Sterling education it was

WITH reference to the headlines “Kids left holding the bag” (The Star, 22 July), I am surprised to see how quick parents and schools are to blame each other.

So who is the real culprit? Who caused the paper chase?

Way back in the 1960s, when I was a student, tuition was unheard of; today, it is a trend. If your children don’t go for tuition, than you worry they will be left behind.

During my schooldays, all major newspapers would carry few pages on sports. Inter-school games took centre stage. Schools would have serious training programmes to outdo other schools. There were no reports on SPM or STPM results or which schools had done well.

Those days, every secondary school would have at least one male and one female Physical Education specialist. The Specialist Teachers Training Institute (STTI) in Cheras was built just to train specialists in Physical Education. Many teachers who trained there went on to become national coaches. PE was a serious subject and fitness was an important component. Today, the PE lesson is about having 40 students chase one ball.

The STTI is now just another teacher training institute, like any other teacher training institute.

My first principal at St Thomas Secondary School in Kuantan, Mr M.N. D’Cruz, would run more than the linesman in a football final. Every time the school emerged champion in the district event, he would declare Friday a half-day off and the school would be dismissed at 10am.

School principals were very passionate and had a very strong sense of belonging as they remained in the same school for 10 to 15 years, and took pride in the school’s performance. Unlike today, when school principals are always on the move.

Mr D’Cruz used to say that if teachers taught after the bell had rung, then either their lesson plan for the day was bad or they went to class late. The syllabus was designed according to the number of schooldays so there was no necessity to have extra classes on weekends or holidays.

Holidays are meant for students and teachers alike to rest. Burdening them and depriving them of the well-deserve rest will only produce negative results.

The Chinese school next to my house has extra classes for Years 4 and 5 students throughout December.

Today’s school textbooks do not contain many exercises, unlike those in my schooldays. My Maths textbook, by C.V. Durell, had at least 100 questions after every sub-topic so there was no necessity for workbooks.

Teachers in Chinese schools force the students to buy so many workbooks that it makes one wonder if the school head or the school gets a cut from publishers.

There are private and international schools that provide lockers but as long as the homework syndrome exists, the children are forced to carry all their books home. Some bags are as heavy as 13kg.

On top of homework from school, tuition teachers too give homework otherwise they will get an earful from parents.

Children are under so much pressure to complete their homework. And schools are quick to punish students who do not complete their homework on time. I just cannot understand today’s parents. Some pay so much for private schooling and still they send their children for tuition for all subjects.

There are too many exams in a year – monthly tests, the mid-year exam, trial exams and the final exam – on top of quick quizzes. During my schooldays, we only had two exams per year.

A school year has 43 weeks, of which three weeks are taken up by festival holidays. Exams, marking and revision of exam results take up 12–15 weeks. That leaves 25-28 weeks of actual teaching. No wonder schools can never finish their syllabus on time.

Some schools go overboard by having as many as 21 papers for a primary school exam. No wonder many parents opt for international schools where only the core subjects are tested on.

Also, I can’t see the rationale in having exams for subjects like PE, Kesihatan (health education), Art, Living Skills, ICT and Civics.

If we want to see a change, we have to learn from the ’60s. The media should stop highlighting examination results and, instead, report on inter-school matches.

The Education Ministry should stop classifying schools as Cluster schools, Control schools and Elite schools. All schools should be the same.

All students should go to the school nearest their home. This will also ease traffic as parents won’t be going across the city to send their children to the schools of their choice.

The KPI for schools should be excellence in studies and sports. Offer scholarships to students who excel in both.

We need a collective and concerted effort if we want to see change in our schools.

ARUNANDY

Kuala Lumpur