To all would be teachers

It is not uncommon to find parents trying to play the role of teachers trying to " teach" the toddlers .I sometimes watch in horror when I see the way they "teach".Not a bit of understanding of the readiness of the child to learn , yelling and scolding the child after only a couple of minutes.Do they realize the psychological damage they can do to the child.? You not only scare him off studies but you create in him an aversion to studies. We teachers are TRAINED in child psychology, teaching methods,teaching objectives and teaching strategies before we are allowed into the classroom.Children must love to learn, you must create in them the desire for knowledge of which there are many ways to acquire .Teachers know this and more important they know how to make the child interested to learn.Learning must be fun , it must be stimulated ,it must be delicately handled or the child could become a problem later on. Parents today have the kiasu attitude ,they want their child to be top of the class and try all sorts of ways to achieve this.To the child this becomes a big put off because parents will push and pressure him to do well.Imagine kids before school age having to do homework, preparing for tests and being pressed to do so by parents.You are a child only once and childhood should be enjoyed and children should be left to taste the joys of discovery .Knowledge cannot be forced down a child's throat by parents who want to do it to satisfy their own egoes not realizing the damage they can do to the child. A person grows up physically and mentally.Teachers understand the type of input which should be given commensurate with the mental development of the child.You do not ask a child of 6 to write essays or learn mathematical designs.That is why a proper school curriculum is designed to expose the child to various stages of knowledge acquisition so that at the end of his school term he is armed with basic knowledge in terms of language ,arts and science which would then take him to a higher level of knowledge seeking. We should not take it upon ourselves to "Teach " our children if we are qualified to do so just as we would not think of treating a sick person if we are not doctors.Leave teaching to the teachers .Parents can contribute to education by teaching the child values through example and supervise their studies and only offer advice when the child needs it.A lot of damage can be done if we attempt to "teach' our children especially at an early age.You will take the fun out of learning and turn your child against all formal learning and turn him against the whole school system. Can you live with that ???

Manners

I was picking my grandson up from the day care centre .As we were leaving I told him to say " Bye " to the so called teacher which he did .And what happened ? The lady ignored him and that was too much for me >I told my grandson " Lets go , your teacher is too busy to to reply" giving her a glare.Only then did she say " Bye'.Not only this she did not have the courtesy to say hello to the parents who went there to pick up the kids.Manners, courtesy? these are things which we teach our children from young and when you have these kind of people influencing our kids from young what can you expect when they grow up? I have been to so many schools and pre schools and can judge the nature of the schools quite quickly and easily.The tone of the school will get down to you straight away.Teachers and students would have an aura of friendliness and politeness.I was so impressed with one school which I visited..the moment you enter the school the students would walk up straight to you and greet you.teachers would smile at you and ask you if they could help you.I commended the Headmistress and told her that I was impressed and proud of the way she trained her students and staff.Sad to say there are very few schools of this standard. This day care centre never even bother to teach their students the proper way to wear their shoes.the kids will just sit on the floor and wear their shoes.Whenever I happen to see this happening I would tell my grandson "Aaron, wear your shoes on the bench"> The teachers never seem to hear this. That is why I believe teachers should be professionals .Not any Joker can qualify to call themselves teachers.It is scary that we choose to leave our children with these monsters who are not academically qualified ,trained or cut out to be teachers.Some of probably are unemployed housewives trying to make a quick buck.During my time as an education officer I would make sure that the kindergarten provided me with a list of their teachers and their qualifications and more than 3/4 of the schools do not have qualified teachers.I shudder to think of the damage which they can do to the young developing minds and what kind of education they can provide.Its actually a matter of convenience for parents to send their kids there without bothering too much about things like this.As long as there is somebody to look after their kids without too much of a problem parents are contented to let things be. For us educationists this cannot be acceptable because we understand that teaching of values during the formative years is critical to what sort of person the child can turn out to be .It breaks my heart to see some parents trying to " teach " their children and in the process doing more harm than good. teachers are not trained for nothing.We learn child psychology, teaching methods,understanding the physiological and mental development of the child before we are allowed to teach.Some parents think that they can do what a teacher does and try their hand at teaching and the result can be disastrous as you can readily kill the child's interest for learning at an early stage and put him off learning in his later years. It is because of the educational system that children do not get the right kind of training but then what can you expect when there is no quality control over the people whom we allow to "teach" our children.Hence we have a generation of people who have no manners, respect for the elders and generally low moral values.We are responsible if we produce a generation of people with no proper social etiquette, manners and values.

Vernacular schools.

