Yayasan Sarawak or Sarawak Foundation has collaborated with the Sarawak Education Department (JPNS) to introduce the Hipers (High Performance Rural Schools) Programme.
This initiative aims to boost the performance of rural schools to meet the requirements of the national education philosophy.
Coming from a rural school does not mean that students there are academically weak.
Some of the factors that influence the performance of rural school students are their background, motivation, attitude towards schooling, home environment and their personality.
Although various programmes have been undertaken and implemented by the Ministry of Education and JPNS, there are still significant gaps between urban and rural schools.
The Hipers Programme started in 1996. Initially, it was only to provide assistance such as additional classes, holding examination excellence workshops and also stationery assistance as materials used during teaching and learning sessions.
After going through various studies for the purpose of improving the quality and impact of the programme, it now places emphasis on a more comprehensive assistance covering students, teachers, parents and communities.
The main goal is to help rural schools improve their overall academic and non-academic performance.
To date, 51 rural schools statewide have been selected as Sarawak Foundation Hipers Schools, comprising 25 secondary schools and 26 primary schools.
Among the directions of the programme are:
- Schools will be able to produce students who excel academically.
- Bridging the gap between rural and urban schools.
- Helping schools to be independent.
- Fostering a culture of excellence among schoolchildren.
- Raising awareness about education among parents and the community as well as encourage their participation in the development of education in schools.
Group focus
The Hipers Programme will always focus on the students’ development both academically and non-academically. It also emphasises the development of teachers, parents and the community.
Various programmes have been implemented in accordance with the related focus groups, namely:
| Students | Teachers | Parents | Community |
| To emphasise the development of students not only academically but also non-academically | To provide teachers with the necessary equipment and skills | To prepare parents for their respective roles in helping their children’s educational development | To expose the community to the Sarawak Foundation’s role in the development of human capital and their respective roles in developing education |
Help improve the quality of teachers
Teachers are the main focus and play a role as leaders in the classroom. Various forms of support, guidance and training are provided to enhance teaching knowledge and skills.
Beneficial partnership for schools to hold parenting/community talks
Teachers and schools need to inform parents about the importance of children getting adequate education in school. It’s important to guarantee their children’s future.
Assessment through KPIs (overall achievement indicators)
The success of the selected school and the effectiveness of the Hipers Programme will be evaluated continuously using existing assessment instruments in the school. The results of the assessment will be an indication of achievement for improvement and will be a factor for whether the programme should be continued in certain schools. Among the assessment factors are:
- Achievements in term and public examinations (UPSR and SPM). Each school needs to show improvement from the previous year.
- Actual achievement compared to ETR (Expected Target Result). Comparison of results of public examinations and term examinations.
- Involvement of activities and achievements in co-curricular. Covers activities with teachers, parents and the community.
- Discipline of students in the course of the implementation of the programme.
- The award the school received that year.
- The frequency of sending monthly reports as well as the overall annual reports
Examples of activities carried out
- Community co-student programme
- Tuition class (diagnostics; module)
- Consensus (parenting; I promise)
- Excellence Camp (motivation; import question-drafters to give briefings and disclosures)
- Award (students; schools; teachers)
- Teacher consolidation (workshops Kebat; material exposure)
Application as a Hipers school
The Sarawak Foundation welcomes applications from rural schools that are interested and meet the criteria as a Hipers school. Among the conditions and criteria are:
- The school should submit an application to JPNS, which includes school information, the results of the entire school in the public examination (three years before), the results of the school term, and the planning of activities carried out if selected.
- Make sure all information submitted has been verified by the respective District Education Office.
- The application will be sent to Sarawak Foundation after review and support from JPNS. Applications from areas that do not already have a Hipers school on the list will be given priority.
Conclusion
The success of the programme depends on the commitment and cooperation of all parties. Sarawak Foundation hopes that this programme will always be supported and will be fully utilised by selected schools so that similar opportunities can be given to other schools in the future.
To ensure that this programme is always in line with the objectives, Sarawak Foundation will cooperate with JPNS and PPD to monitor the programme in the schools involved and jointly mobilise energy and ideas to empower this programme later.
