Ok well...I found this posted on my bulletin board that was posted by Person A but the actual article is written by Person B. I agree that the author does make some valid points about the Malaysian education system, but I think that he has failed to realise some of the important points of WHY the system is the way it is. I'm writing this to give my point of view on what the author has written; yes, it is an opinionated piece. LOLx. So to the people who are reading this...the article starts NOW:
"Why do we even go to school?!"
Honestly, school sucks. It's an undeniable fact. I've asked most of my friends this question and the response is always the same: "Oh, we come to school coz we got our friends here..."
What an answer. The answer sort of tells you how bad the quality of our education system is huh? Gone were the days when students go to school to actually learn. Nowadays, school is just another social club for our students, while the main source of knowledge has shifted into the form of tuition centres. It is a rather saddening sight to behold, yet it's going on everywhere. Students are just not getting enough out of school these days. Why do so many of my friends stay at home before exams to study? That's because the school no longer provides us with a condusive studying environment. The noise level has risen, teachers no longer teach, or if they do they do it half-heartedly, classes are boring, everyone is expected to be the same, there's no creativity, no platforms for our young people to expres themselves freely...
That's why we DON'T want to go to school. One thing for sure: "School's Boring!" There's really no point for us to go to school at all if we can teach ourselves the stuff we are learning. Many of the subjects we learn today rely on nothing more but a great memory. For example, if you are really good with memory work, you'd definitely ace your Moral Education, your History paper and most likely, your Biology paper.
School life is mundane, it's repititive, everyday we go through the same things again and again, it has become a sad routine- a total waste of our time, energy and resources. A lot of students, espacailly the smarter ones prefer to stay home and study on their own as they are getting more out of it than actually going to school.
Furthermore, if you stay at home, you don't have to wake up so flippeing early in the mornings and waste eight hours in school everyday. After school, you feel extremely exhausted and it really saps all your energy and concentration to study at home. There are a few things that i believe should change in our education system...Here goes:
-Shorter school hours...flip man! we can't have eight hours a day! That's crazy!
-School to start at a later time... this one's a must! C'mon, we have kids waking up at fiev just to catch a bus to school at 7.30, that's insane!
-Less subjects. Come on, admit it, you can't have everyone studying 10-13 subjects, that's asking too much of us.
-Freedom for students to choose their own subjects. Why not?! After all, only the student himself knows what he's interested in. Maybe set a core of four or five subjects but definitely not up to eight subjects!
-More emphasize on creativity and innovation- please please please...we've had enough of the stuffed-up exam-orientated system! It sucks!!!
-Smaller classes or rather more teachers- you can't have up to 40 students in a class to one teacher and expect to bring out the best in every individual can you?
Well, i guess that's a few of the things i have in mind for now... I'm sure there are lots more things that need to change...
Anyway, this is to a better education system... Hope i live to see it one day!
Cheers!
********(name has been censored for privacy reasons).
It cannot be denied that many, MANY students would whole heartedly agree with this article. And who could blame them? Especially those who are due to be sitting SPM. Studying and trying to memorise 2 years worth of at least 10 subjects is no easy task, and I salute those in the past who have it through with straight As (A1s dare I say). But this is what I believe: School is only 11 or even 12 years at the most ,out of your life. It's tough, but real life is tough too, so make the best of it.
Granted, the education system in Malalysia is in a pretty sad condition. However, it is an established institution, and seriously, some kind of school is better than no school at all.
In the past years, Malaysia has developed into one of the most successful countries in South-East Asia. The people are not illiterate, the economy is stable (comparatively), the society is not flooded with discrimination or unrest, democracy and the freedom of speech and religion reigns, great food (yay!!), and even the education is on the road to modernisation with science and maths being taught in English now. I say that Malaysia is definitely one of the best places to live.
Anyway, back to my argument, the author says that schooling in Malaysia has been turned into a 'social club'. Really though, isn't that one of the reasons school exists in the first place? True, the main reason is to learn and to study, BUT think back to the first time you met your friends. Where was it? School is the place where one first learns to socialise, to play, to share, and most of the time, to learn. School is where one rubs shoulders with peers and make life long friendships (or enemies) that will remain long after schooling days are over.
