Speakers

Professor David Gurr has a 43-year career in education as a secondary school teacher, school counsellor, system project officer, and academician. He is a Professor in Educational Leadership within the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. He teaches in the areas of educational leadership, strategic leadership, and school effectiveness and improvement. He is a member of the International Successful School Principalship Project and the International School Leadership Development Network. He is actively involved in publications, international and local conferences presentations, and post-graduate supervision. He has also conducted school reviews, mainly in Victoria, but also in South Australia, New South Wales, and Hong Kong. He has been the Vice-President of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) and was the Editor of Hot Topics, Monograph, and the academic journal, Leading and Managing. He is the editor of the CCEAM Journal International Studies in Educational Administration, senior associate editor for the Journal of Educational Administration, and co-editor for the IAP book series International Research on School Leadership. He has received several honours from ACEL, including the National Presidential Citation in 2004, a national fellowship in 2006, the Hedley Beare Educator of the Year award in 2012, and the Gold Medal in 2014.

Dr. Hairon Salleh is an Associate Professor at the Policy, Curriculum and Leadership Studies academic group, and an Associate Dean, Graduate Education by Coursework, at the Graduate Studies and Professional Learning Programme Office, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in Education from the University of Bath, and Masters of Arts in School Effectiveness and School Improvement from the University of London, Institute of Education. He teaches undergraduate, postgraduate and in-service courses relating to teacher and leadership education and preparation. Prior to his academic career, he has taught in both primary and secondary schools in Singapore. His research focus is on school leadership for teacher learning in communities, which includes distributed leadership, teacher leadership, professional learning communities, action research and professional development. His two edited books are School Leadership and Educational Change in Singapore (Springer) and Perspectives on School Leadership in Asia Pacific Contexts (Springer).

YBhg. Datuk Haji Pkharuddin bin Hj. Ghazali has been appointed as the Director General of Education Malaysia effective 23 September 2022. Previously, he was the Deputy Director General of Education (Policy and Curriculum Sector). YBhg. Datuk Hj. Pkharuddin graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) majoring in Geography from the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, and started his career as a teacher at the King George V Secondary School, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. Throughout his 34 years of service, he has served in various organisations within the Ministry of Education Malaysia. YBhg. Datuk Hj. Pkharuddin is the one who mooted the idea of ABC (Anak Yang Baik Lagi Cerdik) which is the focal point in the current Malaysian education system. 

Ms. Duriya Amatavivat is currently the Director of the SEAMEO Regional Centre for Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for Sustainability or SEAMEO SEPS based in Bangkok, Thailand.  She also serves as the Special Adviser to the Ministry of Education of Thailand and the Thai National Commission for UNESCO. Prior to this, she served as the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Secretary-General of the Thai National Commission for UNESCO, Inspector-General and Director-General of Regional Education Offices in Regions 16, 14, and 13 of the Ministry of Education of Thailand. As Ms. Amatavivat has a wide experience in international collaboration in education, she has been actively involved in many international meetings/conferences, in particular ASEAN, SEAMEO, and UNESCO activities.  

Prof. Dr. Yarina Ahmad earned a Bachelor of Science (Human Development) degree from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in 2001, a Master of Public Administration degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 2003, and a Doctorate in Sociology from Monash University in Australia in 2013. She has been a university lecturer for 18 years and is currently a Professor in Social and Policy Studies at the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies (FSPPP), as well as the Director of the Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (IBSD) at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). She is very active in research, publication, and postgraduate supervision in the social, socioeconomic, policy, and social marketing fields. She has been involved in research projects at both national and international levels. Her research and publication accomplishments are evidenced by her receipt of the Excellence Researcher Award (Social and Humanities Cluster) at the Academic University Award (AAU) (Social Science) in 2020; the National Book Award 2022 in the Higher Education category for Best Editor during the National Book Awards ceremony held in conjunction with the International Book Conference, Malaysia Book Expo, and Writers Club Forum 2022 on August 23, 2022; and the Best Academic Figurer Award at FSPPP in 2022 and various other awards at faculty, university, and national levels.

Pengiran Dr. Hajah Norkhairiah binti Pengiran Haji Hashim is the Assistant Professor at University Islam Sultan Sharif Ali in Brunei. She is also the Director of the Halalan Thayyiban Research Centre,  University Islam Sultan Sharif Ali. She earned her bachelor's degree in shariah from the University of Al Azhar in Cairo, Egypt, and her master's and doctorate in Islamic education from the University of Brunei Darussalam. She is passionate about creating Halalan Thayyiban products as a basis for establishing a halal lifestyle for the country through research, teaching and learning, training, and consulting services. She has published numerous papers in various journals and conference proceedings and has been involved with research projects with national and international grants. She has obtained national and international awards for her contribution to projects such as Special Halal Science Innovation Award 2023 in the International Halal Science Innovation Competition 2023 with innovative idea entitled Waste to Green.

