FMT recently spoke to Bekon to find out how he managed to turn a school once known for its rowdy students into becoming the first public secondary school in the country to be recognised as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School.

He said one of the challenges he gave himself upon taking up the job 13 years ago was to gain the trust of his pupils.

“Discipline was a major problem among students,” he said. “They weren’t interested in learning at all.

“There were many fights too, and Friday was the worst day of the week.”

He explained that Friday was the day that students would exchange punches to settle quarrels they had had in the first four days of the school week.

“If they were unhappy with anything in the past four days, they would settle it on Friday. They would smuggle in weapons such as knives and motorbike chains by throwing them into the school compound and retrieving them once they were inside.

“We had to resort to using 20 Rela members on Fridays to help with discipline.”

He said the Rela members were concerned parents who joined the Parents-Teachers Association and volunteered their services. He remains grateful for their help.

Determined to turn things around, Bekon decided to win his pupils’ hearts by paying attention to them as individuals with feelings and minds of their own. He largely avoided administering punishment, preferring to give them advice.

“At least, when they came to school, they would know that somebody was willing to listen to them.”

He said he never used the cane, except on students who were caught smoking.

He also encouraged teachers to pay more attention to troublesome pupils.

“Teachers mostly taught students who wanted to learn. The disruptive students and those that sat at the back were neglected. That had to change. You must relate to them and the students must know that you care for them.”

It took a year for Bekon’s vision to begin to materialise. The problematic students eventually began to be more attentive in class, thanks to the dedication and patience of the teachers.

“Teaching an obedient student is easy, whereas teaching those who are undisciplined is challenging,” he said. “But, we wanted to make a difference in their lives.”

The school was one of 10 out of the 2,404 public secondary schools in Malaysia that was selected to participate in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme in 2012.

It went through three years of training by IB educators and recently underwent a verification visit by a team of IB invigilators. It has done the country proud for being recognised as an IB World School.

International Baccalaureate, formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organisation, is an educational foundation with headquarters in Geneva. It was founded in 1968.

The IB approach to learning enables students to develop intellectual discipline and skills that will lead to critical and independent learning.

“Firstly,” said Bekon, “the topic that you want to teach is backed by a concept. So students have to see the bigger picture first.”

He added that the methodology involved having teachers facilitate a student’s learning. “It is an inquiry based concept and the students are taught by teachers how to learn. So, instead of teachers becoming the main providers of information, they are the facilitators of learning.”

He said he was happy to see the change in students’ attitudes. “There is a new commitment to learning. They are enjoying themselves. They like to be in school and attendance has improved.”

He said the IB method addressed several shortcomings in the national syllabus. “The national syllabus rarely goes beyond knowledge and understanding.”

To develop a student holistically, he said, education must take into account thinking, communication and research skills.

According to him, parents were initially apprehensive about the programme but it has become so popular that they are lining up to send their children to SMK Sungai Tapang.

“If our education system can copy what IB is doing, that will be good,” he said.