A great disservice!

What a great disservice to our school children who have been made guinea pigs by the flip-flopping Education Ministry under the Barisan Nasional government!

KUALA LUMPUR: All Year One pupils in national schools next year will be studying Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia

They will not be given a choice to answer in English for school tests and public examinations as they progress through the years. Their textbooks would also be in Bahasa Malaysia, said Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom

.. As for secondary schools, textbooks in Bahasa Malaysia will be supplied to Form One and Form Four students beginning 2012.

Read more: Bilingual option for students and teachers http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles//17sain-2/Article/#ixzz12bx757D5

 

There have been many calls to the Education Ministry to be fair to all those children made to study mathematics and science in English from Year One to Year Six.  These kids should be allowed to continue doing so right up until they finished their secondary school level, until the STPM examinations if they so wish.

And for reasons which smacks of political expediency, our Education Minister chose to go ahead and reverse the PPSMI without giving the parents and kids any choice.

My son, who will be in Year 6 in 2011 is caught in this net of deceit by our government.  He will have completed six years of studying mathematics and science in English before he moves on to Form 1 in 2012.  Where is the logic for him to relearn the terms in Bahasa Malaysia for the following 5 years only to start all over again in English at tertiary level?

As a parent, I am more than annoyed at what's happening. 

 

Looking at what's been announced, it's no longer a knee jerk reaction to look at other options like private education.  I have a full year to digest the implication of what the ministry has done. 

We walk among racists

We breed racists in this country. Seriously, we do. How can we not when we have mainstream newspaper like Utusan Malaysia? When we have so-called NGOs like Perkasa? And so on, and so forth.

The most damaging of them all must be where they walk along the corridors of learning, our schools are undeniably crawling with them.

One fine example is illustrated by this gem of a remark:-

“Chinese students are not needed here and can return to China or Foon Yew schools. For the Indian students, the prayer string tied around their neck and wrist makes them look like dogs because only dogs are tied like that,” Siti Inshah was quoted as saying in at least one police report. (See Tony Pua's take at http://bit.ly/dhZ4Zk )

It either makes you cringe or your blood boil.

Kee Thuan Chye wrote about it here in his article "What will they do about racism now" at http://bit.ly/bxOFFW :-

"If she did what she is said to have done, she should instead be drawn and quartered, like in the good old days. Or have her head put in a cangue – you know, like in the Chinese movies, where the head and hands are locked up within a square wooden contraption.

Or she should be given the Japanese treatment – force-fed water while someone jumps on her bloated tummy, or hung from a tree by her thumbs, and displayed publicly for all to see that this is what happens to racists.

Of course, I’m being facetious, but this must surely be the fantasy of anyone who feels disgusted by any racist act. All the more so if it is committed by someone who is a principal of a school, who should be spreading the message of racial unity instead of – God forbid! – racial hatred."

Tongue-in-cheek I know, but conveying no less the emotion so many of us felt over this issue.

And finally, Mariam Mokhtar puts in her perspective of this shameful behaviour in "A noble profession is disgraced" at http://bit.ly/b0frMB :-

"Her remarks are unacceptable and a disgrace to her profession – the teaching profession.

She should have done the right thing and tendered her resignation. But only after making a public apology and after writing a letter of apology to each of the students in the school.

So what is a letter to each of the 2,200 students? She has done much harm to young, vulnerable and impressionable minds. At the same time, a noble profession has been besmirched, and a nation’s fragile truce between the races, is threatened.

If she will not go willingly, then she ought to be sacked. I have worked in companies where racism is not tolerated and the punishment is instant dismissal.

The head teacher’s insensitive, racist and daft comments uttered at the school assembly, is an insult to the Merdeka day celebrations.

Does this woman know the significance of Merdeka? Is she too young to have studied history at school or too young to know about the struggle to achieve Merdeka? Is she a perfect example of our much maligned BTN system?"

Where do we go from here? Can I accuse the Barisan Nasional government of propagating racism in schools?

From the looks of it, it is so easy to do an inception of this idea into young impressionable minds. Start 'em young, indoctrinate them and take it all the way into universities.

Then it won't take much to convince them that they are indeed under 'siege' when it comes to election time. Percentage wise, they got it all well covered because the minorities are soundly outnumbered.

It's sad. It's depressing. It makes me wonder what it is left in this country that is worth investing my love and affection for.

All wrapped up in silliness

I am actually in favour of a change in our national school uniform design.

My kids are wearing the same kind of clothes I wore to school more than 20 years ago, and that ought to be enough reason for the fashion police to make an arrest, don't you think? ;)

And someone from an association I've never heard of before (until this came out in the news) thinks our school uniforms are too sexy for our young sirens, oops I mean girls.

National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia vice-president Munirah Bahari's wise quips:

"The white blouse is too transparent for girls and it becomes a source of attraction. This could see them getting molested, having pre-marital sex and all sorts of things. It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it."

"All this leads to babies born out of wedlock and to an extent, even prostitution."

"This is the source of the problem, where we can see that schoolgirls themselves are capable of using this to attract men to them."

Can someone file a police report for slander against men in general and our schoolgirls in particular?

Or should we just give in to this fear mongering and redesign our school uniforms to look like this:-

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Look Ma! No Whites!!

Barisan Nasional Government a disgrace

A letter published in the NST today should put our Barisan Nasional Government to shame but we all know that this is what happens when agenda Ketuanan is the order of the day.

WHAT MORE CAN I DO TO IMPRESS?
by T.H.L.
Malacca

I SCORED 11 A1s and an A1 for 1119 English. In the Penilaian Menengah Rendah examinations, I was among the top students at national level. I have consistently been the top student throughout primary and secondary school.

For co-curricular activities, I scored 9.65 out of 10 marks. I held various posts in school, including the president of the Student Council, president of the Math and Science Society, secretary of the Tennis Club, and treasurer of the Scout movement. I have also received the Principal's Award.

At the national level, I led the school team to win the National Science Challenge. Besides that, I am also a King Scout. I was also a school debater. I obtained a Gold Certificate in Olympiad Physics and High Distinction for the National Chemistry Quiz.

