How I become a Teacher through KPLI and Institut Pendidikan Guru (IPG)

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I've always wanted to become a teacher. I tried to apply for Education course when I applied for degree course but they rejected me. I felt that I was unfairly treated. I thought Education stream was not a hot stream to get into. Only after I had got into university then I realized the people that I know who got into the Education stream actually scored 3.7 and above. I did not regret that I got into Arts (Translations and Interpretation) course because I have learnt a lot and language always fascinates me.

Later when I graduated from university, I worked for six weeks as a customer service officer in a company. But I still want to find a way back to teaching. I had applied for KPLI (Kursus Perguruan Lepasan Ijazah) while I prepared for the final year exam in university. Upon graduated, they called me to sit for MTest, a written test for KPLI. You can name it the first round. In MTest, they tested you in BM, English, Maths (syllabus till SPM level) and IMSHAK (if I not mistaken), a kind of psychological test to determine whether you are suitable to become a teacher. Later I went on the 2nd round, interview.

The interview was conducted in 3 stages. The first stage was an individual interview (ask about your personal information, your educational background, etc). The second stage was a group interview. The interviewer gave a group of us (4) a topic and let us to discuss about. The third stage was essay writing as I applied for teaching Chinese as major, I need to write an essay in Chinese. Choose to write an essay from two titles. I applied for KPLI SR (Sekolah Rendah). I heard rumours that KPLI secondary would not be offered any more, but still, for those who are interested, you might need to call up and ask Ministry of Education (MOE).

I graduated from maktab in 2008. It's been three years for me as a teacher in primary Chinese school. For the first two years, I was bond with a contract that I signed when I entered maktab. I'm a free man now.

Teaching in primary it's not an easy task nowadays. I was trained as a Chinese teacher (teaching Chinese language as major) but ended up teaching BM and English for the past three years. The teachers are fully managed by the school administrator, i.e. the headmaster. So, you might not end up teaching something you like the most or you are best in. For me, I have continued my learning process. While teaching, I know what I lack of, and I need to equip myself with the knowledge before I step into the classroom.

As for the education system, the primary is changing the syllabus from KBSR to KSSR, i.e. upon the year of 2016, UPSR would be graded as 60% exam 40% coursework. So, the teachers would be loaded with tonnes of paperwork as to keep track of the pupils' progress through years.

KPLI 2011 Registration at Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Temenggong Ibrahim (IPGKTI), Johor Bahru


Although there are a lot of workloads growing from years to years, I find teaching is a rewarding career. I was satisfied when my pupils have improved a little by little. Moreover, teaching is a challenging task. Every day is a different day for me. Though you might be teaching the same subject for Year 1, it's a different Year 1 every year.

KPLI 2011 Intake at Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Temenggong Ibrahim (IPGKTI), Johor Bahru


Trivia: Institut Pendidikan Guru (IPG) was previously known as Institut/Maktab Perguruan Malaysia. Even though Institut Pendidikan Guru (IPG) Kampus Temenggong Ibrahim (KPI) is the current formal name, Institut/Maktab Perguruan Temenggong Ibrahim is still widely used, especially among graduates from this institution.
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