Institute of Teacher Education of Malaysia

The Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia is an institution of higher education that trains prospective elementary and secondary school teachers. In Malaysia, all of the campuses of the Institute of Teacher Education are managed by the Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia (ITE) Division of the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) located in Cyberjaya. The institute's newly opened main campus is located in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.

1.0 Introduction

Formerly functioning as separate teacher training colleges, the institute now functions as a centralized collective body. It is responsible for the training and education of prospective teachers of various levels including foundation programmes for students fresh out of secondary school, postgraduate teaching courses, special education certification courses, short holiday courses, in-service courses, continuous professional development programmes, graduate teacher programmes and many more. Apart from its homegrown degree programmes, the institute also conducts twinning programmes with Open University Malaysia (OUM ), and various overseas universities for language, science and mathematics courses. Selections for admission are conducted by the Teacher Education Division (TED) of the Ministry of Education.

2.0 History

The history of teacher education in the country started with the establishment of the following institutions:

1. 1878 - The Malay Training College of Singapore first started training teachers to serve in both Malaya and Singapore until 1895. It was then upgraded to a Teacher Training College, and is presently known as the National Institute of Education which trains teachers in Singapore and it no longer has links with Malaysia.

2. 1898 - The Malay Teachers Training College was also opened in Matang near Taiping in 1913. The house of the Malay noble, Ngah Ibrahim temporarily served as the college building, until it was shifted nine years later to its permanent location in Tanjung Malim. The college was renamed after Sultan of Perak at that time.

3. 1900 - Another Malay Training College was opened in Malacca. 35 years later, it would be converted into the Women Teachers' Training College of Malacca

4. 1922 - The Sultan Idris Teacher Training College (SITC) of Tanjung Malim, Perak began training Malay teacher for Malay medium schools. Today, this college has been converted into the Sultan Idris University of Education and is no longer under the Ministry of Education.

5. 1935 - The Malay Women's Training College (MWTC), Malacca began training female teachers, mostly specializing in the field of Home Science. Today, this colleges has been absorbed into the institute of Teacher Education Malaysia and functions as the Malay Women's Campus. 

6. 1948 - The Batu Lintang Teacher Training College was opened in Kuching, becoming the first teacher training college opened in Sarawak before it became part of Malaysia. The Rajang Teacher Training College was opened many years later in 1966 following the formation of Malaysia. 

7. 1951 - The Malayan Teachers' Training College, Kirkby, Liverpool, England was acquired by the Government of Malaya ( now Malaysia ) as a British teacher training center to produce strong local instructors in teacher training and English language teaching. The college was closed in 1962 when the British government reclaimed the college site and converted it into a residential area and commercial center. This college trained 1500 teachers between the years 1952 to 1962. The college also witnessed the declaration of independence by His Royal Highness Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia.

8. 1952 - The Kent Training College was opened in Tuaran. Named after and opened by the Duchess of Kent, this college became  the first teacher training college in Sabah before the formation of Malaysia. 

9. 1954 - A Teacher Training College was established in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, becoming the first teacher training college in the east coast of soon to be Peninsular Malaysia.

10. 1955 - The Malaysian Teacher Training College (MTT), Brinsford Lodge, Wolverhampton, England was a former factory in Britain used as a teacher training college for Malaysian teachers from 1955 to 1964. This teacher training college trained 300 teachers in various subjects .

3.0 Growth

The Malaysian teacher training colleges went through rapid major changes through the early part of the 21st century:

1. 2002: The English Language Teaching Centre was established to specialize in producing English language teachers.

2. 2004: All 27 Malaysian teacher training colleges were upgraded into teacher training institutes.

3. 2005: The institute stopped providing certificate and diploma qualifications and instead started conferring Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Education degrees for students under pre-service training programmes.

4. 2006: The institute continued with the new cycles of twinning programmes with overseas universities to produce language, science and mathematics trainee teachers.

5. 2008: The Amendment of the Education Act 1996 allowed the 27 colleges to be upgraded from teacher training colleges into institutes for teacher training. This change was approved by the House of Representatives on August 25th.

