Study - What for?

Lately, we have heard much about doing something to our educational system. We hear about pre-education,

we hear about pre-school centre, we hear about scrapping the UPSR and PMR and we hear about starting our children at age 5 for school! All because WE THE ADULTS WANT OUR CHILDREN TO HAVE A BETTER FUTURE, TO BE MORE COMPETITIVE IN THE WORLD.  


But who speaks for our young children? Is that what they want?? I don’t remember when I was young I like to go to school?

I prefer catching spiders, fighting fishes and playing  Red Indians and cowboys. I prefer playing Gasing and watching people flying kites.

I did’nt go for Kindergarten, pre-school centre or pre-education. I cried so much the first day I was dragged to school, that was when I was SIX.  

Now it is going to be 5! Is that what our young children want? Or is that what they need? Why start them so young? I believe it’s for THE PARENTS , so that they can go to work etc.. NOT FOR THE YOUNG ONES.  What they need is more “Natural” childhood, NOT more “FORMAL” schooling. 

If we really want to make them more rounded, creative, happy & intelligent citizens to reach our goal of higher income individuals, WE SHOULD CUT OFF ONE YEAR OF OUR PRIMARY SCHOOLING; ONE YEAR FROM OUR SECONDARY SCHOOLING; TOTALLY DO AWAY WITH FORM SIX.  Our children will come out of secondary school at age 15, ready to go to University.

And if University is a 3 years’ course, they will graduate at 18 ready to take on the world! This is only for starter. And we can then start adjusting our curriculum.


Obviously, these are not my comments regarding school life by Billi Lim, author of Dare to Fail.


Whatever it is, it seems to make sense that we are going to school not for job, but for knowledge.........