I applied to do Matriculation, a Public Services Department award and a place at a local university. However, I have been turned down for everything, including a place in Matriculation.

Despite achieving excellent results in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examinations and excelling in co-curricular activities, I did not receive a single offer. What have I done wrong? What more do they want from me?

********************

Over the past few days in casual conversation, I have heard stories that further reinforces the sad state of affairs in our education system.

Case #1 is of a lady lawyer who has a successful private legal practice in Seremban. Her daughter studied in a local premier girls' school and one day the girl was hauled up to the principal's office and given a stern warning for not wearing a tudung nor baju kurung to school.

The lady lawyer went to see the school principal to protest the matter and insisted that it was not part of the Education Ministry's directive that Muslim girls must don the baju kurung and headscarf to school. What shocked her next is the principal telling her to take her girl out of the school if she refused to abide by the principal's rules.

That must have been the last straw for the lady lawyer because not long thereafter, the family packed up their bags and migrated to New Zealand.

Case #2 is of a girl who scored 2A+ and 2A- in her STPM exams and yet unable to get any offers from our public universities to study medicine. Disappointed, she sought the help of a local lawyer who wrote to the former deputy Education Minister about her case but the YB must have been too busy to even bother to reply.

Why are we still lamenting about brain drain in our country?

Despite the privileges and quotas yet some Malays are leaving this country and some who have graduated overseas on PSD scholarships refuse to return home. The non-Malays have long given up hope that all they have to do is study hard and the government will help them to achieve their dreams and ambitions.

These are the makings of the Barisan Nasional government that people have voted into power. Hopefully, the day will come soon when all Malaysians will have a second chance to make this country a better place for all of us, whether you are a Melayu or not. And you should bet our hope lies not in BN.

To Minister of Education

I confess I was VERY disappointed when Hishamuddin was re-appointed as the Minister of Education.

Other than being infamous for waving a keris and bringing disrepute to the ministry, what other contributions has he made to the education system?

Look, primary school kids are still carrying 10kg loads to school each day. Physical education is not about working up a sweat but instead becomes a classroom subject conducted under the spinning fan. Students are still gunning for the maximum number of A's in public exams. Morality lessons is reduced to rote learning, again for the purpose of scoring an 'A'.

Worse of all, you still read about students subconsciously divided into "Muslims" and "non-Muslims" camp in national schools and institutions of higher learning.

The sad thing is, our Minister of Education remain oblivious or worse, perhaps he couldn't care less?

I want to highlight this letter published in The Star today which appeals to the Ministry to look at one of the root causes of disintegration and disunity within our society.

The writer, Dr Mohd Dewa has bravely highlighted an issue which many would agree but due to reasons well understood, the non-Muslims especially will not express publicly due to fears of incurring the wrath of certain sections of the Muslim community who would be quick to politicize the issue.

And because we fear the few extremists in our midst that we have allowed the system to continue to rot.

I challenge non-UMNO coalition members of the Barisan Nasional to pressure the government and right the #1 problem in national schools today and one of the main reasons for the rejection of it by many non-Muslim parents.

It is time to put an end to the "divide and rule" policies of national schools.

Our Education Ministry has allowed schools to be breeding grounds for racial and religious intolerance. And so far, no one has the guts to stop this nonsense once and for all.

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The way to integration

NATIONAL integration is an on-off precept that is piped about by self-interested politicians of any genre to serve a purpose at that particular time. This may not be entirely true but this issue does emphasise the fact that we are a multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation.

Achieving national integration is an ongoing process that is important and essential to our nation’s survival and very existence. To bring the people of various races and religions to understand each other is an arduous task akin to nation building in our context.

And this task begins first when our children enter the educational stream. It begins from tadika (kindergarten) to primary and then secondary school.

Let us be honest with ourselves.

Our children are not born into any religion. They only belong to the religion of which their parents are members of. There is no such entity as a Christian child, a Muslim child, a Hindu child or a Buddhist child. She or he is a child of Muslim, Hindu, Christian or Buddhist parents. They are too young to decide for themselves who they want to be. Aren’t we being extremely harsh by imposing on them our proclivities, our religion, instead of teaching them universal values and letting them decide for themselves who they want to be when they are of age at 18 years?

And there are many among us who chose to emphasise the form of religion more than the substance, even for toddlers. In this context I would like to bring to your kind attention our Muslim children who are being “forced” to wear the headscarf (tudung) by the little Napoleons in the schools, the ustads and ustaaza.

Although Parliament has made it necessary to emphasise that the wearing of the headscarf is voluntary, these over-zealous Napoleons have taken it upon themselves the right to reprimand those who do not follow.

There is no necessity for our children to be burdened with the headscarf in this hot, humid climate of ours. Let them make their own choice at the right time. Children should be left to grow and develop at their own pace, not bridled down from kindergarten with a headscarf that is sure to stifle their potential.

There are health problems associated with the early and premature use of the headscarf, in particular ear problems, which if neglected, can result in loss of hearing.

Let us be honest and truthful to ourselves. National integration begins from young. Our children need to have a uniformity, a common uniform like in the early fifties, sixties and seventies, not uniforms that differentiate them from each other. That is a recipe for disaster.

The national service is a commendable achievement by the Government to instil understanding, cooperation and tolerance. But is it not a little too late? The best way to inculcate and initiate national integration is to do away with the headscarf in all our schools until 11 years of education have been achieved. This way our children grow together in an atmosphere of togetherness. Then our children would have learnt to appreciate each other of whatever ethnicity because they wore the same uniform!

Malaysia will become once again an integrated society wherein the term racial polarisation would be non-existent. There will not be any distinction from one to the other because of “form.”

It is truly sad to see our children being segregated, in form, under the pretence of religious fervour.

DR MOHD DEWA,
Taman Langkap.

Childhood Rat Race

It's a fact of life that is hard to ignore. Apart from having more materialistic possessions, it actually sucks to be a child these days.

You are not allowed to roam free around the neighbourhood lest some sicko lurks in a corner waiting to grab you. You have no choice but to join the tuition merry-go-round because mom worries that your future may be doomed if you did not have a string of As in your public exams.

