Saturday, August 04, 2007

Backwaaaaard, march! Hup, two three four...

A student from another school told me he has an exchange student from Belgium in his class. His name is Tom something-something. They called him Amir.

Once, the teacher was teaching about ogives. The Belgium guy looked nonchalant. Thinking that maybe he couldn't follow the lesson, the teacher asked him, "Can you understand what I'm saying?" The Belgium guy said, "Yeah. I already learnt that since... ummm... 5 to 6 years ago?"

*Shocked silence*

Well. That means, in their "UPSR", they are already doing our SPM questions. What do they do for their "SPM" then? Our college or university level questions.

The Belgium guy explained that for them, when they reach high-school (something like our secondary school), they already start specializing their subjects. Say, for example, you are interested in engineering. So, you take the subjects that are geared towards engineering since high-school level.

How progressive are we in our public schools? We'd like to think that the subject matter gets increasingly difficult as you progress. But the fact is, things don't really get much harder. Try to think back to your primary school years. In Maths, as you progress through each year, you basically deal with bigger numbers. That's all. From puluh, you deal with ratus. From ratus, you deal with ribu. From ribu, you deal with puluh ribu. Mathematical operations remain the same. How much math do you really learn over 6 years?

While we're busy tackling bigger numbers, kids from the West are already dealing with elementary calculus.

How much choice do we have in our public school system? Everyone has to take their UPSR. PMR doesn't give you any choice of subjects. You may choose the Science stream or the Arts stream for SPM. But even so, there is too little specialization to be called a "real choice".

How do we view the "great divide" between the Science stream and Arts stream? We have not understood the concept that intellectual abilities come in different aptitudes, and none is superior over the other. In our system, we put the smart ones in the Science stream. Because smart = Science. We put the not-so-smart ones in the Arts stream. Because not smart = Arts. And we look down condescendingly on Arts students. (Now Arts does not mean drawing, painting and dancing class. Arts also means finance, commerce, accountancy, literature, humanities, etc. Even law! Are all those types of knowledge inferior to that of Science geeks?) We have not matured in our thinking.

How many students do we have who can get through their SPM, and still do not know what they want to do? Hordes. Why? Because our system does not encourage people make proper choices, just general ones. "Better to be safe and don't choose now, so we can have better options later." Our system produces people who can score strings of A's in its exams, but yet be as directionless as a person who never went to school.

Speaking of A's. The standard of our A's mean nothing anymore in the international scene. Our A's are helpful only if we wanna work in our local kampung. The last reliable yardstick we had to represent a student's academic prowess was the SPM. Now, it no longer qualifies as a yardstick.

Think about it. Our Form 5 Add Maths today is actually the Form 5 Modern Maths syllabus, way back then. Our Form 6 STPM Maths today is actually the Form 5 Add Maths syllabus, way back then. How would other countries dare to give serious credibility to the standard of public exams in Malaysia?

Not only that. The questions we have for SPM gets progressively easier every year. I've compiled a collection of past year questions for SPM Add Maths questions. The trend can be clearly seen. The newer the questions, the less analysis is required. You can even see the answer before you start solving the question.

So, are we moving forward, or backward?

What do you think Amir will do when he goes back to Belgium? If I were him, I will kutuk lah! Surely wan, rite? Here, smile smile first. When go back, kutuk la... "Hey, you know what those guys in Malaysia are learning at age 16? Hahahaha..."

Here's what I think. If it's true that the West is always a decade ahead of Malaysia, then what is happening now in the West will happen in Malaysia 10 years later.

Currently, home-schooling is already very developed in the West. It is an option that many parents take for their children's best interest. There is nothing left in public schools that are more advantageous, compared to home-schooling.

When we finally realize the rot in our public school system 10 years from now, we may start to have a home-schooling system. If those guys up there don't realize it... Then I'll home-school my own kid.

There is too little hope left in our public schools. Even today.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen.

Alex Steinert Miles said...

Hey, your post actually affirmed my decision.
I am going home schooling for my kids...NO MATTER WHAT!

