Well Trained Slaves

It was a Monday morning, kicked off with a cup of black coffee and a great book, accompanied by twilight and shower. Read and write to start off a day, it was a milestone in experiencing the Arts of Living.

Back then in my 13th year of living, I was forced to copy 20 essays in Bahasa Malaysia on weekly basis. It was a terrible night-mare. It was my secondary education, that a teacher can easily spot which tuition centre you went or which reference books you referred to for your revision. 

We have this so called 'Buku Nilam' system, which every students are 'forced' to read, and write the book review in a small blue booklet. The person who wrote the most review (read the most) will be appraised with a certificate. It was a good system back then, to foster and track the reading habit among students, but somehow, the system fails when the art of reading is not valued. Students end up getting 10 to 20 books from the library and copy the review within the book. Yes, it somehow indicates that we are superheros who could read 10 to 20 books in 1-2 hours, even, with a great review.

Don't it worth a Guinness World Record? 

Obviously, this is not reading, this is an 'activity' to serve the Ministry of Education's needs. A good read is accompanied by deep thoughts, reflection and learning from the writer. This makes a good review for a book, genuinely from the reader's thoughts and perspectives. Yet, my friends and I survived 'reading' like a superhero for 5 years. Is the educator out there blinded enough to not even spot this habit of copying, or they consciously chose to close one eye because they don't really care?

Of course, there are still students (my friends) who do read with heart, as well as educator (my teachers) who read the students' review. I am just speaking about the majority.

It was 10 years later when I am now in my tertiary studies, I found the why of reading and writing. I hope the system back then is reviewed, improved and followed through by educators. First homework, we need educator who educates with passion.

We are the 21st century's Well Trained Slaves. The grades of an essay is neither judged by how much the students read, nor how mature is one's thoughts process. This is the saddest part in the history of civilisation and literature. A great piece of essay is judged by how well the students write according to the schema answers provided by the ruling body. Looks like we are expecting our children to be fortune teller, who are able to read the teachers' mind. When was the last time you get excited, reading a great piece of writing from a student?

Somehow, I wonder what is the purpose and joy of educating our children? Or our educators are handcuffed with the rights to value a piece of art from an authentic student? Is there any meetings being called among educators, just because a student wrote a good piece, which was not even according to the schema answers? There is a need for us to realise, the value of the arts of reading and writing. These are great thoughts from the students, which worth educators' encouragement. They are the dare devils who voice out their inner thoughts in young age when everyone don't. 

I believe school is the best place to build up a civilised, and democratic country, backed with the freedom to deliver our thoughts.

This is a wake up call for a better education for future generation. It's time to get back to the basic of education, and stay grounded to bring out the best from our people.

Let's study the Arts of Education. We are still in time to make a good progress. =)