And for added bragging rights, some even had to squeeze in piano, ballet, swimming, art and drama classes into every single available hour over the weekends.

And the rest of the time, relaxation is probably by way of sitting dumbstruck in front of the TV or playing endless mind-numbing computer games.

One mom I knew actually use "money motivation" to get her kids to perform.

A drawing done to her satisfaction earned the 9 year old boy RM5 a piece. An hour of meticulous copying of the text from a Ladybird book in neat handwriting merits RM5 for his 7 year old brother.

And the eldest at 12 get the latest Nokia handphone if he promises to attend all his tuition classes without a word of protest or absentism for a whole month throughout this school holidays!

Is it just me or have I missed some hard facts about preparing my kids early in life for the rat race of the future?

Check this out, Education Minister!

I noticed this CSR print ad on page 7 of the NST today with the caption "Beware of Strangers who pretend to know you."


I think this commendable effort has something to do with the recent spate of horrible crimes against children in our country. The above message appeared on the top left hand side of the advertisement.


On the right hand side is the above message. And right at the bottom is this joint message from our Polis Di Raja Malaysia and RHB Banking Group.


The message reads:

It is easier for strangers to befriend your child if they know their name. Tell your child not to display or write their name on the outside of their bags, books or clothes in public. Assist RHB Banking Group and the Police in reuniting families. Contact the Police at 999 with any information on a missing child. You can help bring a child home.

I wonder if our Education Minister is aware that in Malaysia, ALL school children in national and vernacular schools are required to wear a name tag sewn onto their school uniforms clearly displaying their NAME and school registration number to the public.

Have they not been advised by the police that this particular rule exposes the children, especially those young ones from primary schools, to great danger?

Or is the Education Ministry guilty of being incredibly ignorant of increasing levels of crime against our children?

Either way, this advertisement is a timely reminder for them to wake up and take note!

New school hours for secondary students?

My nephew who is studying in Form 2 came back from school on Monday and duly informed his mom that effective from next month, classes will end at 4:00pm Mondays through Fridays.

A quick check with other moms confirmed that they have heard similar "rumours" about extended school hours for secondary school students in single session schools.

I wonder, if indeed our education ministry is going to re-schedule school hours for secondary students, what will the situation be for those schools that currently run two sessions? How are they going to fit in the "extra" hours without having to drag the students and teachers back to school on Saturdays?

Anyway, my sister-in-law is absolutely delighted with the new developments. And that goes for her friends too. Apparently, it is a very "convenient" arrangement for busy parents.

As for me, I hope that the school principals will work closely with the canteen operators so that a good choice of nutritious meals for lunch will be made available to the schoolkids.

It will really be the health ministry's nightmare if extended school hours resulted in kids feasting on a daily diet of high fat, sugary and nutritionally deficient foods.

What about the NEP?

So, this survey has revealed that many of our youngsters are not too concerned about racial integration, meaning they don't give a damn if they don't have any friends from a different race.

And what do you know? Someone was quick to blame it on the vernacular education system.

National Unity and Integration Department director-general Datuk Azman Azmin said the most “probable” reason some teenagers did not have friends of different races was because of the “environment they are in, especially in schools.”

He said parents’ tendency to send their children to vernacular schools instead of national schools meant students lacked the opportunity to mingle and interact with their peers from other races.

Did someone suffer from constipation for weeks and thus off-loaded this massive pile of crap to add to the stink of this whole messed-up issue concerning our education system and national unity?

Tell me, what is the racial makeup of our civil service? Especially those who hold the highest ranked positions in their respective departments?

Do we have a fair representation of our multi-racial population in the teachers' room of our national schools? In our MARA junior science colleges? In our polytechnics? In the matriculation classrooms of our pre-U students?

Do we get the same opportunity to have our voices heard and our talents appreciated and utilised for the benefit of the nation?

Does anyone even want to consider what the implications of years of NEP have done to two generations of our people, resulting in those shortchanged looking to the future of a borderless world to escape the misery of discrimination in their backyard?

The NEP has been an economic success to those who are protected under its umbrella but at a great price to something else which holds all of us together as a nation.

It has resulted in the birth of a superior race, one who does not feel ashamed to declare lordship over all others by a wave of a sharp weapon.

Tell me, is the Education System vis-a-vis vernacular schools the one to be blamed for driving our youngsters apart along the lines of race? Anyone else missing the bit on religion?

I can go on and on.

Breeding excellence via a culture of fear

I was supposed to collect my kids' report cards from their school last Sunday morning but since I could not make it, I left a message to their teachers that I'd see them the following Tuesday, which was this morning.

Academically, my kids never give me any cause for complaints because they have always managed to do quite well in all their subjects, getting an average score of 80% and above.

And I'm rather proud that they have managed to cope with the very strict demands of studying in an exam-oriented environment where you get hit on your hands (hard!) with a ruler for every single spelling mistake that you make during the weekly spelling test. That's how perfect you have to be in order that the system can continue to churn out scores of straight As students in public exams.

Once, a friend of mine found J in tears because she got whacked 5 times for getting 5 of the 10 spelling questions wrong. And she was only in Year 2 then and Chinese was her weakest subject. Well, what did she learn from that lesson? Paranoia, I'm afraid. And a love-hate relationship with the language of her ancestors.

Initially, I had my doubts about enrolling them in such a fear-based school environment but my husband thinks that if they have a secure environment at home, they will stand to learn great life lessons from the demands and expectations placed on them by an external source. In other words, they will toughen up when given no choice but to adapt.

I wish the guardians of Chinese vernacular education can shed some of the rigidity that is so ingrained in the system because it always works against those who are more inclined to think out of the box. In fact, I'd say it does more harm than good to the non-conformist.

But that's just wishful thinking, I guess.

Much like the heavy load of schoolbags laden with workbooks that they carry on their backs to school each day, nothing really changes year in year out.

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The teacher who handed me J's report card was pleased with her academic performance but wished to gripe about her less than perfectly beautiful handwriting. And she needs a haircut because the back of her hair has touched down on her collar.

