Teo (third left) hands over a souvenir to Rakayah.

SIBU: The annual conference on Innovation, Action Research and Research (IARR) for teachers has grown from strength-to-strength since the first one in 2011.

According to the organising committee chairman, David Teo Wu, the hallmarks of success in staging this annual conference were entrenched in the consistency and sustainability in the development of the niche area; innovation and research in the teaching and learning process.

“As an important component of our Continuous Professional Development (CPD), it serves as a platform for teachers and their peers from other schools to share their findings and polish their presentation skills,” he said in his welcoming address at the opening of the conference at University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) here recently.

State Education director Rakayah Madon, UCTS’ deputy vice- chancellor Professor Dato Dr Sabaruddin Mohamad and Sibu District education officer Wong Chong Kung were among those present.

Teo, who is also principal of SMK Sacred Heart, said the elevation of this programme to the state-level status by the state Education Department was a timely one.

He said the unique feature of the conference, according to Sabarudin was the three-in-one innovation, action research and research, the only one he has come across in Malaysia.

UCTS, he said, placed this conference in its ambassador programme to schools in Sibu District by hosting the event in its state-of-art campus.

“SMK Sacred Heart, UCTS and Education Department are progressing alongside our education system to ensure that this programme will continue to be our annual event.

“I would like to thank all the teachers who have worked tirelessly to produce their innovations, researches and action researches.

“The sharing of these findings will definitely provide greater synergy to benefit both teachers and students.”

Thus, he said the sharing of findings could help raise recognition and prominence among the teachers and allowed for greater collaboration among the teachers throughout the state for a better conference in the years to come.

He added he was confident that all their findings could be implemented in classrooms for the success of students in SMK Sacred Heart and in other schools in Sarawak as a whole.

Rakayah, who also spoke, said globalisation had created various reforms and changes in the national education system due to the progress in science and information technology and communications which had become dynamic education characteristic.

She added that teachers and educators should not only be good in enhancing management approaches and teaching but also needed skills in implementing innovation, research and action research.

“The process of teaching and learning in classroom needs to move forward in tandem with the changing time.

“Thus, innovation, research and action research are very much needed to enhance education and improve the teachers’ role as facilitators in the classrooms,” she said.