Starting the new school year
IT is that time of year again - the beginning of a new school year.
Anxious parents filled the compound of SK Taman Tun Dr Ismail 1 (SK TTDI 1), Kuala Lumpur, monitoring their children - especially those in Year One - from a distance, looking for signs of distress.
Most newly-enrolled Year One pupils were seen quietly sitting in the assembly hall, while some already made friends and were busy chatting away.
There was, however, a small number of tear-stained faces among the crowd while the school’s headmistress Ramnah Darus gave her welcome speech during the first assembly of the year.
After briefing and introducing pupils to their teachers, Ramnah welcomed the pupils and reminded them to continuously do their best.
“Don’t forget that when you step into the school, you are coming here to learn because it is your responsibility as a pupil.
“Always strive to be a good human being in whatever you do,” she said, adding that she hoped pupils would adopt a “fighting spirit” to work towards whatever goal or ambition they set.
SK TTDI 1 Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) chairman Datuk Shalmin Shaffie, who has three children studying at the school, said: “Pupils spend most of the time with teachers in school everyday.”
“Parents must respect teachers. Let them do their job and not dictate what they should or should not do, and remember that the CEO is the head of school,” said Shalmin who is also PTA chairman of SMK Damansara Utama.
Father Buvaneswaran Segaran took time off work to accompany his son on the first day.
With his wife Sangeetha Radhakrishnan in tow, the couple were glad to see that their only child - Rishaanth Barathi - adapting well.
They were also elated that Rishaanth, 7, was able to enrol into the school.
“It is convenient as we live just nearby and SK TTDI 1 is a good school, which offers the Dual Language Programme (DLP),” said Sangeetha, who supports the abolishment of exams for pupils in Years One, Two and Three.
“Exams put stress on the children and causes them to study just for the sake of passing the exam, not for gaining knowledge.
“I hope the children would have fun learning in the new system, but they must be assessed properly,” said the homemaker.
SK TTDI 1, which has a population of 1,100, saw a total of 200 newly-enrolled Year One pupils this year.
Education director-general Datuk Dr Amin Senin visited the school, along with Federal Territories state education department director Ismail Musa on the first day.
“There are about 17,000 Year One classes in the country. From this 17,000, there are 780 or 4.6% which have more than 40 pupils,” he said.
Selangor and Kuala Lumpur are among the states, he added, which have the highest number of large classes.
He urged school heads to hold more discussions and communicate with teachers about their workload.
“Through my own observation, I found that 25% of teachers’ workload in both primary and secondary schools can be solved at school level if the school heads delegate the jobs fairly,” he said.
Ismail said that there are six low enrolment schools in Kuala Lumpur for this year.
“SK Hang Tuah 1 and 2 merged into one school. SK Yaacob Latif 1 and 2 also merged together. The same also for SK Batu Empat 1 and 2,” he said.