When I saw my son's teacher, she too has no complaints about his test results but wishes that he could improve on his handwriting and at the same time, tone down his exuberance and chattiness. And, he ought to have another haircut because his hair stuck out when she ran her fingers through the top.

*Sigh*

No wonder Ellie, who scored 7 straight As in her UPSR exam last year was so glad to finally ditch the system for good.

Now, she is having a whale of a time in her new multi-racial Methodist secondary school of her choice. She ran the 100m and 200m events during her school sports day and is active in a number of clubs including drama and Interact club. She looks forward to going to school each day and comes home happy and full of stories to tell of classroom happenings.

She positively glows in her new environment. Along with that, she is also thinking of dropping out of Chinese lessons because she too had a love-hate relationship with it throughout her primary years.

And yes, she is finally free to choose to grow her hair long. But surprise, surprise. She did not feel that it is a style that suits her personality and opted instead to keep it at shoulder length.

The thing is, it is now HER choice. And, it was an empowering feeling for her.

And for the young ones who watch her blossom in awe.

Wake up, Minister of Education!

It's the start of the school year and from the letters published today in just one of the local English dailies, it is obvious that our Minister of Education is stuffing his ears with cotton-wool, perhaps preferring to polish his weaponry in blissful silence instead.

Explore ways to lighten schoolbags

LAST week as school reopened, I was happy to see my daughter going to school. However I am also frustrated to see the heavy school bag that she has to carry.

Out of curiosity, I weighed her bag and found it weighed 6kg, which is almost 30% of her weight. She has to carry her schoolbag to her classroom located on the first floor. I find this unhealthy.

Researches around the world have proven that carrying heavy schoolbags leads to neck, shoulder and back pain and many other medical problems later in their life, if not now. So, why isn’t the Government doing anything about it despite the numerous complaints over the years?

We are living in the 21st century where everyone in the private or government sector is pushing towards e-learning and paperless documentation. Why can’t this be applied to our school system? Why can’t schools use computers to teach? If that does not work, can the school provide a second set of books to be kept in the school for the children to lighten their schoolbags?

21ST CENTURY PARENT,
Penang.

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I don't know about using computers to teach in schools because of the huge costs involved but the suggestion to leave textbooks in classroom lockers is actually workable.

The truth is, with all the workbooks that the kids are made to use, lugging all those textbooks to and from school each day is really pointless and burdensome. Personally, I hardly ever see my own kids using their textbooks to revise their lessons. So, why not just leave them at school? That will lighten their schoolbags by at least 3kg!

Hey - wake up all you folks at the Ministry of Education!

It is high time you take a serious look at taking the load off our kids' backs for good.

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Help, we can’t get textbooks

I REFER to your report, “Parents find it hard to buy textbooks”.

The problem is even bigger for Form 5/SPM students.

There is an extreme shortage of textbooks for them in the market. We have gone to bookshops all over Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Subang but found no stock. And it is only the start of the year! I believe there is a major problem here. What happened to the book printers and distributors? We really need help.

Secondly, though the students are all prepared for school (minus the textbooks), some teachers are not around. It seems teachers are not very prepared these days, are they? Aren’t they informed of the classes they are supposed to teach before the school term starts?

How is it that as the years go by, our school system seems to take one step back?

CONCERNED PARENT,
Kuala Lumpur.

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One step back or two, what's the difference? We have been churning out increasingly huge numbers of unemployable graduates so much so we can be forgiven to deduce that the people at the Ministry is now finding the problem too huge to handle.

So, the easy way out is to maintain an elegant silence. Behave like an ostrich and pray the problem will go away by itself. Or better still, sit on it and pass the buck to someone else when you retire.

Apologetic Maths teacher

L, a Form 4 science stream student had a shocking confession from her schoolteacher yesterday morning.

This Malay lady teacher walked into her class and announced before the start of lessons that she was essentially a Science subject teacher but was made to teach the subject of Modern Maths to the Form 4 students for the first time this year.

Speaking gently in Bahasa Melayu, she apologised to the students for not having the experience in teaching mathematics and hope that they will bear with her shortcomings. She then proceeded to start the lesson, speaking mostly in Bahasa Melayu.

At the end of the lesson, most of the students were left none the wiser for they could hardly understand her and she in return had trouble communicating with the students who posed their questions in English, a language the subject of Modern Maths is supposed to be taught in.

Is this a comedy of errors? Both the teacher and the students are suffering from the mismatch. No wonder tuition centres are fluorishing around the country. It seems to me that mismatching of students and teachers is more common than we think and it is all part of our Education Ministry's inability to do a good job. And they still like to use the same ol' excuse of not having enough teachers.

For (government scholars) like Joshua Hooi, 24, who graduated with an education degree, majoring in Maths and minoring in Chemistry last August from Universiti Sains Malaysia, the so-called shortage is a joke, but he isn't laughing.

Entering into a four-year bond with the government after completing his degree on a government scholarship, he is eager to serve, but has yet to receive news of his posting from the education department.

See? I told you it's not funny.

Of schoolbooks and history lessons

(From the STAR, page N20 today)

Makkal Osai reported that parents of children not eligible for school textbook loans have found it difficult to purchase the books. They had approached many bookstores and found that the books were not available.

S. Gunalan, whose daughter is in Year 3 in a Tamil school in Seberang Prai, had been unable to purchase the required textbooks since November.

Similarly, my kids go to a local SJKC and I too encountered difficulty in getting all their workbooks this year. Some of the compulsory workbooks are not carried as stock by local bookstores and even the school admitted that supplies have fallen short this year. Could this situation have been aggravated by the recent floods as reported in Utusan Malaysia?

In that report, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar said that the shortage of schoolbooks in the Klang Valley arose following instructions from the Ministry to publishers to prioritise the supply of books to states affected by the recent floods.

I had no choice but to borrow the affected workbooks from my kids' classmates and made photostat copies of them to avoid trouble with their teachers for not submitting their homework. By the way, I really find it ridiculous that my son's Year 2 Bahasa Melayu subject required 4 compulsory workbooks on top of the usual 2-3 workbooks per core subject. The weight of the poor kid's schoolbag is more than half his body weight! This perennial problem has been a major source of distress for parents of primary schoolchildren and the Education Ministry seems impotent to do anything to resolve it.

