Education System

Yesterday, there was a good article is NST written by Hassan Talib on the state of our education system. The title of the article is, "Revert to old school set-up". It is a great piece of write-up. Being a product of the new school system, I agree completely with Hassan on his views and wisdom. It is true that those who are from the English medium education are a class of their own compare to us who were placed in the KBSR/KBSM system.

The outcome of the new system is so evident today in our society. Our standard of English has drop drastically. Once, we were one of the best English scholars in the region but today, we are lacking behind in a lot of ways. The failure of the primary and high school system has been transferred into our higher education system. Today we produce graduates like a manufacturing factory except that in manufacturing factory there are tight quality control processes.

In my course of work, I have the opportunity to meet up with new graduates coming out from our local universities. In comparison to foreign graduates, the local graduates are far behind the foreign graduates both in technological knowledge and in general knowledge. Looking at the kind of projects they do for the final year itself gives you some indication. Oh well, I am speaking in general term here. There are some exception out there.

One of the most notable failure that the new system has introduce is the emphasis on academic grades. Today, students are just studying to make the grades instead of obtaining knowledge. Students have no time for serious co-curricular activities. I guess that speaks volume why our competitiveness is sports has drop drastically. Many of them are busy with tuition and other academic programmes. Even when they go for Piano lesson, it is all about what grade the kids can achieve.

I had the privilege of studying my final year degree in New Zealand. I am so grateful for the opportunity as the experience in NZ totally change my perception and gave me a new dimension of understanding in my pursuit for knowledge. I was amazed to see young kids in NZ who are able to name the stars in the skies. Mind you that some of them are as young as 10 years old. Try asking our kids? Maybe they can name those stars in Akademi Fantasia.

Something got to be done with our education system. A major overhaul is needed. Most important thing is don't bring politics into our education system. The introduction of teaching Mathematics and Science in English is a good decision but more is needed. If nothing is done as soon possible to improve the state of our education system, the current situation will just get worse.

I pray and hope that many more Hassan Talib will rise up to sincerely address the importance of revamping our education system.

Be Blessed.