TIME TO OVERHAUL EDUCATION SYSTEM
Malik, our new education minister, has been entrusted to raise our nation’s standard of education to be on a par with international standards.
But for him to do this, he needs to first overhaul the current system. Malaysia’s current education system is trying to force square pegs into round holes. It does not recognise that every child is different.
Instead, the whole system is designed to produce obedient workers for the industries.
In such a system, there is no place for creativity and individualism. This system provides a “cookie-cutter” education, which forces students to vie for petty and contemptible rewards rather than cultivate love of learning.
Our education system should introduce different pathways for students to develop their potential to the maximum.
The focus should be on enabling students to pursue what they are best at. It is no good having two streams — Science and Arts — when only one is provided with incentives.
Teachers are often loaded with non-teaching work, making it almost impossible to improve their teaching skills.
The job of the school administration is being handed down to teachers, as if they are not already burdened with compulsory co-curricular participation.
Teachers frequently have to rush through their syllabuses before a major test instead of focusing on students who are lagging behind, causing students to be like turtles in a rabbit race.
More often than not, this is caused by a lack of respect teachers receive in this country.
Teaching is not regarded as a respected position in Malaysia, where there seems to be an idea that those who cannot do, teach.
We fail to realise that most of us owe our academic accomplishments and successes to our teachers.
People forget that to become what you want to become, you have to be taught the skills and knowledge by someone.
Due to the negative perception society has about teachers and the system that promotes this mindset, teaching isn’t a desired job in Malaysia, or anywhere else for that matter. That needs to change.
Malaysian schools promote an atmosphere of fear — fear of failure, fear of humiliation and fear of disapproval that severely affects a student’s capacity for intellectual growth.
Current teaching strategies cultivate a fear of humiliation in children, and do more to harm young people than they do to meet their needs.
Such fear drives students to develop coping strategies or defence mechanisms, such as mumbling, acting like they do not understand, acting overly enthusiastic so they won’t be called upon just to dodge the demands placed upon them by adults, or to avoid being humiliated in front of their peers.
External motivation or rewards, such as certificates for good grades and privileges, reinforces children’s fears of failing exams.
Rather than learning the content of lessons taught in class, students instead learn how to avoid embarrassment by practising rote memorisation and regurgitation to get an A.
This atmosphere of fear not only quells a child’s love of learning and suppresses his native curiosity, but also makes him afraid of taking chances and risks that may be necessary for true learning.
All in all, as Malaysians, we should not shy away from addressing the current hurdles and limitations of our education system. We should open up to each other to discuss these issues to reshape the education system.