NST ; The changing landscape of our education system
Uncle Yap
09 Jul 2006
The changing landscape of our education system
Kathirasen
-------------------------------------------------
ARE the tectonic plates of the education system finally shifting?
Announcements by ministers last week seem to hold out this promise.
Most Malaysians have, for about two decades, smelt something rotten in
our education system. But overwhelmed by political considerations and
the thunder of so-called nationalists, the Government has been slow to
respond, carrying out minor piecemeal repairs now and then.
Even former education director-general Tan Sri Murad Mohd Nor had
called for a revamp of the education system in 2005. And he should
know.
Now, it appears, things may be changing.
The Government plans to start an early childhood education programme,
the pilot of which will take off later this year. According to Deputy
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the programme involving
2½-year-olds will be introduced in stages at eight locations this
year.
If successful, it will be expanded. Najib said the programme would
make the entry of participants into primary schools smoother.
He also said his office would undertake the programme. Understandable,
as the prime mover of the programme is his wife Datin Seri Paduka
Rosmah Mansor who feels strongly that every child is precious and
therefore should be given a head start in education.
Saying children under the programme would be exposed to social,
emotional, physical and mathematical skills, Rosmah added that the
children would have fun learning in an enjoyable environment.
Is starting them so young a good idea? Will we be robbing them of
their childhood? Are we taking the quest to produce an "A" student a
bit too far? The answer depends on what and how they will be taught.
The Government should bear in mind that the very desire to produce "A"
students is being questioned, with educators complaining that
standards are being lowered — including, tragically, at universities —
to enable more students to score. Some say universities have become
mere degree-producing factories.
But Malaysians would welcome Rosmah’s enthusiasm. For every child is
indeed precious to its parents. The challenge for Rosmah and the
implementers is to ensure that programmes such as this benefit
everyone, regardless of race or religion.
The private sector is offering early childhood education classes and I
understand some Government-linked institutions have experimented with
it.
I know of one person who benefited from an early childhood education
programme, someone who is considered one of the best living minds in
the world: Noam Chomsky.
Chomsky is Emeritus professor of linguistics at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, a writer and political activist.
Chomsky once told an interviewer: "I was sent to an experimental
progressive school from infancy, before I was two, until about twelve
years old, until high school, at which point I went into the academic,
college-oriented school in the city.
"Both the early experience in the progressive school and the later
experience in the academically oriented high school, elite high
school, were very instructive.
"For example, it wasn’t until I was in high school that I knew I was a
good student. The question had never arisen. I was very surprised when
I got into high school and discovered that I was getting all As and
that was supposed to be a big deal. That question had never arisen in
my entire education. In fact, every student in the school I had
previously attended was regarded as somehow being a very successful
student.
"There was no sense of competition, no ranking of students. It was
never anything even to think about. It just never came up that there
was a question of how you were ranked relative to other students.
"Well, anyway, at this particular school... there was a tremendous
premium on personal creativity, not in the sense of slapping paints on
paper, but doing the kind of work and thinking that you were
interested in. Interests were encouraged and children were encouraged
to pursue their interests. They worked jointly with others or by
themselves. It was a lively atmosphere, and the sense was that
everyone was doing something important."
Now that sounds interesting. I don’t know if the pilot project will be
similarly structured. If it is simply an extension of formal
schooling, it might be a disaster in the making. We know what formal
schooling is doing to our children.
Another initiative, whose ramifications will reverberate just as
greatly, involves giving former elite schools a makeover. On July 3,
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein announced that
elite schools would be given limited autonomy and more funding to
arrest declining standards.
The administrators of these schools will be given the option of
exempting their students from sitting for public examinations such as
the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah, Penilaian Menengah Rendah, Sijil
Pelajaran Malaysia and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia, subject to
the ministry’s approval.
This indicates that there is some rethinking about the
one-size-fits-all philosophy. Which is good. Although no details were
given, I believe there will be some form of test for students in these
schools. Perhaps, coursework will figure prominently.
Hishammuddin said the move would turn the elite schools into centres
of excellence. About 300 schools, including Chinese and Tamil schools,
are to be selected for this programme.
It is good to know the ministry is rectifying its earlier mistake of
neglecting elite schools. One reason elite schools were disregarded, I
think, was the misguided nationalistic fervour in the late Seventies
and Eighties upon which some politicians and educators rode.
The other bit of news is that the Higher Education Ministry is
considering allowing students and academics greater democratic space
at universities and colleges.
If, as Najib said at a function in Pekan, the education strategy lays
emphasis on innovation and creativity, then this, indeed, is the right
thing to do.
But in allowing university and school administrators freer rein to run
their institutions, the selection process should take into account not
only paper qualifications and administrative skills, but also whether
the appointees are captive to racial and religious bias.