Ms. Aminath Zeeniya is currently a principal in Seenu Atoll School, Maldives.  Her master's degree in educational management from the University of Mysore is an added value to her position as a principal for the past 15 years. Her educational philosophy is notable for her belief that all students can learn when given an engaging learning environment with strong and knowledgeable leadership in schools, a dedicated and focused educational team, an encouraging community, and a supportive family. She firmly believes that teaching and learning entails more than merely imparting academic knowledge. She works hard to develop her students by giving them the lifelong skills they need to become kind and helpful members of the society. She always strives to provide her students with innovative solutions to the problems they encounter in a society driven by technology. Her talk, "Best Practices in Seenu Atoll School, Maldives," would undoubtedly provide us some insight into how she improved the school from a low performing school with several discipline problems to one that has advanced in every way. 

Dr. Nur Bahiyah Abdul Wahab is a biology lecturer at Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Temenggong Ibrahim.  Her degree and Master's were in Biology, while her PhD was in Science. She specializes in Indigenous Studies, Science Pedagogy, and Sustainable Education. She started her career as a teacher in 2004 and joined Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Temenggong Ibrahim in 2012. She is researching forest schools and indigenous education and has led research grants related to forest schools and traditional knowledge. She invented a forest-friendly pedagogy named Rimbagogi to enhance science pedagogy to improve Orang Asli education in Malaysia.

Dr. Hanani binti Harun Rasit holds a B.Ed. TESL (Hons) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (1995), Master of Science in Guidance and Counselling from Universiti Putra Malaysia (2002), and Doctor of Philosophy in Special Education from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2014). She has 28 years of experience in the field of education. She was the Head of the Programme at Permata Kurnia Centre, a National Autism Centre (2015 – 2017), Deputy Director of the Special Education Division, the Ministry of Education, Malaysia (2019 – 2021), and  the Director of Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Centre for Special Educational Needs (SEN) from February 2021 to February 2023. Currently, she is the Director of Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Pendidikan Teknik in Bandar Enstek, Negeri Sembilan. Dr. Hanani has been actively involved in many national and international meetings, webinars and conferences on disability inclusive education.

Puan Balkis binti Kader Bawa is the Headmistress of SK Convent Bukit Mertajam, Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang. She has over 30 years of experience in the education sector, and is one of the candidates for the Special Education Award in conjunction with the National Teachers’ Day Celebration in 2023. She earned both  Bachelor degree in Preschool Education and Masters’s degree in Curriculum Studies  Universiti Sains Malaysia. She has given numerous contributions in education involving curricular, cocurricular and students’ affairs nationally and internationally. She has collaborated with numerous institutions and organisations such as UNESCO, KTM Berhad, Penang International Dental College and KEMAS, just to name a few. Her presentation entitled “Pemerkasaan STEAM dan CEFR dalam kalangan guru dan murid prasekolah KPM” is focussing on empowering the implementation and practice of STEAM and CEFR among KPM preschool teachers and students by looking at the roles and responsibilities of school instructional leaders in developing resource capacity to make the National Education Aspiration a success. 

Encik Mohd Nizam bin Saidin is the headmaster of SK Dato' Wan Kemara, Changlun, Kedah. In all of his work in the education sector, particularly at SK Dato' Wan Kemara, he has been successful in improving the school's reputation by being the recipient of numerous awards, namely Special Award: Excellent Digital School (Anugerah Khas: Sekolah Cemerlang Digital Peringkat Kebangsaan) in 2022 and Gold Award: Excellent Digital School (Anugerah Emas Sekolah Digital Peringkat Kebangsaan) in 2021. Most proudly, SK Dato’ Wan Kemara has been recognised as the Microsoft Showcase School at the national level in 2021 and 2022. Encik Mohd Nizam has also received several awards related to leadership such as the Kedah State Best TMK Leader Award (Johan Anugerah Pemimpin TMK Terbaik Peringkat Negeri Kedah) and the National STEM Icon Award (Anugerah Ikon STEM Peringkat Kebangsaan). He believes that the success achieved was driven by the help of great and experienced teachers, in addition to the best facilities provided to the students.