And I thought the Education Minister announced sometime back that free textbooks on loan will be made available to ALL schoolchildren regardless of their parents' income level. Whatever happened to that proposal? Sudah lupa kah??

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I browsed through the History textbook of a Form 4 science student recently and I am struck by the content of the syllabus. Out of 10 chapters, 5 are devoted to Islamic civilisation and the spread of Islam to South East Asia and subsequent Islamic influences on the economic, sosial and political structure of present day Malaysia.

Bab 1 Kemunculan Tamadun Awal Manusia
Bab 2 Peningkatan Tamadun
Bab 3 Tamadun Awal Asia Tenggara
Bab 4 Kemunculan Tamadun Islam dan perkembangannya di Makkah
Bab 5 Kerajaan Islam di Madinah
Bab 6 Pembentukan Kerajaan Islam dan sumbangannya
Bab 7 Islam di Asia Tenggara
Bab 8 Pembaharuan dan Pengaruh Islam di Malaysia sebelum kedatangan Barat
Bab 9 Perkembangan di Eropah
Bab 10 Dasar British dan kesannya terhadap ekonomi negara

I remember distinctly that my history books never devote so many chapters to the study of one single civilisation. But of course, that was many many years ago.

Times have changed. In this new millenium, I suppose our educators think that our kids need not learn too much about Western civilisations, even less so about other Eastern civilisations to the north of Malaysia.

And the strange thing is, history is now a compulsory subject for all Form 4 and 5 students whereas geography is made optional for science stream students.

But I would have thought learning geography would be more relevant to a science student than history as was the practice during my secondary schooldays. When did this change happen?

The sheathed keris comes a-courting

From the STAR, page N24 (2 Jan 2007):-

Unique Aspect of Education
Hisham: Differences an advantage

The presence of different types of schools is a unique feature of the country, which gives it a comparative advantage, says Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein.

In making his point in an exclusive interview with Nanyang Siang Pau, he said the Government would continue to preserve and protect this aspect of the education system through the National Education Blueprint.

"People should not regard the various types of schools in the country as a hurdle to be cleared," he said. "After all, this is not a zero-sum game because multiculturalism is an added advantage and a strength for the country."

Hishamuddin also noted that the existing situation in the country reflected the freedom allowed for the development of vernacular schools as well as other types of schools.

...

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Ever heard of the Cantonese saying, "Kin yan kong yan wa, kin kuai kong kuai wa"? (Literally translated to: Speaking the language of man in front of man, and speaking the language of the devil in front of the devil.)

Methinks this is a clear sign that the wheels are being greased for the next general election.

And the courting and wooing of the Chinese community is given serious attention, starting with MCA declaring itself the voice of the Chinese. (The Star, page N4, 2 Jan 2007)

MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said, " Whether the MCA is prepared for the election or not is not the main concern, it should be whether the MCA is at all times relevant, effective and trustworthy in the eyes of the general public and community. "

I agree.

I wonder following the events of 2006, how many voters now feel that MCA is but a shameful excuse of a party representing the Chinese community in Barisan Nasional?

That extremism (be it racial or religious) is tolerated by the party leadership speaks volumes about where the weight of political power rests in reality - making MCA, MIC and all the other parties representing minority interests a big joke, relevant, effective and trustworthy only during election year.

Haven't we heard it all before? Are we being conditioned to be cynical because well, our politicians have always adhered to the motto "Cakap Tak Serupa Bikin" right across the board?

2007 could well be the year when the keris is kept well-sheathed to avoid any untoward incidents which may result in self-inflicted fatal injuries.

And I for one will be glad. Frankly, the creepy sight of that misai-man with mouth gaping and keris in hand isn't exactly something I enjoyed looking at.

We reap what we sow - the case of the unemployable local graduates

From The SUN today:-

70% of grads from public institutions jobless
B.Suresh Ram

KUALA LUMPUR: Some 70% of public universities and institutes of higher learning graduates in the country are unemployed.

This is in contrast with 26% for private institutions of higher learning and 34% for foreign graduates.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar revealed the figures today (July 3, 2006) in reply to a question from Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor).

He said the ministry had taken several steps, including the establishment of the graduates' retraining training scheme as well as providing feedback to the Higher Education and the Education Ministries, to ensure courses are in line with those required by the job market.

To the original question by Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh (BN-Gopeng), Abdul Rahman said 20,217 graduates registered with the ministry's Job Clearing System were still unemployed as at June 12.

The breakdown showed:-

• UiTM 3,278 (16.2%) - highest number of employed graduates
  
• UUM 1,532 (7.6%)
• private institutions of higher learning 1,217 (6%)
• UTM 1,147(5.7%)
• UKM 971 (4.8%)
• UPM 919 (4.5%)
• other public institutions of higher learning 840 (4.2%)
• UM 531 (2.6%)
• USM 505 (2.5%)
• UMS 371 (1.8%)
• UIA 358 (1.8%)
• foreign graduates 342 (1.7%)
• Unimas 174 (0.9%)
• UPSI 39 (0.2%)
• Others 7,993 (39.5%)

Abdul Rahman said the breakdown according to job sector showed ICT with the highest number of unemployed graduates with 3,942 (19.5%) yet to find jobs.

This is followed by:-

• Business Administration with 2,714 (13.4%)
• Accountancy 1,923 (9.5%)
• Electric/Electronic and Telecommunication engineers 1,229 (6.1%)
• Human Resources Management 1,022 (5.1%)
• Civil Engineers 983 (4.9%)
• Mechanical/Mechatronic Engineers 884 (4.4%)
• Literature Social Science 843 (4.2%)
• Pure Science 770 (3.8%)
• Financial/banking/insurance/investment/property 613 (3%)
• Office technology Management/Information management/Library Management 552 (2.7%)
• Architecture/Building/Quantity Surveying/ land surveying 540 (2.7%)
• Applied Science 533 (2.6%)
• Economy 440 (2.2%)
• Agriculture/Forestry, Fisheries/Environment 401 (2%)
• Others 2,828 (13.9%).
  