The Government must be credited with shifting onto the meritocracy
track. What needs to be done now is the implementation of meritocracy
in letter and spirit. This is important as every student must be made
to feel he is a Malaysian and that he is not being discriminated
against because of his race or religion.
Students I have spoken to have voiced this feeling. Education must be
a unifying force. It should not engender racial polarisation.
Rural schools should be given top quality teachers so that the
rural-urban chasm can be further narrowed. Facilities that the city
school enjoy must be made available at the kampung school.
That is why we should support Hishammuddin’s move to make it
compulsory for new teachers to serve in rural areas effective next
year. Rural folk should be made to feel part of modern Malaysia,
enjoying the fruits of development.
And while he’s at it, perhaps the minister might want to scrutinise
the quality of people joining the teaching profession and the training
modules. There are too many complaints about teachers these days and
it may have to do with the intake procedures and the quality of
training; perhaps even the quality and character of the teacher
trainers.
Imparting facts alone is not enough. More importantly, teachers should
teach students how to learn and inculcate a desire for life-long
learning, especially since information and knowledge is growing, and
changing, at a mind-boggling pace. Students, to put it another way,
should not be given fish, as they are today. They should be taught how
to fish.
Any education system will only be as good as the quality of its
teachers. And the quality of some of our teachers today is suspect.
Many say education should not be politicised, but, given the politics
of population in Malaysia, I don’t see this happening. Although I
appreciate the difficulties faced by the Government in trying to
accommodate the diverse needs of a multi-racial society, politics
should be kept at a minimal level in education. For every child is a
Malaysian child.
While we are implementing these changes, let us not forget that there
are still schools whose buildings are in a sorry state or which do not
have proper facilities, including 24-hour power supply.
And yes, a comprehensive transformation of the education system is
overdue: One that would see a happy marriage between technical skills
and the liberal arts; one where students are taught to think and to
ask themselves questions such as, "I am thinking. But who is this ‘I’
that is thinking?"
Now that would be truly seismic.
Education must, then, be not only a transmission of culture but also a
provider of alternative views of the world and a strengthener of the
will to explore them. — Jerome S. Bruner
*************From Uncle Yap**************
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Timmermans
"Uncle Yap" <yf...@pop.jaring.my> wrote in message
news:im02b2p63kns5ln1j...@4ax.com...
> From The NST
> 09 Jul 2006
>
> The changing landscape of our education system
> Kathirasen
> -------------------------------------------------
> ARE the tectonic plates of the education system finally shifting?
> Announcements by ministers last week seem to hold out this promise.
>
> Most Malaysians have, for about two decades, smelt something rotten in
> our education system. But overwhelmed by political considerations and
> the thunder of so-called nationalists, the Government has been slow to
> respond, carrying out minor piecemeal repairs now and then.
>
> Even former education director-general Tan Sri Murad Mohd Nor had
> called for a revamp of the education system in 2005. And he should
> know.
>
> Now, it appears, things may be changing.
>
> The Government plans to start an early childhood education programme,
> the pilot of which will take off later this year. According to Deputy
> Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the programme involving
> 2½-year-olds will be introduced in stages at eight locations this
> year.
>
> If successful, it will be expanded. Najib said the programme would
> make the entry of participants into primary schools smoother.
>
> emotional, physical and mathematical skills, Rosmah added that the
> children would have fun learning in an enjoyable environment.
>
> Is starting them so young a good idea? Will we be robbing them of
> their childhood? Are we taking the quest to produce an "A" student a
> bit too far? The answer depends on what and how they will be taught.
Common sense, on average kids go to school at age 4-5 depending on date of
birth. Way to late in my opinion!
Kids pick up alot in their urly years and their search for knowledge and
interaction is without end. Another benefit is that parents who stay home
to take after their kids until they are able to go to school become
available to the labout market again, reducing the need for imported labour.
So as a parent it is my belief that both child and parent would benefit.
Robbing them of childhood? In that case, get rid of schools altogether, for
many it's a traumatic experience I'm sure! No classroom has a black sheep!
That said, you can protect your kids against alot, but as it is they are
overprotected already. If your kids cries in public, heads allready turn,
if he does something wrong and you give your kid a whack... it's near
murder! Kids rule over parents, while it's the parents that need to teach
their kids and not the other way around. Hence the lack of manners,
respect, courtesy and the overall sour Malaysian attitude I guess.
Here's a nice example I regularly come across, when kids cry, don't shut
them up with a candy, they consider it a reward for their behaviour! many
seem to think that their kid will remain emotionally scarred for life if
they don't scarmble to make them happy. It's a learning process, but again,
keep track of who's teaching who ;-)
My two cen,
Steven