Sunday, December 15, 2013

Parents are the best teachers



Recently, I read with interest the views expressed by Nazratul Akmar Mokhtar (Informal Learning: Parents are the best teachers, NST, Dec 11). What great and novel ideas on parenting. The ideas mooted need careful analysis by parents who want their children to excel in education and life.

If parents can carry out their duties as stipulated in the letter, many of our problems with children can be solved or handled well. As parents, are we listening to our children enough, spending quality time with them, participating in their learning process and exploring the world with them? Do we have time to have meals with them, share jokes or anecdotes, watch movies, pray together and assist them in their studies? Do children turn to parents when faced with challenges? These are questions that need to be pondered on.

Parents play a crucial role in the education of children. In whatever education system in place, the role of parents cannot be undervalued. Just as a gardener carefully nurtures his plants, parents should train children from their earliest childhood. From childhood, children should receive systematic training and instruction.

Learning cannot be taught only through books. Parents are models to be emulated by children. As the saying goes, "like father, like son", parents are perfect examples to their children.

When children excel in their undertakings, whether studies, sports, competitions or debates, they should be praised and encouraged, motivating them to forge on in life and their studies.

In my parenting programmes, these are some of the issues discussed and shared with parents. Sad to say, many of these expected actions are not carried out fully. Many reasons are cited for the shortcomings. Chief among them are lack of time, work pressure, not being able to understand children and communication gap.

Children are a precious gift on this earth. They should be guided, nurtured, molded and showed the best way in their journey towards success. The education of every child is in the hands of parents.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Values in life



In a recent study by Ipsos Malaysia, it was reported that 71% of the top concern of Malaysians parents in Malaysia is teaching their children life values.

This finding is truly gratifying as good values are the most important element in one’s life. Life values like uprightness, honesty, boldness and trustworthiness are truly noble values. In this respect, we salute our parents for their priority concern in raising children. In parenting, infusing good values is very essential, in particular when children are tender and green. Training in morals and good conduct is far more important than book learning.

The finding also asserts that most parents give priority for inculcating good values among their children. This aligns well also with the nation’s national philosophy which emphasizes good ethics and moral values among of our students so that they can become responsible and respected members of the nation.

I think today’s crucial issue among our young ones is the lack of values. A lot grievance is conveyed by many quarters about the lack of ethical and moral values among our children. Many incidents can be cited to support the claim. One good example, today’s young people often forget or overlook to say thank you to elders. A child that is of good character and well-behaved is preferable than a rude and ill-natured child. The question of goodly character is of first importance as this lead to everlasting honour.

Good values go a long way in molding a young child. Values are the ones you carry throughout your life and perhaps hereafter. A person is always remembered for his or her values. So, let us raise children who are rich in good values as strongly desired by our Malaysian parents.

Albert Einstein once said, “Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value”.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Cursive Writing


With the advent of technology, one important skill - the writing skill is deteriorating day by day. Now, most of the writing is done on the laptops and desktops. Among the writing skills, cursive writing by school children and students has completely diminished today.

Recently, I had an opportunity to mark some university students’ test papers. I was shocked to notice that virtually all the students answered their questions word by word writing as shown in the example. None of them used cursive writing. 

I believe that over the years students especially the younger generation would have lost the skill of writing cursive writing.  Sad to say no effort has been taken to encourage or popularize this important skill among students. I believe the skill needs to be taught from the primary level. First of all, let the teachers themselves be equipped with this skill so that they impart the skill competently to their pupils and students. 

Before, cursive writing was considered an important skill and teachers took time to teach students this artistic skill. A lot of work books were used to teach students the correct way of cursive writing. Such books were abundantly found in the bookshops those days. Schools also purchased these books to be used by students to learn cursive writing. Perhaps such books are still available in the bookshops today.

Of course there are many advantages of using cursive writing compared to the word by word writing. Besides the speed, the cursive writing portrays beauty and neatness. In comparison, word by word writing is monotonous and boring.


As an educationist, I see this handicap among the students as a serious lost to our students. We do not want the beauty of cursive writing to fade away just like that. We need to revive the skill. Teachers and school can play a significant role to heighten cursive writing among our students. The Education Ministry should seriously look into this problem and take remedial steps to arrest the decline of the use of cursive writing by students.


Sunday, July 14, 2013

Selection of teachers



The recent announcement by the Ministry of Education (MOE) that trained teachers from the Teaching Training Institute (IPG) are not guaranteed posting after completion of their courses has caused some stir among fellow Malaysians, especially among the aspiring teachers and their parents. Some welcome the move, and of course many express dissatisfaction over the announcement. 


Since beginning, all teachers trained by the MOE were given posting to a school as soon as they complete their courses. But things are changing today. Even if you complete the course successfully, posting to a school in not assured. As the Second Education Minister, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh has pointed out only the competent and excellent trainee teachers will be given posting. This means it is no more a privilege and assurance for the new teachers, but a matter of survival of the fittest. 


The Ministry has also thinking of ways of tightening the quality of teachers to be selected. As stressed by the Ministry, the SPM holders applying to IPGs should have at least 7As in the examination to qualify to enter the institutes. This is surely a most welcomed move as the aspiring teachers should have academic excellence to become a teacher.


As an educationist involved in training of teachers for more than 20 years, I support this move. But at the same time, other elements should also be given due consideration for selection of teachers. Among the top priority is passion for teaching. Passion here is understood as a strong feeling or desire towards a job. I have noticed that current batch of teacher trainees lack this ardent feeling or desire for teaching. 


