Teachers generate transformation in education system

Teachers Day  is dedicated to all teachers for their contributions to the education of children.

In Malaysia, it is celebrated on May 16 annually with a theme. This year’s theme is “Teachers Generate National Education Transformation”, which is aimed at bringing transformation in the education system.

What is transformation? It simply means complete change, that is, from the current system to a new system. But, how can teachers play their role in the change of the system?

Teachers first need to take owner­ship of the transformation that is expected in our education system.

They should also give up the notion that they are the source of all knowledge. Rather, they should form a partnership with their students in a shared learning process.

Students should be made to realise that they are directors of their own learning and as indivi­duals they can determine the courses their wish to take. Teachers should play the role of facilitators and mentors.

As children are inherently noble, teachers need to cultivate students’ noble attributes, virtues, qualities as well as living skills as this would enable children to contribute their share to the building of an ever advancing civilisation.

Devoid of these values, children will be lost in this material world. It is not only facts and figures that the children should learn about but also moral values. These noble values will be their stronghold throughout their lives.

Education should not only consider the physical and intellectual side of children but also spiritual and ethical aspects. Sadly, our educational system laid too much focus on the cognitive domain.

Therefore, education should strive to develop an integrated set of capabilities; technical, artistic, social, moral and spiritual, so that individuals can lead a meaningful life and become agents of positive social change.

The curricula and methodologies used in schools should foster such inter-related capabilities that will require an education system that responds and is governed by universal spiritual principles.

Happy Teachers Day to all our teachers who have slogged all year round to educate our children.

Spirituality and Education

At the World Education Forum 2014, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Deputy Prime Minister cum Education Minister recently made a noteworthy statement, citing ethics and spirituality should be taught in schools. As an educationist, I truly welcome this courageous announcement.

Basically education taught at large is secular in nature. Spiritual education is always not given prominence in education. I believe Malaysia is one of the few countries where Moral Education and Islamic Education is taught in schools. School is the source of various kinds of knowledge. Spirituality should be one the most prominent one to be imparted to children.

Ignoring values, ethics and spirituality in education is not acceptable at this juncture as rightly put forth by the Deputy Premier. Education without the spiritual element is not a wholesome education.  In fact, spiritual elements are the basics of a human being. Spirituality differentiates human being and other creations of the Almighty. Children can attain human perfection through spiritual qualities. 

Spirituality teaches us unity, union and harmony among men, to show respect elders and others, promote tolerance and brotherhood. If all these values are taught and embedded in the young minds of children, we have a more peaceful and beautiful world. Every child is potentially the light of the world and the same time darkness; therefore the question of education be accounted as of primary importance.

Let us hope embedding compulsory spiritual education in schools a step towards making our children excel in their life and thus become a brilliant child to their parents and  outstanding citizen to this nation. 

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.

Exams: one form of assessment

The death of E. Premkumar after failing his SPM examination is indeed a dreadful episode.  Why such a tragic happening? This is not the first time such a tragedy has occurred. Failure in examination should not be a cause for a student to end his life.

Unwarranted pressure and high expectations on the part of parents, school administration and teachers can be cited as causes for such incidents.

Such happenings is because society at large are looking at examinations as a source of pride and honour for the family, household, school, education department and the Ministry of Education.

There seems to be an academic rat race among students. After all, examination is just one part of education, that is a form of evaluation of the student’s academic achievement. Academic advancement can be gauged by many ways and one of it through examinations and tests.

Parents need to understand that examination is not the sole issue and concern in education. Students should be taught to see education as wholesome, not studying just to pass examinations. If a student has not passed his examination, does it mean he or she is not clever?  Why despise and ridicule the student for not passing an examination? 

Parents should learn to accept children as they are. Not everyone can score all As. It is demoralizing students when you compare one with another. Each and every one is unique, just the fingers of a hand.

Scoring all As doesn’t mean that the student is successful in his life. There are many factors that enable a student to be successful in life.

All the time, A achievers are appreciated and glorified, where else the non A achievers are not given any recognition or even acknowledgement by parents, schools and society at large. Celebrations and jubiliations are for the A achievers.  The so-called low and moderate achievers also need celebrations and appreciation for passing examinations. They also need motivation and assurance from all quarters. But, sad to say such events are not happening.

Actually, we are the one that categorize students as high, moderate and low achievers. In education, we should not put them in such categories.

