Chong: Loading children with workbooks doesn’t equate to good education

KUALA LUMPUR: Several leaders have expressed concernover primary school pupils being overloaded with more homework and heavier schoolbags and called for action to ease the children’s burden.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon said he will continue to push to change the mindset of some teachers and parents that workbooks are absolutely crucial to students.

“The change in mindset can’t be done in a day but I am determined to do it.

“This is not a new issue. I have been telling teachers and head­masters at various events that the number of workbooks will need to be reduced,” he said after a talk on “How Powerful WeChat Can Be” at Wisma MCA yesterday.

Chong urged the public, media and education groups to support him in his quest to help lighten the children’s burden.

Asked if the ministry will come up with a new policy to limit the number of workbooks, Chong said he will make an announcement in due course.

Chong recently said that parents, particularly those from the Chinese community, had urged schools to give more homework, resulting in the “heavy bag phenomenon”.

He noted that loading pupils with workbook exercises did not equate to a better education.

A report in The Star yesterday said that repeated reminders by the Education Ministry not to weigh pupils down with too many workbooks appear to have been ignored, with the children still suffering while school authorities and parents point fingers at each other.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan, in response to the issue, said it is natural for parents to maximise their children’s potential and there is nothing wrong with that.

However, various parties must work together to ensure the child’s well-being remains a priority, he said.

“Alternatives such as better scheduling and planning of subjects can be looked at collectively to manage this issue,” he added.

In Bentong, MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the digitising of information in books would help.

“But not everyone can afford computer-aided studies, so that’s why you have schools implementing the ‘smart-school’ system to improve homework,” said Liow, who acknowledged that there is emphasis on practice and homework in Chinese schools.

“We need to find a way to reduce the burden. Rather than bringing everything home, some books can be placed at the school to distribute the load,” he said after attending an event launch at Dharma Buddhist University.

Liow, who is also Transport Minister, said that with proper planning, schoolchildren should not be overburdened.

“We want our schools to be more computer-aided, and more fun and interactive with practical learning, which is what the Education Ministry is moving towards,” he added.