Abdul Rahman said apart from the job clearing system, other measures had also been taken by the government to reduce the number of unemployed graduates in the country.

********************

Survey the views of private sector employers, is this such a surprise?

The answer you will most certainly get is, NO!

Why?

We REAP what we SOW.

The failure of our public education system is symptomatic of what is also happening to our civil service. It will take a herculean effort and massive mindset change to reverse the decline that has steadily eroded the respectability of both institutions in the eyes of the public.

No, it is not about merely throwing more money at this problem. That is just an excuse to distract the mind from the real issues and at the same time, make a quick buck out of the sorry situation.

It is about being HONEST with ourselves about why we have ended up with such a mess.

It is about doing the right thing for the survival of the very thing you have been championing all along.

You have done just the opposite. It has been a slow, agonising, strangling and choking way to love your people to death.

The hairy scary rules of Chinese schools

Spotted on page 8 of The SUN today:-

DONG ZONG (United Chinese School Committees Association) president Yap Sin Tien said the education policy is not totally to blame for the weakening of Chinese primary school committees.

Some school committees have given up some of their rights and allowed themselves to be marginalised either because they are not properly organised or due to the bias of the people running the show, the Chinese press reported.

Speaking at the launch of the Chinese school committee awareness campaign in Kajang, Yap said school committees have a vital role to play as the community has entrusted them with the task of ensuring Chinese schools will keep abreast of the times to be relevant.

********************

The recent tussle between Dong Jiao Zong and the Federation of Chinese School Headmasters made headlines in the local papers and caused much embarrassment as well as deep concern among the Chinese community at large.

Thus, when I saw the above newsbite, I was instantly reminded of the myriad of problems affecting the running of these schools. It has always been and probably will continue to be, an uphill battle all the way for the Chinese community in Malaysia to hold on to their right to educate their kids in Chinese vernacular schools.

On top of that, they had to find ways and means to sustain such schools and ensure their survival based on their ability to continue to maintain the kind of high enrolment rate which we have been seeing in recent years, not just from the Chinese community but increasingly from other communities as well.

But I guess a lot of parents knew it in their hearts that the surge in popularity of Chinese schools is actually a manifestation of the rejection of national schools for various reasons. I would go so far as to say that it is not so much that Chinese vernacular education in Malaysia is superior to other forms of education, just that they are winning hands down by default.

Chinese schools are steeped in traditions that are so out-dated, one example which is manifestly ridiculous but still practised in this 21st century is the "hair ruling".

In most, if not all Chinese primary schools, the general rule is that girls must keep their hair no longer than the top of their shirt collar and they are not allowed to use hairclips or hairbands to keep their fringes away from their face. Which means, they must cut their front fringe short, above the eyebrows. So generally, the girls will have only 2 available choice of hairstyles, the bob (or "mushroom cut") or the boy's style ("7-up cut").

The boys in general all sport the same kind of crew-cut, what every kid knows to tell the barber to give him the "No. 1" (almost shorn bald) or "No. 2" (the 1 cm) cut.

I remembered very well when I was in Australia last year and one Australian shopkeeper mistook J for a boy because of her "7-up" hairstyle. When I corrected the lady, she expressed surprise and questioned me on why I gave my poor girl such an awfully boyish hairstyle. I explained that it was the school rule and before I could explain further, her quick response was, "What kind of a blardy rule is that? Hey Mike! See what they do to girls in Malaysian schools!"

*Sigh* I had to tell them that it only happens in Chinese-type schools and then I had to explain further why we have different types of schools in Malaysia. I couldn't explain why the Chinese school rules have such a "hairy" ruling though, except that it has always been that way. Maybe something to do with school discipline. I could sense that it was a pretty lame excuse to her.

The point I want to make here is this.

Is it still relevant in this day and age to keep to such a rigid hair rule in Chinese schools?

I really don't see the relevance at all. In fact, truth be told, I totally hated this rule. It's so "communist". And if the national schools didn't suck so much, I wouldn't enrol my kids in Chinese schools. That's the truth. And I suppose this is also true for the non-Chinese parents who put their kids in Chinese schools.

I hope to see the day when Dong Jiao Zong will realise that they too need to keep abreast of the times, lest they themselves become irrelevant.

One more promise from our Education Ministry

Am I being optimistic in thinking that our Education Ministry is finally getting its act together?

I have mentioned in an earlier post about the skewed priorities in deciding where the limited funds allocated to the Education Ministry should go to. So, reading the news reported in page 10 of the Sunday Star today sort of give me hope that perhaps these guys have finally realised something is not quite right with the way they are running the Ministry.

In the report, our Education Minister said that, "In the next 5 years (in line with the agenda under the 9th Malaysia Plan), the Government will concentrate on the welfare of schools that lack basic necessities to make all schools equal, ... in terms of teachers, infrastructure and equipment."

He acknowledged that, "Some rural schools now still do not have enough teachers and are not supplied with a 24-hour power supply. We hope to change this."

I'm glad he has finally acknowledged that there are serious shortcomings in the fair distribution of public funds for the education sector.

I also hope Datuk Seri Hishamuddin will keep his promise, even if in the intervening 5 years of the plan to make things right, he may no longer hold the post of Education Minister. Because it has so often be proven that policies are changed and promises forgotten each time a new person takes over the Ministry.

And I do agree with the Minister that "Premier, heritage and residential schools with modern facilities and infrastructure are expected to source funds on their own for upgrading."

These schools have "churned out many successful Malaysians, including those from the royalty, who could help source funds for their alma mater" instead of depending too much on government allocation.

The way I see it, these schools should be proud of the fact that the govt has a high regard for their ability to set a bold example to the public that they can throw away the crutches and stand tall and survive on their own without the need for handouts. We are talking about the high number of successful Bumiputeras that have passed through the doors of these elite schools.

After all, if most of the Chinese primary schools can successfully garner the support from the public to fund upgrading of their school facilities and other necessary improvement projects for the benefit of their students, I don't see why these elite institutions can't do the same for the betterment of their own community.

It's just a matter of whether their community has a deep sense of responsibility to give back to society what they have richly reaped from the help given by others to them in the past.