Unknown said...

ahh, you know Mr Khor Boon Teik? Ahh... He once told my class how they government took out many topics from the syllabus because it was too hard for the students, but, they still have to adjust the public exam grading every year.

Have a nice week ahead =D

Anonymous said...

So true! I seem to recall rehashing the same concepts every time I get to UPSR, then PMR, then SPM, then STPM... Then University!!!

The same maths concepts, the same Sejarah information, the same basic Biology such as bio-diversity's group-all-the-lifeforms. I used my Form 3 Sejarah knowledge with a minimum of updated studying to score A2 in the SPM, true story.

On the focus on Science at all costs, frustratingly the government is STILL encouraging students to go for Science Science Science... When even during our graduating time, most Science majors couldn't get jobs in the sciences! Just no market for us.

And of course, we are not taught how to think and plan and adapt... Just to follow the system and the norm, maintain the status quo. (The status quo as in 'stated quota' that guarantees certain students can get into USM so that they can play firecrackers in the dormitory corridors, while ample straight-A students have to pay their way overseas.)

I encourage you to refine your post and mail it to the newspapers adn Malaysiakini. Coming from a govt teacher who doesn't do tuition gives it extra weight and reality.

I'm planning a letter on the side-tracking of teachers away from real teaching - to preparing endless tests, overseeing endless tests, marking endless tests, recording endless test marks, inputting student biodata, running ko-k, running school shop... And rearranging classrooms because the Pengarah thinks it helps the students study.

Maybe from here we can plant the seeds of change in our education system.

PS. The Word Verification to prove my post is not spam was... afdumbz. Ironic.

siehjin said...

homeschooling is already happening in malaysia. i know quite a few kids who're being homeschooled, met em in SU camps. in fact, my boss, jason, is homeschooling his 12-year-old daughter.

actually it's not supposed to happen, because (if i'm not mistaken) by law every child is compelled to go to school. must wan. but no one's been arrested for homeschooling la.

i find it difficult to consider homeschooling objectively because i myself am a product of the public education system. i'd like my child to enjoy the same kind of experiences that i did. and i figure, i turned out alright didn't i? but then again i guess the system my child will go thru will be much worse than what i went thru, based on the reports of it's deterioration...

Hasten said...

Holyboy27: Khor Boon Teik is a good math teacher. He taught me well. Me and my ketua tingkatan called him "cowboy". Cos when we had this serious haze problem way back then, he taught with a hanky around his face :)

Hasten said...

Scott: Malaysiakini or Malaysiananti, it makes no difference if I talk now. When I've got solid research on my side, and when I've got political spunk... Then I'll talk.

As for now, I'm nothing but a fresh graduate on his first posting, who haven't even taught for a year.

Hasten said...

Siehjin: I once thought that way too. I thought home-schooling will cause a child to become socially impaired. But in an established home-schooling system, that will not happen. Children actually grow up and interact with fellow human beings like human beings.

When you see the rot I see everyday, and imagine it being multiplied generation after generation... You won't want home-schooling to be a rich kid's option. You'll want it to be everybody's option.

Beng's mei said...

Hi Joshua,

I happen to have the opportunity to go online today in the comforts of my own home and at no time restrictions. And i've been stuck to ur blog ever since 12noon.

This is ur blog tag:

Indeed, this speaks to myself, and to all who visit this blog. May all who hear be enriched, edified, and encouraged. God help me to be true to His Word, and to my own words.

Pls.do me a fav and give yourself a pat on ur back.

As you have set in your heart,i am encouraged by your post, waken up but not put down by ur honest sharing(i see myself so much in ur writings,like the directionless arts stream student).

I predict that i will be spending more time in future visiting ur blogs.

Keep writing pleaseeeeee! :)

(homeschool...hm...good idea)

Beng's mei said...

forgot to sign off. haha.

-Yupei

Hasten said...

Thanks for the encouragement :)

Beng's Mei? Whassat? Hehe...

Beng's mei said...

A friend of my brother's calls him beng,and being the younger sister,family call me mei (which means younger sister in mandarin)

So now you know why.

-YP