It take an educationist to say what should be said but never dared said by politicians ...that vernacular schools should be abolished. After more than 50 years of independence we are still talking about polarization, Chinese ,Malays Indians instead of Malaysians.The problem surely must have something to do with mindset which in terms is related in one way or other related to education. Why the need for vernacular schools? Why not Malaysian schools where all races can study together and perhaps compete with each other on equal terms.If children of all races study and play together we will not have problems like some jokers giving money to the Chinese in white envelopes or Chinese eating pork in front of Malays.It is through the education system that we can hope to achieve the objective of 1 Malaysia and not just through the shouting of slogans and finger signs . Why are we so particular and protective of vernacular schools? the usual rationale is that the Chinese and Indians want their children to be able to read , write and converse in the mother tongue.Is this objective such a big deal and can it only be achieved through vernacular schools?People do not think out of the box.It seems to me if this is the objective it can surely be achieved through national schools.All it needs is a little adjustment to the timetable and the schooling hours.People choose not to think of options when the objective is just to expose their children to the mother tongue. Nation building requires a far sighted and bold education system.We should no longer think of our interests as Chinese ,Malays or Indians but as Malaysians.the sad thing is our education system is determined by politicians whose level of thinking is more towards their self interest.Equal educational opportunities for all? Easier said than done.Can you imagine the abolishing of all Malay residential schools ,Mara institutions ,Matriculation programs etc? These are divisive institutions and meant only for one race .If we are bold enough to abolish the vernacular schools we should be bold enough to abolish all the "one race" institutions and create a Malaysian institute of education where all races can study and play together without favor or discrimination and go on the principle of "May the best win". Question is can we and dare we ? ". Just because an academician makes a suggestion that vernacular schools be abolished and gives sound reasons for his comments the Chinese and the Indians cry "Sedition ".What is there so special about the vernacular schools that they must be so protected ? What is there in these schools that cannot be learned in the national schools. Its a matter of looking at the curriculum and having the courage to make changes in the interests of nation building. Talk of vernacular schools with little govt. support, children studying in pathetic conditions and you will realize that there is a strong case for only one type of school ..the Malaysian school where every child will follow the same curriculum and have equal opportunities in terms of facilities, buildings and teachers.This must make a lot of sense and you tell me when somebody brave enough to call for the abolishing of vernacular schools why is there such a big outcry ? Think of a school system where the children follow the same curriculum, have opportunity to study the mother tongue,learn and play together,enjoy equal opportunities and facilities and you are beginning to think out of the box and perhaps realize that it takes courage and farsightedness to call for the abolishing of vernacular schools and have the wisdom to create a Malaysian school which will be the foundation of a strong Malaysia.

Reaching 73

15 May I turn 73 and taking a step back , am really thankful that I have come this far.Far ..yes , because I have seen a lot of good friends and relatives who did not make it this far.Life has been full of excitement, challenges, ups and downs but happily through it all I managed to survive.It was not easy but through the years i have learned that if you are honest, sincere , caring and above all sensible you will somehow find that life is not that bad. There were difficult times especially when I first started work earning just enough to support myself and my parents before I got married and after that my parents and my family.As a teacher we were not wealthy but earned enough to live a fairly comfortable life.What we lacked in money we earned in terms of time.We had time to do a lot of things which we enjoyed and I believe that in life having a lot of money is meaningless if you do not have a chance to enjoy what it brings.I have seen people who throughout their lives try hard to earn as much money as possible and sadly never lived long enough to enjoy it. Life is not just about money.Its more about balance.. balance between earning money and enjoying the things you enjoy doing.You may earn less and have less in terms of money but you may have more in terms of time for yourself and family.These are things which money cannot buy and sadly not many people realise this and really go out of their way trying to climb up the success ladder.This could be at the expense of having time for children and family and most disastrous of all the expense of one's own health. "I spent all my life trying to make money but now in my old age I find that I'm spending my money trying to regain my health which I lost in the process " Money wise I'm not rich but my wealth comes in another for. I am rich because I have a good family, the wife is someone you would not want to replace, the children have turned out to be what you had hoped for , and there is the special joy of seeing the grandchildren growing up.A man is not necessarily rich if he has money .If he has no family and good health he may be poorer than anyone of us who has these things. I have been in this world for 73 and have been privileged to go through so many changes, politically, socially ,technologically and I might add psychologically because today I find that my mindset has changed quite substantially.Going through all these makes one more sensitive, more open minded and tolerant and at the end of it more thankful and grateful to be where we are. I have no regrets, no hard feelings towards anyone and would look forward to enjoying the rest of my years in good health and with my loved ones. Thank you God for letting me come this far !

A tribute to mothers

the world celebrates Mother's Day and with it comes a need to remind children what the day is all about.Mothers are special people in our lives.They carry us for nine months in their stomachs , go through the painful process of delivery and then the ever important tasks of bringing us up as many say " the right way". There is no bigger manifestation of children's love for mothers than to be sensitive of their feelings, a word of appreciation now and then , a little gesture here and there.Mothers never ask for anything for bringing up their children.To them it is a pleasant chore and there are lots of episodes of a mother's sacrifice for the children.what is there a mother would not do for her children ? I have seen the way my mother bring us up, my wife bring my children up and my own children bring theirs up and what is most common amongst them is the ever encompassing love which they have for their children and the fact that they give their all for their children.A mother's love has no definition, no boundaries and is infinite. As we celebrate Mother's day remember how lucky we are to have them around ,to be able to have the opportunity to tell them how special they are and above all to cherish and treasure their presence with us. Tell them !!!