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Tuesday, August 02, 2011

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

Written by c.h.tayShare your story with us and get published here!

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
Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Temenggong Ibrahim

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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Comments
6 Comments

6 comments:

  1. Hi there,
    I'm also trying to be a teacher. I cant seem to find any KPLI course for 2012. Is this released yet or there wont be any opening next year?
    My email addie is [email protected].. do let me know...

    Thanks much,
    Janice

    ReplyDelete
  2. hi,
    i am also looking for a chance to be a teacher, and i had just graduated from UUM, but until now, i can't find any way to apply for KPLI. i would like to know, where should i check and how to apply. thank you.~

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, i am also very interested to be an English Language teacher but i am 47 years old and at the moment working as Office Manager in KLIA. What is the advice like to be a teacher and what should i do next to be a teacher. i did my correspond degree prog in BBA. coz has more then 20 years of working experience . Still very interested to be an English Language teacher

    ReplyDelete
  4. To the 47 year-old respondent:

    Hi, I'm glad to hear that you have the passion for English. We actually think alike. But before you 'are allowed' to become an English teacher, you must at least own a diploma or a degree in the relevant field. You may try looking for some online English courses that will evantually certify you as an English teacher. You know what! I only got a pass (P7) in my SPM dating back to 1998. Once I started to learn English from scratch, I find English fun!! I re-took the SPM for English and I got A. I also keep on studying English and finally I also managed to get A for the new subject, EST in SPM. I did an online diploma in TEFL, and I did get an A. This shows how much I like this language. Well, I took SPM Literature in English in 2010 and I thought I did reasonably well. However, it ended up giving me a B. This had worried me enough before I found out that such paper is actually a tough one. I thought my proficiency was not up to scratch and that's why I dare not take STPM literature in English even until now. Finally, this misconception was dissolved by a news clipping saying that many students obtained bad scores in Lit in Eng. This somehow rebuilds my confidence. Well, my sharing here is that you should 'go back to school' and try to know what the kids want nowadays. Many native/near native English teachers fail to identify the hurdles in 'learning English' because they know the usage but they don't know the reason. As for me, both are important. I know how to use and I do know when and why because I'm a born chinese speaker. I've been struggling to understand this language just like what most kids are doing. Friend, you must arm with the essential knowledge necessary in English teaching first and then refine the skills. Well, let me ask you, from where English language came from? what are meant by morphemes? What are the four skills in English education? What are the common teaching methods usually used in the English classroom? If you manage to answer these questions, then you are basically prepared to teach...Good luck...My email: [email protected]

    ReplyDelete
  5. may i know now still have KPLI open for degree student?

    ReplyDelete

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