Accelerating Cluster School Excellence within Guided Autonomy Periphery:

A Malaysian Case
Ref 0022
Aziah Ismail (aziah@usm.my)
School of Educational Studies
Universiti Sains Malaysia
11800 USM PULAU PINANG, Malaysia
Abstract
The decentralisation of the Malaysian education system has given the autonomy to cluster
schools to accelerate their organisational excellence. This autonomy is, however, guided by a set
of particular standard for cluster schools in this country. Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim (2009)
proclaimed that the guided autonomy is the most difficult aspect to practice because cluster
schools have to comply with the standards outlined by the Ministry of Education Malaysia
(MoE). This study is conducted to explore the meaning of decentralisation from the perspective
of individual cluster school leaders in Malaysia and their efforts to accelerate their excellence
within the autonomy periphery granted to them. Data was collected through interviews and
document analyses on six cluster schools in Malaysia from different clusters of excellence. The
finding shows that there is a consensus among respondents in relation to the meaning of
decentralisation exercised by the cluster schools in Malaysia. Apart from that, the study also
indicates that there have been numerous efforts planned and implemented by the cluster schools,
particularly in enhancing their respective niche areas. These efforts incorporate programmes
and activities to develop academic achievement and soft skills of students, and improvement of
teachers' professional development and the schools management systems. However, these
programmes and activities must gain approval of MoE before implementation by the schools.
Thus, results obtained from this study proved that the cluster schools in Malaysia have the
autonomy to plan and implement programmes as well as activities for enhancing their
excellence, guided by standards set by MoE. These standards are not meant as barriers to the
cluster schools; instead, they provide challenges to the schools to be more creative in conducting
suitable programmes to achieve excellence.
Keywords: decentralisation, cluster schools, guided autonomy, Malaysia

Theme: educational policy-making and the politics of change and improvement

Introduction
The growth and development of schooling system around the globe was an evolution of the
system to develop and adapt to the needs of the dynamic environment. On top of that, schooling
system was developed in tandem with the changes in political, social and economic needs.
According to Cole (2010) schools are partners in the process of problem solving and inspire
innovation in the community. Therefore, schools should not be an isolated entity because the
development and improvement of these organisations are urged by the social, economic and
political forces.
Decentralization in the Malaysian Education System
Education is a priority of the Federal Government of Malaysia and it is committed to provide
quality education to all. Thus, the education system structure in this country is centrally
controlled and managed. Indeed, this centralisation becomes a vital mechanism to ensure that all
government policies are implemented through education system (Malaysia, 1976). According to
Fagerlind and Saha (1983), schooling in particular is seen as an important agent for instilling
appropriate motives and aspirations for desired behaviour within every country. However,
centralisation and bureaucracy in management system can restrict schools from creating
innovations for improvement and become excellent (Walker, 2002). This situation will be worse
if the school managers and administrators emphasise too bureaucratic rules and procedures that
do not fit with the current situation. Hence, the practice of bureaucracy needs to be reformed by
decentralisation of power from central to school authority.
Decentralisation of schools management was started with the implementation of the Educational
Development Master Plan (EDMP) 2006-2010 on 16 January 2006 which aims to provide
quality education in Malaysia. The plan has outlined six strategic thrusts including the thrust of
Accelerating Excellence in Educational Institutions Malaysia. Through this thrust, several
excellent schools have been given recognition as cluster schools and obtained some degree of
autonomy to accelerate their organisation excellence respectively (Ministry of Education, 2006).
This action was in line with the 9th Malaysia Plan (9MP) from 2006 to 2010 which has placed
great importance on education, training and lifelong learning (Malaysia, 2006).
Although recently introduced in Malaysia, the concept of cluster schools has long been practiced
in developed countries like the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand (Caldwell,
2005). Moreover, there are some developing countries in Southeast Asia such as Cambodia that
have adopted this concept as a mechanism to develop their education systems which expanded
after the Civil War ended in 1971. According to Dykstra & Kucita, (2008),
the overall objective of cluster schools is to redress any imbalance
in education by grouping schools that are located near each other
into a cluster, mixing strong schools and disadvantaged schools in
such a way that the latter benefit from the advantages of the
former (p. 3)

