Plan Pembangunan Guru Baru

   Last week, I found myself at Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah (PPD) Gua Musang for a briefing on PPGB that I'd already attended on 16th January. It's a long story, but basically the briefing was ssupposed to be for KPLI teachers who were posted in October last year, and somehow missed being briefed about the programme.

   However, it was a good thing that I was there as I managed to gather some more input on what to do. When I was at the JPN briefing, I didn't hear much because the hall was buzzing with noise and excitement.

   Another good thing about the briefing was that I had the chance to meet up with a good friend (my IPG-IIUM classmate for 6 years!), B, who was also posted to a school in GM. It was fun listening to her describe what she's going through (her school is further in than mine- in fact she has to take a boat to get there, which takes about an hour o so!). I'm sure Allah will reward her for her work and patience. It's no easy matter, surviving in the place where she is now. She also happens to be the only female teacher at her small school i feel for her, and I hope we get to meet again soon since we're the only 2 from my class who go posted to GM.

   Back to PPGB. Apparently, PPGB (Plan Pembangunan Guru Baru) is a new programme which the developed to observe and keep track of the new teachers. There have been stories where new teachers had not written in his record book for 6 months or so, arrived at school late, and much more. The pilot programme was conducted in 2010, and was found to be successful, so they decided to launch it in 2011.

   The briefing was small, there were about 28 (I think) KPLI teachers and 3 'sesat, newly-posted-on-January-16th-and-not-supposed-to-be-there-because-they'd already-gone-to-the-briefing' teachers- me, B and her colleague from school, a preschool teacher.

   This is a brief account of what I gathered from the briefing:
 
1. You can find out more about PPGB by downloading the PPGB module from the link below. I couldn't connect to the link given to us during the briefing, so I did a search online and found these links at PPD Jeli's site. It's the same thing for all new teachers, so you can use the links to download the module:

PPD JELI: Plan Pembangunan Guru Baharu

DOWNLOAD LINK: MODULE CONTENTS

DOWNLOAD LINK: PPGB MODULE

   The documents are in Bahasa Melayu. You can right click on the 'DOWNLOAD LINKS' and click on 'save as' to straight away download the documents.


2. Basically, new teachers have to go through PPGB for 1 year. It's an important requirement for getting your post confirmed (syarat pengesahan jawatan). People from each PPD will observe the teachers in the schools within their district. I took this to mean that they'll start dropping surprise visits sometime soon. Scary! What's important is that you need to always be prepared.

3. New teachers have to prepare a portfolio. A thick-practicum-in-likeliness portfolio. Our office-in-charge En. Z who is from the Unit Latihan at JPN Kelantan took the liberty of taking photos of one of the (almost) best folio from last year, so that we'd have a good idea of what we're supposed to put in our folios. I think it's a valiant effort and most certainly helpful for us! You have to compile all the documents in a ring file, and that's your portfolio. Tada! Easy. Uh-huh.

4. Each new teacher must have a mentor of his or her own. The mentor must be a senior teacher- and senior here means that the teacher has been teaching for several years. New teachers, albeit ones who have only been in service for one or two years cannot be mentors. The mentor will be responsible for doing most of the observations on your teaching, as well guiding you throughout the year.

You MUST ask the school to prepare an APPOINTMENT LETTER for your mentor, and a copy of the letter must be faxed to the officer-in-charge as well as included in your portfolio. A sample of the letter required is included in the attachments section (bahagian lampiran di belakang) in the module.

5. Schools are advised to appoint a New Teachers Committee to make sure the programme runs smoothly. I need to find out more about this. I will get back to it when I have.

6. You have to be observed during teaching (dicerap), and it's advised that the observation is done at least once a month. The observation will probably be carried out by your mentor, but you can actually ask any senior teachers, including the PKs and the GB to do it.

7. You must keep your portfolios with you at all times (or anyway, make sure you bring it to school). You're not supposed to leave it at your PPD o JPN or school when PPGb is over. This is what the officer told us. This is because if people (as in BPG officers, I suppose) come and ask to see it, you can show it to them. You do have to hand it in to your GB at the end of the programme, so that he/she can evaluate it. The GB has to produce a written statement (in simple words: a letter) which states whether he/she is satisfied with your work and whether it is satisfactory for your post as a teacher to be confirmed.

8. You have to fill some form online. Here's the link:

LINK to E-PELAPORAN PPGB

   And that's it! Whew. I'm sorry for any odd sentences, I was struggling to find the best way to explain things. I hope it helps you somehow.

   Have a good weekend. I only have one day off tomorrow- Saturday's a school day to make up for the CNY holidays. Take care and be happy, whatever happens! :)