Perhaps, parents and teachers need to change their perception of education. We need to see education as wholesome. A student in his journey through schools and colleges should enjoy education, not mugging and struggling to compete in a rat race with his counterparts.  At the end of the day, education should mould a person to become a good citizen, a better equipped person to face the onslaught of life and succeed in his life.

Let us all, lend a hand and work together to take away the phobia of examinations from the minds of our children. Let them learn to see examinations as one facet of the education system.

Parents, teachers, education department and concerned parties should not unduly put pressure on children until they are psychologically and emotionally disturbed. Show more love and compassion to children and prepare them to face education in a positive approach.

History is truth

Recently, statements about certain historical facts have given rise to controversies and polemics among readers. After all, what is history? History is a documentation of facts, events, and happenings in the past.

One on-line dictionary defines history as ‘A usually chronological record of events, as of the life or development of a people or institution, often including an explanation of or commentary on those events’.  Thus, history is documentation of events, people and institutions. This process of documentation is undertaken by historians, scholars in the field of history.

We should never dispute any facts of history. For example, Malacca fell to the Portuguese in 1511, subsequently to the Dutch in 1641. Finally, Malacca was ceded to the British, according to Anglo-Dutch Treaty in 1824.

Likewise, JWW Birch, the Resident of Perak was murdered by Maharaja Lela, a Malay chieftain in Perak. All these are historical facts.  Of course, history is always interpreted by many from their own perspective. From the Malay perspective, Maharaja Lela is a hero and Birch, a villain, but from the British point of view, it is otherwise. Points of view always differ from different perspective, but history is statement of truth, the actually happening of events.

The task of writing history lies in the shoulders of historians, without prejudice, bias or from his or her personal point of view. Historians should rely on historical records based on written records for evidence to support their claims. Sometimes, photographs, films, or other forms of artefacts can be used to substantiate their documentation. 

Trouble often brews when history is interpreted by many. Of course, everyone including a layman can interpret events and happenings. But, interpretation is not history. Normally, interpretation is considered as one’s point of view.

Disagreements raised today can be put to rest, if history is seen as truth. Therefore, I suggest let history be the concern of the learned in the field of history, i.e. the historians. History should not be distorted or misinterpreted and written in a biased and from the personal view-point.

Teachers: the key for learning good English

I refer to DPM: Improve English, The Star (8 Aug 2011). The Deputy Premier, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin cum Education Minister has raised concerned over current the level of English among students despite studying the language for fifteen years, from Year One up to Form Five. Of course, many reasons can be cited for the low proficiency of English among students. 

As an educationist, I believe the main cause is our teachers. I am not pin-pointing at teachers but merely putting my argument based on current reality in schools and in the education system. We can revamp the education system as many times as we want, but things will not change. The main players in the system are the teachers. They should be the correct breed and should have the right perspective in teaching, in particular languages. 

We do hear incidences of teachers who are not competent enough to teach English Language. Some of them could hardly speak English fluently, what more to teach the subject effectively. Ironically, these teachers have been selected and trained as English teachers, perhaps based on the academic qualification. 

Teaching a language is should not be based on academic excellence only, but on the competency of a teacher. The teacher should have the niche for teaching language. Above all, the teacher must be passionate about teaching language, be it any language. I feel these elements are missing among our English teachers today. 

Learning languages doesn’t mean completing exercises from workbooks and revision books alone. This is what is happening in many schools, especially in primary schools today. Learning language involves plentiful use of language orally, speaking activities, reading aloud practices, and other language activities. 

We hear complaints from students and parents that teachers teaching English make grammatical errors themselves and are not able to conduct an effective and interesting English class. 

I do not deny the fact that there are excellent English teachers among the present population of educators. But the number, sadly to say is too few to play an effective role to raise the standard of English among our students. 

What immediate measures can be taken by the Ministry? I strongly urge the Ministry to consider bringing back retired teachers who have proven track records as English teachers. While recruiting new teachers search out for the teachers with the qualities like passion for teaching and competency in teaching English. This should be the right criteria for choosing English teachers. Merit is an important element in selecting English teachers. 

We cannot afford to lose out in the long run, just because we don’t have competent English teachers in the country.  We should rectify and correct the current anomalies so that the teaching of English can be enhanced in the nation.