Cluster schools of Malaysia, on the other hand, refer to selected potential schools with excellence
in their cluster and fulfil the prerequisites set by the MoE. In the selection process, schools were
assessed and evaluated based on their excellence in respective clusters, as follows:

Primary Schools: National Schools (SK), Chinese National Type Schools (SJKC), Tamil
National Type Schools (SJKT) and the Indigenous Schools.
Secondary Schools: Fully Residential School (SBP), Technical Secondary Schools
(SMT), National Religious Secondary Schools (SMKA), Daily Secondary Schools,
Premier Schools, Centennial Schools, Schools in Putrajaya and Cyberjaya and Special
Model Schools.
Special Education Primary Schools, Special Education Secondary Schools, and Special
Vocational Education Secondary Schools.
International Schools and Private Schools
Matriculation Colleges and Institutes for Teachers Education.
(Ministry of Education, 2006a, pp. 119 and 121)

Since there are different types of school in the country's education system, efforts to improve
school performance is done by generating clusters of excellence in particular niche areas, namely
academic, curricular and personality aspects (Ministry of Education, 2006b). Essentially, cluster
schools in Malaysia are aimed at spurring outstanding schools to achieve world-class standard
and become centres of excellence (Ministry of Education, 2006a). Thus, there are only a small
number of schools selected because there are schools that have not been prepared and are still
struggling with the issue of lack of basic facilities (Ministry of Education, 2006a).
The implementation of cluster schools is based on the decentralisation process that involves the
empowerment of schools through the provision of autonomy but guided by the following
standards:
a.
b.
c.
d.

Education Act 1996

National Education System
Financial Procedure Act 1957, Treasury Circulars and Guidelines and Release Letters
Malaysian Education Quality Standards (SKPM)

One of the fundamental aspects underlying the implementation of the cluster schools is the
school-based management practices. In this practice, cluster schools acquire more power in
managing the running of their schools from human resource to assets, funds and student intake
(Ministry of Education, 2006a). Caldwell (2005) defined school-based management as:
... the systematic decentralisation to the school level of authority
and responsibility to make decisions on significant matters related
to school operations within a centrally determined framework of
goals, policies, curriculum, standards and accountability (p. 1).
Based on the above definition, school-based management (SBM) can be very closely related to
the decentralisation of power from central to school authorities in decision making. This is done
to ensure that all decisions made are focused towards achieving the vision and mission of the

Malaysian education system. Meanwhile, Walker (2002) proclaimed that the underlying
assumption behind the concept of decentralisation, which is borrowed from the private sector, is
that educational improvement is only possible if those closest to the point at which decisions are
enacted become the architects of these decisions. On top of that, decentralisation gives schools
more power in decision making and has proven to impart a positive impact in improving schools
performance and effectiveness (Caldwell, 2005; Dykstra & Kucita, 2008).
Previous studies indicate that SBM is viewed as a means to incorporate the voices of parents,
teachers and the community in the management of their schools in a formal manner. Gamage
(2003), in his findings from both the quantitative and qualitative methodologies, suggested that
when compared with what schools experienced under centralised bureaucratic models, schoolbased management has created more autonomous, flexible, better quality, effective schools,
accountable not only to the system managers, but also to school communities. Volansky (2007)
in her study on School Autonomy for School Effectiveness and Improvement related that:
The case of Israel argues that SBM is perceived by teachers as
having a potential to increase their professional autonomy. Yet at
the same time, it is perceived as an immediate demand to increase
the effectiveness of the teaching processes which they conduct. In
fact, much evidences show that staff members working with SBM
feel encouraged and empowered to create many more education
initiative, have a deeper internal locus of control in managing
schools targets and a greater self efficacy alongside principals and
senior school staff (p.352).
However, the Cabinet Report (1979) asserts that the bureaucratic practices still need to be
adopted in the education system in Malaysia because of it vital role in maintaining national unity.
Schools, thus, still have accountability to meet the government needs even they get the autonomy
in managing their organisations. According to Cuttance (1990), an important additional effect of
devolving authority to lower levels has been to reduce the formal control that the system
exercises over operational decision making. However, the requirement for accountability in the
system is not reduced; hence, the increased role of audit to ensure accountability in devolved
systems.

