • interactive
• downloadable • downloadable • downloadable
materials materials materials
7. Must have an email application for the Email Email Email Email application Email application,
school application application application and directory for directory and
the school email groups for
the school
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INFRASTRUCTURE 1. Number of functioning computers in the 5-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 ≥31
(10%) school
– Administrators 2. Computer: Pupil ratio 1:>12 1: 10-12 1: 6-9 1: 3-5 1: 2
and IT
Coordinators 3. Computer/Notebook: Teacher Ratio 1: >8 1: 6-8 1: 4-6 1: >2-4 1≤ 2
4. LCD Projector: Class Ratio 1:>20 1: 16-20 1: 11-15 1: 5-10 ≤5
5. Accessible computer locations 1 2 3 4 5
6. Percentage of Computers not working ≥ 50% 30% - < 50% 20% - < 30% 10% - < 20% < 10%
more than 24 hours
7. Local Area Network connectivity ≤2 3-4 5-6 >6 ≥7 & wireless
8. Standard maximum downtime >7 times/week 5-6 times/week 3-4 times/week 1-2 times/week 0 time/rarely
9. Internet accessibility 1 location 2 locations 3 locations 4 locations ≥5 locations
10. Maintenance activity Once a month Once every Once every Once a week Daily
3 weeks 2 weeks
MSC Malaysia Client Contact Centre (CliC)
Multimedia Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (389346-D)
MSC Malaysia Headquarters, 2360 Persiaran APEC, 63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Tel: +603 8315 3000 Fax: +603 8318 8519 Email: [email protected] URL: www.msc.com.my