This passion for teaching was a dominant feature among the yesteryear teachers. Till date, all us who were taught by this superb brand of teachers remember them vividly for their dedication and commitment to teaching. We always salute them for making us useful citizen of this young nation. 


Do we have this kind of teachers today? I do not deny there are some with these characteristics. What about the rest of the teachers? It is still questionable. 


In our pursuit for academic excellence for teachers, we may sometimes overlook elements like passion, dedication, hard-working and job loving persons. Only academic excellence may sometimes bring results otherwise. Sometimes a candidate may not have a string of As, but truly and really have the passion for teaching and children. This kind of candidate, in my opinion would be a better teacher, than the one with excellent results. 


Today a lot of students apply to become teachers as this career is the more rewarding one in terms of salary and promotional benefits. Recently, the government has rewarded handsomely by giving pay-rise and promotions to the serving teachers. I believe this is plus point for the aspiring teachers now.  This is drawing factor for the teaching career now. 


Another crucial point that needs to stressed is the selection of teachers. Selection of teachers should be done on the basis of merits and the above mentioned characteristics. If you look at the bulk of teaching force today comprises of one race only while the other races in the country are negligible. This alarming situation does not reflect our Prime Minister’s noble vision of 1Malaysia. This concept has to be reflected in our teaching force also.  


Teaching is a noble task. Not everyone can be teachers. They should be the ones who have the niche for teaching. It is not the bread and butter of any aspiring person to be a teacher. 


Let our teaching staff in the country be the ones with good credentials, passion, and dedication and be responsible to bring our standard of education to higher levels of excellence. This is our aspiration and expectation of every parents of our country.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Emotional Level of our teenagers




Recently, I was invited to a have session with teenagers, some 50 boys and girls at a sub-urban secondary school. I was actually requested to give a motivational talk. Before the talk, I issued a questionnaire to measure the emotional level of students in the school. Students were requested to fill in the questionnaire - a list of 15 questions to be answered. 

The talk was delivered and some salient points of facing life as students were shared with the students. Some motivational quotes, videos and illustrations were shared. I presume the students have supposed to have realized their role as students and probably become more prepared to face the challenges ahead.
The questionnaire was analyzed. Some shocking discovery was revealed. Yes, some of the answers given by the students were indeed disturbing. More than 60% of the students attended the session felt that their parents exercise too much control over them. Similarly, the students also feel the teachers control them very much in their school. 

A small number also said they listen to their friends more than their parents. A few even stated that they are disappointed in the teenage life. 

The findings may not represent the entire view of all the teenagers today. But, I believe the findings are an expression of the feelings and emotions of our teenagers. The findings have some relevance today. What has been discovered here is that parents and teachers are having difficulty in handling the children, in particular teenagers. I strongly believe parents lack parental skills and due that apply too much pressure on their teenage children. 

As we know the teenagers during this time undergo a turbulent stage. We need to understand them and nurture them to face the challenging life. They need to be guided and brought to the straight path. Perhaps, we should think of ways of accompanying them in their journey of the teenage life. 

But a few questions linger in our mind now. Do we have enough parenting and motivational programmes to guide our parents, especially to guide our wayward teenagers? What is the society at large doing about the teenage issues? What are the religious, political and social bodies doing to arrest the issues faced by our teenagers. What are the schools doing about the problematic teenagers? 

I deeply believe the parents need to be equipped with current knowledge and skills to handle their teenagers well. We are having too many motivational programmes for students, but very few for the needy and desperate parents.

The children are the future of our world. We cannot afford to let them  tread in wrong ways and thus waste their teenagehood. Therefore, let parents and teachers make effort in order that these teenagers may be rightly trained and educated, and that each one of them may attain perfection in the world of humanity.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Women: The Other Half of Men



Every year on 8th March, the International Day of Women is observed and celebrated all over the world, including in Malaysia. This year’s celebration’s theme is “A Promise is a Promise: Time for Action to end Violence.

International Day of Women has been observed since 1900’s.  In commemorating the International Day of Women, let us take some moments to ponder on the significance of the Day. This is a Day dedicated to reminisce the services, sacrifices, and contributions of women to mankind.  

Outstanding women have emerged all over the world and contributed significantly to the advancement of humankind. In Malaysia too, we had and have extraordinary women who have played major role in the development of our young and budding nation.  We salute all the women for their share in the advancement of our nation.

As advocated in this year’s theme, let us all to do all the best possible to end violence against women. Besides, assure the rights of women in the political, economic and social and family life as this is crucial to the progress of human civilization.

Women and men have been and always been equal in the sight of God.  It is said the world of humanity has two wings -- one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be.

In the past, there was a notion that woman and man were not equal -- that is to say, woman was considered inferior to man. She was even considered especially inferior in intelligence, and the idea prevailed universally that women was not allowed to step into the arena of important affairs. But in this century of light, humanity has emerged out of this ignorance and error, and has accepted the emancipation of women.

The conditions in past centuries were due to woman's lack of opportunity. She was denied the right and privilege of education and left in her undeveloped state. Today, women have excelled in education. In Malaysia more women at the tertiary institutions compared to men. They form the majority of work force in the country, from the bottom to top positions. Can this be translated as emancipation of women in our nation?

I believe much more should be done to treat women as equal partners in life and society at large. In fact, in some respects woman is superior to man. She is more tender-hearted, more receptive; her intuition is more intense compared to man.

The happiness of mankind will be realized when women and men coordinate and advance equally, for each is the complement and helpmate of the other.

At this juncture, let us wish all our mothers, wives, daughters, daughters-in-law, friends, colleagues, and ALL women, a Happy International Women’s Day 2013. May they all be free from all kinds’ prejudices, violence and lead a life much better than yesterday.