Ok now, moving to the things that the author belives should change in the education system....this is my view on his points:
*Shorter school hours - Now this I have to say I agree with. However, to accommodate the ridiculous amount of subjects that SPM students have to cover with the huge syllabus, sometimes the 8 hours are more of a necessity than a requirement. Which leads me to the next point...
*Less subjects - Also, I have to agree with this. As an ex-student of the Malaysian education system, I now live in Australia and have been so fortunate as to enter a school education system which allows me to choose my subjects, but according to a certain criteria of course. However, my final year in high school here is recognised as my matriculation year which allows me straight entrance into university once I have my results. In Malaysia, Form 5 is not the matriculation year and is therefore structured like any other school year. The student must then complete their matric or Form 6 or some sort of equivalent before entering university. So unless the structure of Form 5 is changed, it is highly unlikely that there will be less subjects in the year for future SPM takers.
*School to start at a later time - Now this is debatable. School starting at a later time only means that the student finishes school later as well, with the amount hours being the same. This throws the whole day out of schedule. Example, like school for me here starts at 855 am. We finish at 330 pm. Already there are two hours wasted just because of school. Now in Malaysia, I can't remember exactly what time school starts and ends but to the best of my recollection I think its something like 730 am -130 pm....something like that. But see how that time is not wasted? A little sacrifice in the morning to wake up that slight bit earlier will save time in the courseof the day. Although, the extra time IS useful if I had a late night studying or something....
*Freedom to choose own subjects - I kinda agree with this..but there is a reason why it is not entirely possible...(refer to *Less subjects* paragraph above) If students were allowed to choose their own subjects, and fewer ones at that, then they will not have a fully rounded education they need to begin university. Again, please refer to the aforementioned paragraph.
*Creativity and innovation - This is definitely a good idea. But I think that the author does not realise how much more difficult (yes, I did say more difficult) it is to have the education the way it is in the western countries, especially during the examination years. To begin with, no way are the teachers are going to spoon-feed you all the information you need to know for the exams. What you research yourself is what you get; if somehow you missed on a few details, then it's your own funeral. Whereas in Malaysia, all the student needs to do is be diligent and MEMORISE all the facts already given. SO much easier to score those desired straight A1s....trust me, i KNOW what I'm talking about. Furthermore, my exam is set in the pre-u style. So for most of them I have long essays of up to 1000-2000 words to write. 3 essays like that in 3 hours. No shit. So are you sure you want to disband the exam-oriented system..?? True, studies are more interesting here and we learn more, but it is much more difficult too. There is a price for everything...nothing is always what it seems.
*Smaller classes/more teachers - Well...I do definitely agree that with smaller classes the student benefits from more one to one time with the teachers. However, the author fails to answer the question...How are schools going to accommodate extra space for smaller classes and where are the extra teachers going to come from? Definitely not out of thin air. Answer = Funds are the main problem. There is just not enough for schools to be made bigger and to pay for extra teachers. That is why tuition teachers are making a fortune, although in truth, some tuition classes are almost as huge as the ones in school. Still, that lkittle bit extra in better none at all. In Australia, the biggest class I've ever been in is my chemistry class 2 years ago, consisting of 22 students....and that's considered big. The smallest? My English class this year. We started of with 12 students, but due to reasons the number has dwindled to 7, and it IS great! LOLx...In Australia, people pay a ridiculous amount of tax. I'm not going to say what it is, but unless Malaysians are going to be willing to pay that same amount I don't think the smaller classes/extra teachers dream is going to come true anytime soon. But it is a nice dream though...=P
Anyway, like I said before..this is an opinionated piece coming from someone who has had the opportunity of studying under two different systems. There are pros and cons for both. But whatever it is, look at it this way, SPM students have only say, another 2-3 months left of school, and that will pass soon enough. So maybe the current system is dissatisfying, but I believe in appreciating what you have because it is better than having nothing at all.
Well, I only wrote this piece because I think people should always see both sides to an argument. I do not want to offend anyone, but any comments are always welcomed. =) So to end....you may think that the grass is always greener on the other side hey? But you never know that your own grass is just as green as well....
~@[d]3L!]\[#~
