Preconceived

We do this a lot in our life. We accept that this is for that, and that is for this quite naturally. This is mainly because we are driven by the so-called 'norm' which sometimes is misleading. Try this example: 

Which of these two cars do you think has this plate number?

This?

Or this?

So, which car bears the above plate number?

On this note, when we do something over and over again because our fathers do it over and over again because their fathers do it over and over again, we accept it as a norm, or 'adat'. It will be hard for us to change it, even when we found out that it is actually wrong. For the above illustration, the MyVI in the bottom picture actually bears the plate number, contrary to the norm that only expensive cars like the above Vios have this kind of plate numbers.

Recent development in education tries to minimize the number of public examinations our students have to endure, taking into account the success of some other nations' educational system which has O or A Level examinations only compared to our UPSR, PMR, SPM, STPM examinations. I personally agree with this because I don't think a public examination is good for twelve year olds as they can barely think on their own. What we can examine on them is only their memorization, not their knowledge, and this is quite absurd. Coupled with the false preconceived notion that a student who has more As is better than those who has lesser, our educational system might not achieve its objectives. Worst still, unqualified person in the system misuse their position which lead to destruction, like the leakage of examination papers' answers, just for a bragging right that their school has more straight As students than others.

However, because of the accepted norm that we must have all the above public examinations, it is very hard to change the way our educational system is heading now. Everybody must think alike, starting from the top of the system down to the very bottom, to make the so called PPPM a success. We have the time until 2025 to see the results, but the false norm should be corrected now, or we will never see the fruition of the plan.

Conclusively, I think it is high time for our education to start educating, and the teachers starts to be called the EDUCATORS. 

Congratulations UPSR Students!

Today, the UPSR results are out. It is also the judgment day for teaching Science and Mathematics in English. In Kelantan, 11.41% of the total number of candidates (37,949 pupils) scored straight As, while the average pass percentage is 66.78%. Both SK Zainab II and I top the standing, and the Kota Bharu district has the most scorers with 1,596 pupils, Pasir Mas (599), Tumpat (412), Tanah Merah (338), Bachok (337), Pasir Puteh (350), Machang (249), Jeli (98) and Gua Musang (77). Congratulations also to my brother-in-law (picture right) for his 5As, and even though I did not promise him anything beforehand, maybe I will give something out of appreciation.

On the other hand, the Star reported that Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom said that nearly 50% of the total number of candidates throughout the country answered the Science and Mathematics paper entirely in English. “The 518,616 pupils who sat for the UPSR this year are the first group to have started studying the two subjects in English since the policy was introduced in 2003,” he told a press conference Thursday after giving an analysis of the UPSR 2008 results at the ministry. The ministry then will discuss the matter before bringing it the cabinet for a decision.

Teacher Training Course

Phewh.... tired.. I just finished an athletic course conducted by the maktab.. owh.. maybe you still don't know that I am still enrolled in Kursus Perguruan Lepas Ijazah (KPLI) at Maktab Perguruan Tuanku Bainun (MPTB) in order to get the 'license to teach'. During this one year course we as teacher trainees have to endure many tasks from writing assignments to organizing events inside or outside the maktab. All these supposed to prepare us to be good teachers, as the demands of the schools out there are becoming more challenging day by day. Among the programmes we have to be involved with were Bina Insan Guru at Kem To' Sakah in Perak, and Kursus Kadet Remaja in Kg. Chinchin in Melaka, as well as organizing events inside the maktab such as Public Speaking Seminar and Education Seminar. I was also involved in organizing events outside the maktab where we went to SK Sungai Kob in Kedah to organize an English Camp for UPSR students.