That is the difference between being able to stand on your own two feet or forever playing the role of the weak and helpless.

So, is that really bad news for schools with modern facilities?

Not really.

They should look at it in a positive way.

They have finally "graduated" from being dependant on the govt for their survival and can now show us what they are truly capable of - the ability to soar high and continue to achieve milestones of successes on their own.

To be world-class. To attract the best because they can be the best given the opportunity to stand on their own.

That is something to be truly proud of, to aspire to. That will also be their first step to being glocal, err ... global.

The strange priorities of our Education Ministry

It was reported in the NST website today that our Education Ministry is seeking a special (& substantial) allocation under the 9th Malaysia Plan to upgrade school fields nationwide.

I don't have any problems with improving our school fields. Just that it seems strange that this should be the priority of the new Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar. My guess is that perhaps he has not made an in-depth study of the files of shame that's gathering dust at the Education Ministry.

In the Aliran monthly issue 2005:Vol.25No.8, P. Ramakrishnan reported that out of 4,036 national schools, 794 were without electricity and 1,555 without toilet facilities.

Shocking, isn't it?

That works out to nearly 20% of our national schools not having electricity connection. That effectively also means that these schools and their students, almost all from the rural districts, were sidelined from the national policy of developing e-knowledge to equip all students to face global challenges in this new millenium.

And this is even more shocking - almost 39% of national schools are without toilet facilities.

I can't imagine how the teachers and students of these schools cope each time they need to ease themselves during school hours.

Do they have to go into the nearby bushes, or perhaps carry an umbrella to protect their dignity?

And I'm pretty sure these same schools have a huge problem with clean piped water supply.

To quote Mr Ramakrishnan himself:-

"How do these students wash themselves, ease themselves, and keep themselves clean? When schools are expected to teach cleanliness and the need to eradicate diseases, how was this neglect tolerated?

We need to know how this pathetic state of affairs arose. Practically all those schools were rural schools, mostly attended by poor Malay children.

Was it a lack of expertise that led to those schools being deprived of electricity and toilet facilities?

Was it a shortage of funds and allocations? Was it indifference to the education of rural children?

How did UMNO, ever ready to advance every Malay interest, permit this neglect?

... In the name of the NEP and improving the economic position of the Malay community, ... has the re-distribution only benefitted cronies and well-connected elites - rather than the deserving children of fisherfolk and farmers?

When rural schools can't be properly equipped with electricity and toilet facilities, what's the point of talking about '30% equity', 'APs' and the 'new national agenda'?

Or are we talking about 2 sets of standards - one towering set for well-connected wannabees and one depressingly low set for the cable-less ordinaries?"

This is why I find it strange that our Education Ministry is now seeking substantial funds from the Federal Govt to improve school fields while so many other students in rural areas continue to study under such harsh conditions.

No wonder most teachers dread being posted to rural schools. Those kind of working conditions are the stuff of nightmares.

But we don't hear these stories of neglect in our mainstream media, do we?

That is NEP and Agenda Melayu for you. In the REAL world.

Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang??

Let's shout it again ... and again.

*********

Update (@5:05pm): It was reported in The SUN today that the govt is spending RM1.15 billion to provide security at the 7,225 schools nationwide for 3 years.

Datuk Mohd Noh Omar said 128 security companies are providing the services. One-year contracts to supply guards cost the ministry RM290 million while 3-year contracts for high-risk schools cost RM865 million.

My appeal to the government: Can we also have an allocation of RM1.15 billion to provide 794 schools with much-needed electricity supply and 1,555 schools with even greater need for proper toilet facilities for the next 3 years?

Is this too much to ask for the poor little boys and girls who will also one day inherit Malaysia along with the more privileged kids who need additional security protection in mostly urban schools?

This teacher has a "fresh linen" fetish

Actually, I had wanted to take a short break from blogging. But before I switch to "silence mode", I want to relate a little story about what is going on in one of our Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan.

Now, this is a true story, a "KISAH BENAR". You shall be the judge of the moral behind it.

L is a 15 year old studying in a local national school. She will be sitting for her PMR examination this year. Her form teacher is a nice lady, not too young, not too old. However, she has a strange fetish for "freshly ironed linen", in this case, tablecloths.

Each student in her class is assigned a piece of new fabric at the start of this year, which is to be used to cover up their desk. Those school desks, although not brand new, were not exactly an eyesore either. Who exactly paid for the tablecloths remain a mystery.

Every morning, before classes begin, the tablecloth must be laid out nicely over the desks. At the end of the day, they are folded up and taken home. This is where it gets interesting.

On no account, the students were told, the tablecloth is to be WASHED. It is now March and the students have already used it for 2 months, unwashed. However, EACH day, it must be IRONED before it is reproduced for the next day's use.

And what is the punishment for not heeding the teacher's instruction? Well, every morning, a student will be assigned to "inspect" the laid-out tablecloths for evidence of "creases". So far, none has been caught in defiance of the ruling, so no one knows what the punishment would be for disobeying the teacher's orders. Either the students in that class are an obedient lot or the teacher had managed to strike awesome fear in their hearts. L unfortunately belongs to the second category.

If you ever had to endure the unpleasant task of ironing a piece of unwashed linen almost every day, you will understand the exasperation at the logic and mentality of some people who are tasked by our government to "teach and nurture our future generation of leaders and workers alike".

Why is everyone keeping quiet about this and not do something to end the silliness of the situation, you ask.

Because, like all the rest of the students, L does not want to be the person to tread on Madame Cikgu's toes and spend the rest of the year in her bad books.

So, mummy dear will just have to swallow it, iron that piece of cloth Sunday to Thursday and after each ironing session, just take a damp cloth and wipe the iron clean.

The evidence is below, with creases and all.


In case some one is wondering if this is the same school as the one I blogged about in "Misguided HM in National School" last year, the answer is NO.

Both are in Negeri Sembilan, though. If you think the above tablecloth looks familiar, you may have the answer to the mystery of this school.

Reclaim the joy of going to school

The commentary by VK Chin in The Star yesterday caught my eye, the subject title being "Don't burden pupils with too many subjects".