Salute our teachers

May is a month abundant with many commemorative days to remember people who have offered dedicated service to society. One of it is May 16 – a day remembered and celebrated as Teacher’s Day. It is a day dedicated to recollect and pay tribute for the sacrifices and dedicated commitment of our educators in moulding our young ones. 

While we commemorate this special day, perhaps we need to ponder matters that could enhance the well-being of teachers and their profession. As an educator, allow me to put some views across for contemplation and reflection among all concerned parties. 

We all admit that the role of teachers has changed over the years. It is now very challenging to be a teacher, compared to yesteryears. Pupils are not the same like the ones before. Due to technological advances and communication in this global era, a student seems to know a lot of things. Some of them know much stuff which their teachers themselves are not aware of. How are we to cope up with these challenges?

 As teachers we need to cope with the technological advances occurring in the world especially in ICT. By using more ICT in the classroom, we can enhance teaching and learning in the classroom and thus make teaching interesting and innovative. We cannot just stick the ancient old method of chalk and talk now. 

Besides teaching, now teachers also have carry out other tasks like clerical job, facilitating extra-curricular activities and other operation tasks. Perhaps, as promised by the government repeatedly, we hope the burden of the doing other tasks other than teaching should be removed, or at least reduced so that teachers can focus on their core-business, that is, teaching and learning in the classroom.  

Perhaps many learning problems faced by students can be alleviated if teachers are just doing the core-business alone, as it was done many years ago. Recently, our deputy premier and Education Minister have promised to alleviate the workload of teachers.

I believe this current ways of remembering teachers need to be revisited. Most of the Teacher’s day celebrations consist of talks by dignitaries, reading of messages from the Education Minister and others, presenting awards to a few excellent teachers and so on. Do we think all these are sufficient enough to enable the students, parents, and society at large to salute and express their gratitude to our educators? Perhaps, some mind shift is necessary. 

On recruitment of new teachers, the teaching posts in the country should be offered to persons who have the passion for teaching and those who are willing to walk an extra mile. This is to ensure that this noble profession is always respected and saluted by all – students, parents and society at large. 

Let us all, teachers and educators, on this year’s Teacher’s Day pledge to ourselves to make teaching a prestigious profession and play our crucial role in nation building, in particular raising valuable human capital as stressed in the Teacher’s Day theme – Teachers, Catalysts for National Educational Transformation. Let us also acquire new pedagogical methods to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom.

At this juncture, I would like salute my teachers and mentors for what they have done to me. Today, I myself am a teacher and educator because of all of you. Thank you teachers! We will always cherish all of you, whether living or passed on to the next world.

Teaching in the mother tongue

It was interesting to read your report ‘Better to teach in mother tongues, says UNESCO’ NST 13 May 2011. Research do show that children learn subjects better in their mother tongue, as argued by Dr. Irina Bokova, the director-general of UNESCO. 

Perhaps, in the context of current repeated debates over teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) in the country, this statement could alleviate some of the fears and unhappiness expressed by some quarters with regards to teaching of Science and Mathematics in vernacular languages and in bahasa Malaysia. 

It is always a challenge for a child to study subjects like Science and Mathematics in a language other than his or her mother tongue. These subjects are very concept based and surely a child will face difficulties in getting the concepts and notions correct while studying these subjects.

These subjects should be continued to be taught in the languages like Mandarin and Tamil in vernacular schools, and in the Malay language in national primary schools. 

Of course, English should be taught from Year One for the kids in the vernacular and national schools. Let them learn and master English as a second language, rather than trying to master the language through subjects like Science and Mathematics. 

The policy of the Ministry of Education to uphold Bahasa Malaysia and to strengthen the English Language (MBMMBI) should be supported by all. As stated in the objectives of MBMMBI, Bahasa Malaysia as the national language is a medium that unites the nation. Besides nation building, BM is also the lingua franca of fellow Malaysians. Bahasa Malaysia is the soul of the nation.

At the same time, efforts need to be made by all to master the English Language so that we are not left out in the pursuit of acquiring science and technological knowledge. Of course, English is indeed the international language and mastery of the language enables the exploration of knowledge which is vital for all to compete at the national and global level. 

But, at the same time, we cannot also deny the notion that access to this knowledge through vernacular and national language is indeed possible, as these languages have also been developed over these years to be a language of science and technology. 

Let us all, therefore support MBMMBI and the policy decision made by the government. I believe the policy will surely benefit all our children in the future.