Teacher Education and Quality

Teacher education presents many issues for less developed countries. In Malaysia, which is no exception, maintaining the high quality of preschool teachers is difficult. The number of preschool teachers in Malaysia has dramatically increased from 21,000 (1999) to 28,000 in 2004. As a result, the number of preschool children per teacher has decreased from 27 (1999) to 21 (2004). [UNESCO 2007, p.304]
Qualification requirements for kindergarten teachers in Malaysia are not clearly stipulated. As a result, kindergarten teachers have a various educational levels and range from those who have completed elementary school to graduates of secondary education. While observing the above class, I was told that preschool teachers with bachelor degrees are rare, which suggests that the problem is serious. Furthermore, in preschool education, nearly 100% of all teachers are women.
Public and private institutions are engaged in the formation and education of kindergarten teachers, but through separate administrative parent organizations. Even in the case of kindergartens that are public, the method and content of teacher education vary according to the particular administrative parent organization under which it operates. For example, universities and teachers’ colleges in Malaysia mainly offer four different teacher education programs. In reality, however, teachers at preschool facilities do not necessarily have a diploma in the field of preschool education or a bachelors’ degree. Furthermore, these administrative parent organizations offer their own teacher education programs and teacher development training for practicing teachers, and it will take some time before these programs are unified.