Schools must provide wholesome education

Emphasise on sports in schools

Some years ago the government changed the name of the education ministry from Kementerian Pelajaran to Kementerian Pendidikan .The reason we were told was to change the image of the ministry from that of a purely academic institution to that of a wholesome education of an individual.

Sad to say what has happened since then is just the opposite to the ideals of that switch. Today our schools have become places just to collect A’s. All activities are tailored towards that aim. So much time is dedicated to examination oriented teaching. Many hours of extra classes are arranged and even physical education and art classes are taken over for academic subjects.

Extracurricular and sports activities are neglected and hardly any importance given to them. Pupils are made to adorn uniforms of boy scouts, girl guides, Red Crescent Society, St.John’s Ambulance, cadet and so on but no proper training and activities are organized for them. They are forced to stay back for these extra curricular activities but very frequently they are postponed at the last minute.

Most of the students join these societies not out of passion or love but to collect the valuable points that would contribute to A’s in their final exams.

Sports are even more neglected. Some schools, even the sekolah bestari, do not even have a proper playing field let alone proper training. School teams for the various sports are selected in a mysterious manner. The annual sports meet which used to be such an important and glamorous occasion passes by quietly without much publicity or enthusiasm. A vast majority of students do not even bother to attend the sports day. They take it as a holiday to stay home and study or go for extra tuition classes.

Those excelling in sports are not given due recognition in schools and in society. On the contrary excellent exam scorers are so over glorified by teachers, parents and even the media. In the sixties and seventies, bookworm students are frowned upon and even ridiculed, but today situation has reversed, in fact for the worse.

We, parents, teachers and all members of society, must convince ourselves that schools are for the wholesome education of our young men and women and not a place just to collect A’s, as it appears to be at present. If we continue with this misguided system which emphasizes just on academic excellence, I’m afraid our future in the globalize world would be bleak.

The government now has promised to rectify the problem by revamping the education system and we must give our full support and cooperation.

Dr.Chris Anthony