Get load off once and for all

COMPLAINTS about burdening our children with unnecessarily heavy book loads have been raised many times over the past few years. However, the Education Ministry has not solved the burden that our poor children are forced to bear every day.

Let’s put ourselves in our children’s shoes. We will quickly realise that going to school is a heavy burden that we literally carry every day, physically and psychologically. This goes against their daily wellbeing and the simple satisfaction of happily going to school as we did!

It’s no wonder that we have more indiscipline and frustration in our schools today. All this leads to more truancy and even bullying in our schools.

The Education Ministry must largely accept the responsibility for this bad and burdensome state of affairs. After all, the ministry issued circulars on heavy workbooks and homework in 2000 and again in 2004. But the officials, many principals and also teachers have ignored the instructions limiting the number of workbooks that need to be carried to school. So what is the use of circulars that are rarely or barely enforced?

The implication is the growing public perception that the authority of the Government is being undermined, heads of schools and staff are being defiant, and many parents are challenging the sound professional advice of the ministry. The unfortunate results are that the overloaded students are left to suffer in silence. How sad for our children.

Actually, the majority of parents and students are being let down because of poor enforcement of the ministry’s circulars by some quarters in the education system. This has happened because of the irresponsibility of a tiny minority of parents who foolishly insist on teachers giving unduly more homework and thus creating the false need to carry more books to school. Where is the logic in this kind of education? No wonder the academic performances of our schools (measured by international standards like Pisa) are relatively low and our national productivity has become unimpressive and is even declining.

As former Education directorgeneral Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom has stated, the purpose of education is to produce holistic pupils and building character and, if I may add, nurturing our future leaders. But are we achieving this sacred goal by burdening our students with too much homework, cramping their enthusiasm to learn and think critically and to enjoy their childhood and school life?

In our time, we generally enjoyed school much more and yet prospered. Can we give these same gifts to our children and grandchildren, please?

Popular Malacca Action Group for Parents in Education chairman Mak Chee Kin has lamented that we are still “exam oriented”. Wellrespected Parents Action Group for Education Malaysia chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abd Rahim has advised that parents and schools should agree on the number of workbooks to be used in school. These pragmatic experts and other enlightened education thought leaders and parents can’t all be wrong. We must listen and act accordingly to relieve the burdensome situation for our children’s sake.

With stronger leadership from the ministers and senior officials in the ministry, there will be better support for the enforcement of the ministry circulars.

Then parents and teachers can collaborate more to reduce the burden of book loads for our helpless children. Better enforcement of the ministry circulars will bring relief to our students, improved academic results, a greater sense of wellbeing and put more fun in going to school!

One important solution, even if temporary, would be for the school bookshops to provide inexpensive wooden lockers to students to keep their heavy workbooks at school. Apparently, some schools sell these lockers at RM15 per locker, which is reasonable. Poor students can be subsidised by the ParentTeacher Associations to help them out. And why not?

So to all concerned, please don’t burden our children and stifle their precious childhood and their joy of school days. Please help to enhance their joy of learning and resolve to serve our beloved country on its 60th anniversary and up to and beyond 2050 with National Transformation 2050 (TN50)!

Happy National Day 2017.

TAN SRI RAMON NAVARATNAM Chairman Asli Center of Public Policy Studies