This is not the first time that the subject of schoolkids being increasingly burdened by a lack of clear policy direction by our Education Ministry has been brought to the attention of the public. Each year at the beginning of the school calendar, parents and a small group of people in the healthcare industry repeated their calls for a review into the current syllabus where primary school children are being burdened with a bagful of textbooks and workbooks which put a huge strain on the posture of the growing kids.

But does anyone care to listen and actually DO something about it? The Education Ministry seems to be suffering from major impotence in finding a solution to lighten the schoolbags.

These days, there is not much joy in going to school anymore. It is a place where kids spend all day studying and when it's time to go home, they bring back loads of homework which sometimes took up the rest of the day just to finish. Is it any wonder most kids hate school these days?

A Suhakam report on primary education revealed an alarmingly high dropout rate among male primary schoolkids. The report showed that in 2003, 10,695 male pupils dropped out of primary school of which:-

5,111 stayed away when they were in Year 2,
925 in Year 3,
26 in Year 4,
3,366 in Year 5, and
a staggering 6,925 in Year 6!

When asked why this trend of dropping out from primary school is more confined to male pupils, Suhakam commissioner Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said it was because the Malaysian education system is more academic in nature. He said,

"We focus and emphasise more on academic achievements and boys are usually inclined for other hard activities. There have been instances when a female teacher is supposed to supervise boys playing football. Obviously, the teacher being female would not show the same interest in the game as a male teacher would and when the teacher does not show interest, the boys lose interest too."

Similarly, VK Chin in his Star commentary also cautioned the Government to think carefully before introducing new school subjects in order not to overload the present education system. This is because various interest groups have tried to push their pet projects to be part of the school syllabus, ranging from the recent suggestion of teaching road safety to curb the rising number of road fatalities each year to environment, consumerism and awareness of vices such as smoking and drinking.

No one seems to realise that "what is sadly lacking is the number of periods for physical education which has taken a backseat in many primary and secondary schools as principals and teachers seem more interested in improving their pupils' academic standard. ...

Actually, there are many primary schools with less than 2 periods of physical education per week, which surely is vastly inadequate. The focus is always academic with little time for physical activities to strengthen their bodies.

This is an area that the ministry should look into, to ensure that all pupils be strong not only mentally but physically, too.

There are already too many subjects being taught and adding more will be too taxing for the children.

While we wish our children to do well academically we also do not want them to end up with health problems later on in life due to lack of exercise."

A reader of Malaysiakini wrote an interesting letter here pointing out that our pressure cooker education system will blow up. That is really not very far from the truth of the matter.

Just to give you an example of what it is like for a Year 6 school student studying for the UPSR (Primary School Assessment Test) examination this year had to go through in a Chinese vernacular school in Negri Sembilan:-

He wakes up at about 5:30 am to get ready for school because he must be in class before 7 am when the teacher comes in to supervise the morning reading session.

Classes officially starts from 7:20am to 10:00am.
He gets a 30-minute break at about 10:00 am.
Classes resume from 10:30am to 1:30pm.
He gets a 30-minute break for lunch.
Classes resume from 2:00pm to 4:30pm.

By the time he reached home, it is already past 5:00pm and he has yet some unfinished homework to complete before he can call it a day.

The above schedule applies from Monday to Friday, with the exception on Wednesday when he gets to go home at 1:30pm (the only normal school hours day he gets in a week).

On Tuesday, the day stretched to 5:00pm.

On Saturday, he has to return to school for extra tuition from 8:00am to 11:30 am.

Can we honestly say that the long hours spent studying in school almost 6 days a week is good for a 12 year old?

Someone who is familiar with the national school system can probably enlighten us as to whether their Year 6 students undergo a similar routine. I am rather doubtful though.

Frankly, I think it is a terrible burden for these kids to have to go through such a punishing schedule just so that they can score as many "A" as they can for the glory of their school and their parents. But that is the reality of vernacular schools and if you choose to put your kids in these schools, you have not much choice but to play by their rules just like the way they enforced the "crewcut for boys and short hair below the collar-line for girls" rule. Take it or leave it. Of course, most people do take it grudgingly because they'd rather suffer these rules than opt for national schools (which is another controversial subject for another day).

I hope to see the day when our children can reclaim their childhood so that when they grow up and look back upon this period in their lives, it is filled with memories of a carefree period when school is a place they enjoyed going to. It may be far better to teach primary school children how to be a good and conscientious citizen who know how to take good care of public property, to abhor littering and vandalism, to practise good hygiene and good manners and most of all, to respect their elders and their friends and to be mindful and gracious when interacting with people who are different from them, whether by the colour of their skin or religious beliefs.

If we are able to teach young children how to be a model citizen, it will go a long way towards moulding them into the kind of adults we wish for in our society. Certainly that is the aspiration of our PM who's wish is to see each and every citizen of this country developing first class mentality and social graces to go with the first class infrastructure that we have already spent so much money to put in place. But the pursuit of mere academic excellence has resulted in most people pushing aside the need to develop other soft values which makes a person more wholesome and more well-rounded. And in the process, we have created an ugly, selfish and materialistic society where each person cares only for the well-being of himself or his own community to the detriment of others.

Sometimes it is amusing to note that while more developed countries in the West are putting more emphasis on the importance of developing and nurturing a high Emotional Quotient (EQ) as a mark of a civilised society as well as recognising that an individual with a high EQ has a better chance of success in his career, we in Malaysia still regard a high IQ (Intelligence Quotient) as a prerequisite for success in life. That's rather archaic and sadly, a reflection of the minds of our bureaucrats who run the Ministry of Education and directly responsible for the quality of our future generation of leaders.

Sad indeed when you see the reality of what is going on in our country and what is happening in our schools these days.

While the Ministry has admitted that our teachers are currently overworked and stressed out in a less than ideal work environment in a news report published today, perhaps they should also make a serious effort to unburden our kids and do away with an examination-oriented school syllabus. This way, teachers and students will not have to suffer the yearly pressure of producing excellent academic results to meet the expectations of misguided principals and parents.

So what is it exactly that is making our Ministry of Education so terribly uninspired?