Purpose of study
The decentralisation of the Malaysian education system is a new policy taken by the government
in realising the aspiration in improving quality education in Malaysia (Ministry of Education,
2006). This policy has given more power to cluster schools in managing the running of their
schools from human resource to assets, funds and student intake, as compared to ordinary
schools. In addition, it allows the cluster schools to become active learning organisations that
are able to adapt with the changes in the needs of their organisational environments.
Furthermore, the cluster schools are encouraged to be more creative in creating innovations to
accelerate their organisational excellence. The power is, however, guided by a set of particular
standard and known as guided autonomy. Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim (2009) proclaimed that

the guided autonomy is the most difficult aspect to practice because cluster schools have to
comply with the standards outlined by the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MoE). This study,
therefore, is conducted to explore the meaning of decentralisation from the perspective of
individual cluster school leaders in Malaysia and their efforts to accelerate their excellence
within the autonomy periphery granted to them. In particular, the objectives of this study are:
i.
ii.
iii.

To examine the meaning of decentralisation from the perspective of cluster

schools;
To identify the actions taken by cluster schools to accelerate their organisational
excellence within the autonomy periphery granted to them.
To identify the mechanism used by the Ministry of Education to ensure
compliance of the cluster schools to the standards.

Methodology
Data were collected from interviews and documents analyses from six selected cluster schools in
Malaysia with different excellence clusters. According to Fraenkel and Wallen (1996), the
analysis of documents can help researchers to gain data objectively through the documents and
does not require the presence of the informants. An interview, however, is used to gather
information on the subject of individual experiences, views and reactions (Merriam, 2001). Six
schools from different clusters of excellence have been selected as the units of analysis. Each
school was given a different code to facilitate the data analysis process. The codes of the six
cluster schools are as follows:
SKK1
SKK2
SKK3
SKK4
SKK5
SKK6

Religious Schools
Premier Boarding Schools
Boarding Schools
Special Education Schools
Indigenous National Schools
Tamil National-Type Schools

Findings
The findings of this study are detailed in three research objectives, namely: i) the meaning of
decentralization from the point of view of SKK; ii) SKK efforts to boost their schools
performance by using the given guided autonomy; and iii) the monitoring mechanism by the
Ministry of Education Malaysia. The acronym SKK refers to cluster schools of excellent
(Sekolah Kluster Kecemerlangan).
i.

Definition of decentralisation from the SKK perspectives

The finding shows that there is a consensus among respondents in relation to the meaning of
decentralisation exercised by the cluster schools in Malaysia. According to the respondents, the
implementation of SKK is accompanied by slight changes in the school management and

leadership. They were introduced with the concept of decentralisation and obtained a certain
degree of autonomy in certain aspects of the school management. Based on the interviews,
findings illustrate that there is a low degree of decentralisation practiced in SKK. However, the
respondents felt that these were early steps taken by the MoE to decentralise the power to the
selected schools in managing their organisations.
In other words, SKK are practicing school-based management. Since this is a new concept of
managing schools, some recommendations in some particular spheres were provided by the MoE
as guidelines in doing so. All of these recommendations were stated in official documents, for
instance Certificate of Leadership and Management (Perakuan Kepimpinan Pengurusan),
Management Certificate (Perakuan Pengurusan), Curriculum Certificate (Perakuan Kurikulum)
and Niche Area Certificate (Perakuan Kebitaraan). In addition, the SKK ought to evaluate the
feasibility of these recommendations in implementing the school-based management concept in
their respective organizations. This is intended to gather their feedbacks, opinions and
suggestions to improve the implementation of these certifications.
Hitherto, the information obtained from the respondents portray that there was only a low degree
of power decentralisation in the SKK. However, the respondents felt that these were early steps
taken by the MoE to decentralise the power to the selected schools in managing their
organisations. In consequence, they were not able to anticipate the level of power decentralised
to them in the future. The success of the first stage of this implementation, furthermore, will
determine the degree of power decentralisation in the next stage. In fact, the SKK1 believe that,
in the future, the outstanding cluster schools would be given full autonomy in managing their
own schools without control by the MoE in all aspects. Based on SKK1 response,
"I think the concept of cluster by the government was that ... they
do not want to restrict us anymore with bureaucracy procedure
they were already tired of doing so ... that was the reason why they
want to cluster the school, they also want to hand over to the
school to move and develop by their own ... for the early stage they
coach us first, practice a bit, show a bit, and after a long time may
be the schools can managed themselves ...". (SKK 1)
This measure is taken as an effort to increase innovation in translating the school curriculum
which is formulated by the federal government. According to SKK3, there are many teachers
who have the ability to create innovations in making the teaching approach more effective.
Thus, the guided autonomy has given them the opportunity to show their talents and capabilities
which were restricted before due to bureaucratic constraints.
ii.

