Our Pressure Cooker Education System.

JD Lovrenciear wrote about the mushrooming tuition industry and that our children already attending school 6 hours a day. If you are adult who grew up in the 60’s, 70’s you would notice that the school work done by our children today is far more heavier than that we experience in those days. In those days, we still had time to play after school, where the emphasis in primary education was 3R.
Fast forward, these days, the school curriculum is much heavier, with children expected to be able to read and write when they enter Year One. I had the opportunity of peeking through a 15 year old textbook some time ago, and I was surprised to read about university level Geology. I personally think that it is not necessary and pointless to teach them about continental drift and tectonic plates to PMR students.
I also notice that co-curriculum activities like scout group and sports are not actively promoted because it affect the children educational performance. How sad.
One thing I dread about Malaysians is that as parents they are competitive lot. They want the best for their children, enroll them in the best schools, then make them attend tuition classes and expect the children to be what the parents themselves wanted to be when they were young. Doctors, engineers, dentists, CEOs and whatever.
Do parent themselves ever realize that work and play make a balanced, healthy life? We Malaysian need an overhaul in our attitude, that not everyone can be doctor or engineer, and every other profession is as useful and contribute to the country. We should not look down on the street sweeper and think of them doing a lowly job, because without them, the street would be dirty.
If there is anyone to blame, I would lay the blame squarely on the parents and education system themselves. Not happy with their children performance on school, they send their children to tuition classes, and for Muslim parents, some of them send their children to afternoon religious classes. Why not just send the children to religious school, I am sure they teach 3R there.

Noor Yahaya Hamzah