6. 2008: The State Council approved amendments to the Education Act 1996, Chapter 9 Section 42-49 on December 4th.

7. 2009 : The Minister of Education, Dato ' Hishammuddin Tun Hussein officially declared all 27 Malaysian teacher training institutes to be merged to form one Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia on January 16th. The main campus will be built in the university town of Enstek, Negeri Sembilan since all the 27 former colleges are too small to serve as the main campus. Instead, they will be converted into different campuses.

8. 2010: The administration for the Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia separated from the Teacher Education Division, allowing the institute's campuses to be fully maintained by the Institute of Teacher Education of the Ministry of Education in Cyberjaya.

4.0 Campuses

Apart from the main campus in Enstek, the institute still maintains and runs the former 27 teacher training colleges that are now its branches, excluding the English Language Teaching Center which is administered separately. The institute has campuses in almost every state in Malaysia:

1. Perlis

a) Perlis Campus, Kangar

2. Kedah

a) Sultan Abdul Halim Campus, Sungai Petani

b) Darulaman Campus, Jitra

3. Penang

a) Penang Campus, Bukit Chombee

b) Tuanku Bainun Campus, Bukit Mertajam

4. Perak

a) Ipoh Campus, Ipoh

5. Selangor

a) Islamic Education Campus, Bangi

6. The Federal Territories

a) Malay Language Campus, Lembah Pantai

b) International Languages Campus, Lembah Pantai

c) Ilmu Khas Campus, Cheras

7. Negeri Sembilan

a) Technical Education Campus, Nilai

b) Raja Melewar Campus, Seremban

8. Melaka

a) Perempuan Melayu Campus, Durian Daun

9. Johor

a) Temenggun Ibrahim Campus, Johor Bharu

b) Tun Hussein Onn Campus, Batu Pahat

10. Pahang

a) Tengku Ampuan Afzan Campus, Kuala Lipis

11. Terenggau

a) Dato Razali Ismail Campus, Kuala Terengganu

b) Sultan Mizan Campus, Kuala Besut

12. Kelantan

a) Kota Bharu Campus, Kota Bharu

13. Sarawak

a) Batu Lintang Campus, Kuching

b) Rajang Campus, Bintagor

c) Miri Campus, Miri

d) Tun Abdul Razak Campus, Kota Samarahan

14. Sabah

a) Gaya Campus, Kota Kinabalu

b) Tawau Campus, Tawau

c) Keningau Campus, Keningau

d) Kent Campus, Tuaran

5.0 Defunct Campuses

There are also 12 teacher training colleges that are no longer being operated by the Ministry of Education because of its location, limited infrastructure or position outside Malaysian jurisdiction. Here is a list of colleges that shut down:

1. Teruntum Teacher Training College (now functioning as the Kuantan District Education Office)

2. Mohd Khalid Teacher Training College (now SK Mohd. Khalid National Primary School)

3. Pasir Panjang Teacher Training College (now SM Terengganu Science Secondary School, or SESTER)

4. Seri Penang Teacher Training College (now left unoccupied)

5. Seri Kota Teacher Training College (now part of SK Jalan Kuantan 2 National Primary School)

6. Kinta Teacher Training College, Ipoh (now taken over by Ungku Omar Polytechnic)

7. Bintulu Science Teaching College (now taken back by Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus)

8. Tengku Ampuan Afzan Teacher Training College, Kuantan (now moved to its permanent campus in Kuala Lipis, and old building is now taken over by Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Polytechnic)

9. Sultan Idris Teacher Training College (now upgraded to Sultan Idris Education University and is no longer under the Ministry of Education)

10. The Malayan Teachers Training College, Kirkby, Liverpool, England (now a residential area and commercial center after being reclaimed by British government)

11. The Malaysian Teacher Training College (MTT), Brinsford Lodge, Wolverhampton, England (now a residential area and commercial center after being reclaimed by British government)

12. Singapore Teacher Training College (now National Institute of Education and is taken over by the Singaporean government)