Efforts to accelerate school performance within the guided autonomy periphery

As a type of an open system organisation, the cluster schools should be expanded and developed
in tandem with the development needs of the environment. This study indicates that there are
numerous efforts that have been planned and implemented by cluster schools in enhancing their
respective niche areas. These efforts incorporate programmes and activities to develop the
students academic achievement and soft skills, teachers' professional development and the

management system. In spite of that, all of these programmes and activities must be approved by
the MoE before they could be implemented by the respective schools.
The efforts and actions can be divided into the following four aspects, namely:
a. Creating innovations in school management sphere
Based on the interviews, all SKKs agreed that they enjoy autonomy in making decisions on
particular matters. One of them is creating innovations in their school management and
administration sphere. It involves the process of translating national curriculum contents into
various teaching approaches. This refers to the methods that can be used by schools to facilitate
the delivery of the national curriculum to the students. For example, the university style of
learning will be introduced in the SKK1 beginning 2011 with the objective of reducing the
system of existing classrooms. In this practice, each subject will be provided with a specific
room and the particular subject teacher will be waiting in the class. Students will come to the
class on the lesson slot. This practice is different from the present system, where students remain
in their particular classes and wait for different teachers come to teach them for different subject
slots. However, this is still in the planning stage and requires approval from the State Education
Department of Penang. This is because there are not enough resources to ensure this idea to be
implemented successfully.
Apart from that, there are schools that had taken a step ahead by using online system in planning
and recording their daily lessons. This step was an innovation in managing teaching processes in
the school and eliminates the usage of the record books commonly used by teachers. By using
the online lesson planner, teachers can plan, share, manage, and record daily lessons in a matter
of minutes. In fact, the routine of weekly records of lesson plan submission to the Principal for
review on Fridays could be done via e-mail. This mechanism facilitates the Principal to do the
reviewing and monitoring processes regardless of his whereabouts. Moreover, this finding shows
that schools are given autonomy to facilitate the management of their schools. Nevertheless, all
activities implemented in cluster schools must have the permission and approval of the MoE.
On top of that, this finding indicates that the cluster schools also have autonomy in selecting
trainers in their niche areas to accelerate their excellence. All respondents concurred that they
have chosen their own coaches, especially in the areas which require outside expertise.
Our experienced teachers are often our school coaches. They are
commonly handling all these things. If we feel we need other
experts to train our student, we will import them from outside
may be foreign coaches. Especially in the area which we dont
have any expertise "(SKK2).
The authority of selecting external expert trainers is one of SKK effort to accelerate their niche
area performance. This was due to the autonomy of SKK in planning their schools own
activities. For example, SKK3 invited coaches from outside to train their debating team and to
strengthen their school debating team, and invited music experts from Melaka to conduct a threeday music workshop which was organised by SKK3 for the students.

