Friday 27 March 2009

Happenings ... Education

It has been a real long time since I last blogged. *sorry*

I have been very busy these days. And the more important reason is that I don't have the mood to blog. Every time I blog, I usually sit in front of the computer, organise my thoughts and take quite some time to come up with a blog post. My intention is to make my blog as inspiring as possible. Well, maybe that takes away some fun of blogging. And I guess I have to change, at least to a small extent.

There were quite many happenings this two months. I was in charge of several activities in school. And indeed, I learnt a lot. I have changed in a way, perhaps. I start to use a different perception to view things.

We had our LPS orientation earlier on during the holiday in March. I have to admit that we kind of did last-minute work, as many of us were busy practising marching for sports day. We were about to change the date of orientation as many people apparently could not come for the event. But in the end, we went on with the set date and luckily, the orientation turned out quite successful. I was one of the emcees for that whole day. Well, I think I did quite well taking into account the fact that it was my first time being an emcee.

A big thanks to all AJKs for making the LPS orientation so successful. If not for all your hard work, we would not have achieved such success.

A recent remark from a friend of mine made me do a self-reflection. Does my life revolve only around my world? Do I give important consideration to the souls around me? Have I been overly self-centered? Well, I was stunned at a moment. Have I been belittling the importance of others? There are no absolutely correct answers to these questions, as different individuals set different definition for 'self-centered' But a thing we, as the species with emotions and the highest intelligence quotient, must take note is to do things with the heart and souls. Perhaps we are not so great that we put people's priorities over ours, but never ignore others' presence in our life. Perhaps, I do need to learn how to treasure others. But at the same time, be prepared to deal with some rascals who just take advantage of our kindness.

Well, it's a remark that hit the very bottom of my soul. A remark that made me so thoughtful. A word can change one's life. So, look out for the word that will change yours.

Lately, our school has implemented quite a lot of changes. We will soon have lecture-based teaching method for the sixth formers. In other words, we are going to be the guinea pigs. Our school has also been nominated in several niches in our effort to transform KB to a cluster school, some sort of 'sekolah cemerlang'. For the sake of getting the prestige, many clubs and societies are required to take care of a small portion of land in the school. Different clubs have to plant different things there.

During an assembly weeks ago, I actually heard something that made me ponder on our education system. *WARNING: LONG ESSAY AHEAD*....(haha, I will write as long as I feel I want to... but pls read the following as it's relevant to you as a student.)

We are constantly reminded to behave well and go abide by the school's rules and regulations. But why? What is the purpose of the school telling us to line up properly and quietly during assembly? What is the school's aim asking us to greet the outsiders, especially the officers from the Department? Not enough with being disciplined, we are taught to work hard and perform in exams. Some teachers always remind us to get prepared for PMR, SPM and STPM in order to score excellently.

Now, the questions are: are we reminded to do all these for the sake of ourselves? Or are we maintaining good discipline in order to keep the school's image good? Are we told to excel in exams for the sake of improving our school's ranking? Which is the first thing that comes to the mind of these educators? Excellent results leading to bright future of the students? Or the high number of students getting straight A's leading the school to be the prestigious 'sekolah cemerlang'?

Instead of asking us to excel in exams, they should tell us to perform well in our studies. For quite a few times during the assembly, teachers mentioned about 'sekolah cemerlang'. And we are all too familiar with the word magnet school. It has always occurred to me that the real purpose of education is to make one a better man. I always think that prestige of the school is just a by-product of the school's and teachers' dedicated, combined effort to educate the students, with the primary intention of moulding the students into better men, and paving bright futures ahead for the students. But have the intention and objectives of education changed? What has become of our education system?

This is a crucial flaw that we must overcome in order to see revamp in the system. Well, enough said. Whether we like it or not, we have to bear with the system for the time being. But do believe that it will be a better day ahead. Have faith. Let the power of our belief spread to others and influence them. Let power of our faith attract the positive changes we hope to see and lead us to the heavenly destination. Believe!