Professional Development of School Principals for Revitalizing Schooling in Malaysia

Formal schooling in Malaysia began in 1816 with the establishment of the Penang Free School. Other schools were soon established in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Singapore, and Malacca, the Federated and the Unfederated Malay States. With the opening up of schools, the Malay Teachers College was established in Singapore in 1876-95, in Malacca in 1900, and in Tanjung Malim in 1922. The Malay Women Teachers’ College was established in Malacca in 1935. In 1923, the Sultan Idris Teachers’ College (SITC), Tanjung Malim, established the Department of Letters, which later became the Language and Literary Agency in 1956. The Translation Bureau of the Language and Literary Agency became the National Institute of Translation in the 1990s. The SITC became the Sultan Idris Education University in 1997. In the 1960s, and the Brinsford and Kirkby Teachers Colleges were established in England to cater for the training needs of Malayan teachers. From the 1960s, other teachers colleges were established in the various states of Malaysia. In 1979, the Malaysian Education Staff Training Institute (MESTI) was established to provide training for educational administrators. The field of educational administration, management, and leadership is approximately 50 years old. In Malaysia itself, the field of study of the art and science of education management is approximately three decades (Awang Had Salleh, 1980).