Finding which points to the experience of SKK6 in conducting programmes in their niche area
also supports the autonomy acquisition of the cluster schools in choosing their own coaches.
According to SKK6, their school has chosen three external trainers to train their 200 students and
a few teachers in badminton. The trainers were paid RM2000.00 for four times training every
month at a nearby stadium. This remuneration was paid with the special financial allocation
provided by the MoE to the cluster school.
SKK6 explanation also indicates that the coaches who were invited by the school assisted to train
not only the students but teachers who are directly involved in the niche area as well. This is
because teachers ought to continue the training as the hired trainers will only come at certain
times. In addition, the proportion of students to the expert trainers was huge and caused
difficulty on the trainers to provide the best training. Hence, only the selected talented students
were trained under the expert trainers, whereas other students will be trained by the SKK6s
teachers.
b. Collaboration with external institutions
Based on the interviews, findings show that one of the significant autonomy components of the
SKK is developing collaboration with external entities, particularly higher education institutions
(HEIs) from home and abroad. The fundamental of this networking is to obtain views and inputs
from the experts to enhance the students excellence, particularly in particular niche areas.
According to respondents, external expertises were gained through memorandum of
understanding (MoU) between cluster schools and HEIs. Several of these MoUs were initiated
by MoE. Once identified, the selected institutions will be required to help propel the cluster
schools excellence in their respective niche areas. As stated by SKK1, the MoU with external
entities such as RECSAM (Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics) provide
many benefits to them with the intention of improving the skills of students and teachers in the
particular areas. This is because the HEIs will provide assistance in the form of expertise,
resources and facilities to schools without imposing charges.
This finding was concurred by the SKK3, which has collaboration with a few HEIs, with the aim
of getting advices on the management of SKK3 cafeteria. As reported by SKK3, the MoUs with
private colleges such as Damansara Utama College and SEGi College bring benefits to the
school co-operative management, which is one of their niche areas. Expertise from these private
colleges provided them with inputs and ideas on many aspects of business management,
especially related to the management of the school cafeteria and other activities, including on
cultivation using the fertigation system, the marketing of their horticultural products, e-tourism
and entrepreneurial kiosk.
Similar report was given by SKK6, which had organised many programmes with Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). According to SKK6, their school is in the process of planning to
collaborate with international HEIs, for instance from Singapore and India. However, some
SKKs faced difficulties in their collaborative networking, especially with the institutions
suggested by the MoE. As experienced by SKK4, the HEI that was paired to them does not have
expertise in vision problems as requested by SKK4. Therefore, they seek to collaborate with
other institutions that can provide the expert in that area.

Besides experts from local HEIs, cluster schools also obtained advice and inputs from
international HEIs experts. As reported by SKK1, a group of experts from Australia, UK, New
Zealand and Singapore came to their school and shared ideas and experiences and conducted
related research as well. The visit provided the school an opportunity to obtain feedbacks from
the experts regarding the management practices of the school as well as innovations on teaching
and learning. In fact, the collaboration between Malaysian cluster schools and overseas HEIs are
linked to agreements between Malaysia and the foreign governments. All cluster schools agreed
that:
. the MoU between Malaysia and other countries (government
to government - G to G), such as Australia, Thailand and Indonesia
play an important role in building cooperation between the cluster
schools in Malaysia with the schools and institutions of higher
learning abroad.
Apart from MoUs, collaboration can also be developed through events organised by students, as
practiced by SKK2, which organised the Malay College Youth Summit, at international level.
Organising such event is a major platform for SKK students to share their ideas with other
teenagers from around the world. According to the SKK2, this programme exposed the students
to plan, manage and operate their events and activities with the assistance of teachers who acted
as facilitators. This event was attended by participants from many countries, like Singapore,
Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and India. The notification of this seminar was distributed
through various means, including the schools website, brochures and advertisement. SKK2
teachers who attended the international conference also played their role in distributing the
notices to others abroad. In addition, SKK2 explained that the organisation of the event used the
special financial allocation for cluster schools that focus on the niche area of student leadership
development. The experience in organising the event provides students with opportunities to
develop their leadership skills and enhances their schools excellence.
c. Teachers' professional development
Finding of this study shows that the efforts for ensuring the success of cluster schools are not
only focused on the development of students but also on the professional development of
teachers and school heads. The professional development is on the understanding of their main
roles to enhance the schools performance as they are the key players' of the process. According
to the respondents, the programme on staff development was done by inviting external experts to
schools to provide them training in the areas as requested by the schools. The respondents
explanations indicate that the success of the implementation of cluster schools programmes and
activities in heightening their performance desperately need the support of the teachers of the
particular school. Thus, the teachers need to develop their professionalism continuously.
However, these activities need to be approved by the Ministry of Education.
The results show that the professional development of cluster school teachers was conducted in
two ways: 1) training and lectures through in-service training programme, and; 2) 'benchmarking'
visit. Usually, the training is conducted by invited external experts and the emphasis is on the
niche area of the school. As reported by SKK6:

for professional development, we have invited external expertise,

like recently we have invited lecturers from the teachers training
college to give the latest input on Tamil language teaching
methods, and for next year we have plan; I want to invite experts
from a university in India. We want to invite some people who are
experts in the field of Tamil language, to give a talk to teachers in
my school (SKK6)
However, trainings are not only given to the teachers who are in the niche area, but to all the
teachers of the school as well. It is necessary that the performance of the cluster schools not only
depends on a few teachers, but requires cooperation from everyone in the school. Through the
training, all teachers become more sensitive to the aspirations and goals of excellence of the
school.
Training sessions, nevertheless, are also conducted through the In-Service Training (IST)
programme, which is usually organised for all Malaysian schools. According to the respondents,
the in-service training programmes are held at least four times per year. However, there are also
trainings that take place during staff meetings. These trainings are considered as a platform to
provide knowledge to all teachers regarding to the development of schools and raise awareness
among them. Knowledge and sensitivity are very important in helping teachers to be involved
and play their significant roles in all school activities.
d. Benchmarking visits
For management skills, the finding indicates that cluster schools have done some benchmarking
visits amongst them, especially to outstanding ones or to other institutions abroad. Usually, these
visits from the schools that are newly recognised as cluster schools to the schools which have
long been recognised as cluster schools (first or second cohorts) and have excellent records.
During the interview, the SKK1 explained that he has just received a call from the principal of a
newly recognised cluster school who intended to come over and learn about the management and
administration of the cluster school. This statement was confirmed by SKK6 who had also taken
the similar action immediately after get their cluster school recognition. According to SKK6:
Ive already brought all my 70 teachers to visit two cluster
schools, one is SJKC Li Hang in Kuala Lumpur and the other one
is National School of Simpang Lima, Klang. We have already
visited these two schools and already took some references and we
can get some pictures about the cluster schools management. We
got a lot of inputs from the trip and we tried to learn from them"
(SKK6)
Exposure derived from benchmarking visits gives the visitors a clearer picture of the cluster
school management and will help them in managing their own schools.

iii) The monitoring mechanism by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia

Based on the interviews, findings show that the progression of all activities and programmes in
cluster schools will be monitored from time to time by certain sections of the MoE. However,
based on the respondents descriptions, the process of monitoring can be divided into two types
i.e. (1) regular monitoring, which is usually carried out on all schools in Malaysia such as by the
Inspectorate General, and State Auditors; and (2) special monitoring for cluster schools only by
the Cluster School Division. Cluster schools, in addition, are also responsible for submitting
reports of their programmes and activities implementation on their niche areas for monitoring
purposes. This action is aimed at ensuring cluster schools comply with the guided autonomy
standards set by the MoE.
Discussion and Conclusion
Decentralisation of power through the creation of cluster schools in the Malaysian education
system is a new policy implemented to enhance the schools excellence. This reform has given a
certain degree of autonomy for selected schools to achieve world-class standard and be centres of
excellence, as envisaged by MoE of Malaysia (Ministry of Education, 2006). Decentralisation is
a reformation in managing education institutions in this country. The practice of this concept has
given space for the selected schools to make efforts to facilitate enhancement programmes for
organisational excellence through school-based management. Previous studies have also found
that the autonomy in decision making through school-based management practice provided a
positive impact in improving the school efficiency and performance (Caldwell, 2005; Dykstra &
Kucita, 2008). Based on the findings, many efforts have been planned and implemented, at
national and international levels by the cluster schools in Malaysia to enhance their
organisational excellence. On top of that, these efforts involve all members of the schools,
especially students and teachers.
Although the cluster schools have the opportunities to improve their excellence, there are
limitations in the implementation of the programmes and activities. All programmes and
activities planned by the cluster schools must gain approval of the Ministry of Education
Malaysia before implementation. The schools have to prepare a report for each activity planned.
It is a prerequisite to the cluster schools, since the autonomy granted to them is a guided
autonomy (Ministry of Education, 2006). This concept is different from the autonomy obtained
by cluster schools in other countries such as Cambodia (Dykstra & Kucita, 2008), the United
States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand (Caldwell, 2005). According to Noor Rezan Bapoo
(2009), the implementation of guided autonomy is difficult to be executed by the cluster schools
in Malaysia because of the limitations imposed on the schools in implementing their programmes
of excellence.
In summary, results obtained from this study prove that the cluster schools in Malaysia obtain the
autonomy to plan and implement programmes and activities to enhance their excellence although
bound by standards set by MoE. These standards, nevertheless, do not serve as barriers to the
cluster schools; instead, it challenges them to be more innovative and creative in conducting
programmes for excellence.

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