It had been a few years since I graduated from high school. As most of your parents might tell you, your high school life is probably one of the best times of your life. Now, I truly felt that way. My high school life was indeed the best time of my life. High school was probably the best part of most teenagers’ life and also the crucial part of a person’s development in the future. How well you developed the skills required? Did you equip yourself with the knowledge required? Are you able to master the skills of communicating well in any language? What are the other skills you obtained outside of the classroom?
These are the parts and pieces that make you who you are right now. Sadly, the current Malaysia education system that is in placed doesn’t really answer all these questions well. When I mentioned the term “education system”, I’m not just referring to those who are the master minds behind the education curriculum; I’m referring to education minister, officials, principals, lecturers, teachers and also students. Everybody that is involved in the whole education system is responsible for making education a more effective and better one.
I remembered during my high school years, the order of class is determined by a student’s results. How it works is that students that achieved excellent results in their test will be grouped into one class, while students with average results in a group and the poor ones in one. So if there are 300 students in the same grade, there are likely to be 10 classes consisted of 30 students each. This means that there are 10 groups of students ranging from the best to the poor. It gives people an idea on how well you do in your exams when you are asked which class are you from.
I’m not a fan of this system. First, it is a way of discrimination towards a group of students. Secondly, there are more factors apart from results to determine how well a student did in his/her high school. Third, is it so important to differentiate students with only results? Why do we need to be so narrow-minded in the sense that results will be the sole and only factor that affects a student’s life? After all, the country needs a large pool of youngsters which have equipped themselves with well-needed skills to propel the country’s economy, and not just a small group of people. A large pool of high skilled workers is the key to further the country to become a high income nation.
Let’s take the example that I mentioned above. If there are 300 students in the same grade, students are arranged randomly into classes. This system works in a way that students regardless on your results, you are randomly assigned into classes. Students which are previously academically poor get a great opportunity to learn a few things from their peers that did well in their exams to further improve themselves. In Finland, one of country’s well-known for their incredible education system assigned students in a way that whether you are clever or not, you still being taught in the same class. The decision not to assign classes based on results is significant. The difference between the weakest and strongest students in Finland is the smallest in the world.
I’m kind of the guy that loves to move around, playing different kind of sports, exercising my muscles regularly and even go to the field during a short 30-minute recess time (6 hours of classes a day at school) just to make myself sweat! Those were the old days of my life. The most pathetic part of my school life was each student has only a short 40-minute physical education classes EACH WEEK in their school curriculum. Sometimes, I even decided to skip boring classes just to go out and have a nice work out because I can’t stand the long hours of sitting in the classroom listening to lecturers.
The problem with the whole situation is that the education curriculum doesn’t think outdoor activities are an important aspect in a high school education. To make matter worse, some teachers decided to replace physical education periods or break time in favor of more lecturer time on other so-called more “important” subjects. Students are at times discouraged by teachers not to go outside and have a run. The 30-minute break time that is allocated each day will probably be just enough time for you to do your eating, talking and get back to the classroom for your next class.
A lot of people just don’t understand the importance of having a longer break time for students. Most teachers have the opinion that the recess time and sports time are just a waste of time. I think a certain amount of time is needed to allocate for students to get exposed to outdoor activities and break. I believe students should be given 10 minutes of a break time every hour and given at least 2 hours of physical education classes per week.
Students in Finland are given up to 75 minutes of recess time each school day. All kinds of outdoor activities are highly encouraged by teachers even in winter. While students in Japan, students are given 10-15 minutes break every hour. With the current world heading towards a more technological world, the benefits of these break time include better physical health, greater socializing skills, room for greater imagination, relax themselves and possibly showcasing their undiscovered talent outside of the classroom. As I said earlier, result isn’t a sole indicator of how well a student did. These skills that are developed by students through these break times and physical education sessions are equally as important as their test results.
Looking back at my high school life, no doubt that I’m happy and satisfied with the experience and knowledge I obtained through the high school process. If these changes are in place, I’m pretty sure more students will find high school a more enjoyable ground. Students will able to develop greater skills outside of the classroom and be a key figure in the country’s development.
By,
Zhe Xu
4th June 2013
Comments
Post a Comment