Education and national strength
By Chong Lip Teck
The incident in which an excellent SMJK Yu Hua student jumped to his death in Kajang must serve as a wake-up call to all of us. Besides disseminating knowledge, we must also identify whether schools are placing emphasis on students’ psychology development and nurturing at the same time.
When the Franco-Prussian War came to an end in 1871, someone asked how Prussian army managed to emerge as the winner of the war. Moltke, the chief of the Prussian military staff said, the Prussian victory had been pre-determined dating back to primary education. The rise or fall of a nation is depending on education while national strength lies in the level of knowledge. In addition, principles like morality, courage, confidence, determination…… must be cultivated.
Teachers playing the role of educationists must always seize the opportunities to instill good habits and values in students, as this will help them establish positive attitudes and subsequently reflect them in their everyday lives.
One of my primary school teachers refused to start his lessons if the classroom was found dirty. He would instruct the students to clean it up before teaching could begin. I remember him saying that untidy environment would adversely affect our daily lives, dirty classrooms would spoil learning sentiment and bad mood would lead to poor performance.
In my secondary school, a teacher teaching Bahasa Malaysia would immediately stop her lessons if she found students in low spirits. She would, instead, started talking about the right methods to take shower. From her observation, she discovered that most students did not have the habit of taking bath in the morning. Moreover, they used the wrong bathing methods and because of that, they failed to remain fresh for the day. If the students looked tired even in the beginning of the day, their learning progress would be impacted.
“Cleanliness is discipline” and those who live in a clean environment will surely develop the virtues of rationality and self-discipline. The military places the highest importance on tidiness. Soldiers failing to observe personal tidiness and hygiene will not have a sense of discipline and loose discipline will eventually lead to vulnerability. Many years ago, the Northern Fleet of the Qing dynasty appeared really impressive. Its admiral was a prominent figure too. Despite being equipped with European-made warships, the failure of the army to pay attention to cleanliness and its tendency to overlook matters involving sophisticated weapons and equipment eventually led to its defeat.
The teachers actually hoped that their students could kick-start their day by paying attention to small details, which would later enable them to develop into confident and disciplined individuals. They had played their role in “changing the destiny of the country by providing education.”
However, teachers nowadays are facing certain difficulties while playing their role. For instance, there are concerns about the progress of teaching, as well as worry about taking blames from school authority and parents. As a result, they would rather spend their time “teaching for academic purpose” than “educating people.”
Just when we are immersing in complacency by thinking that our schools have cultivated an increasing number of top students, one after another incidents involving school discipline and unfortunate events surface. This has prompted us to review our education system. It is time for a reform.
The incident in which an excellent SMJK Yu Hua student jumped to his death in Kajang must serve as a wake-up call to all of us. Besides disseminating knowledge, we must also identify whether schools are placing emphasis on students’ psychology development and nurturing at the same time.
When the Franco-Prussian War came to an end in 1871, someone asked how Prussian army managed to emerge as the winner of the war. Moltke, the chief of the Prussian military staff said, the Prussian victory had been pre-determined dating back to primary education. The rise or fall of a nation is depending on education while national strength lies in the level of knowledge. In addition, principles like morality, courage, confidence, determination…… must be cultivated.
Teachers playing the role of educationists must always seize the opportunities to instill good habits and values in students, as this will help them establish positive attitudes and subsequently reflect them in their everyday lives.
One of my primary school teachers refused to start his lessons if the classroom was found dirty. He would instruct the students to clean it up before teaching could begin. I remember him saying that untidy environment would adversely affect our daily lives, dirty classrooms would spoil learning sentiment and bad mood would lead to poor performance.
In my secondary school, a teacher teaching Bahasa Malaysia would immediately stop her lessons if she found students in low spirits. She would, instead, started talking about the right methods to take shower. From her observation, she discovered that most students did not have the habit of taking bath in the morning. Moreover, they used the wrong bathing methods and because of that, they failed to remain fresh for the day. If the students looked tired even in the beginning of the day, their learning progress would be impacted.
“Cleanliness is discipline” and those who live in a clean environment will surely develop the virtues of rationality and self-discipline. The military places the highest importance on tidiness. Soldiers failing to observe personal tidiness and hygiene will not have a sense of discipline and loose discipline will eventually lead to vulnerability. Many years ago, the Northern Fleet of the Qing dynasty appeared really impressive. Its admiral was a prominent figure too. Despite being equipped with European-made warships, the failure of the army to pay attention to cleanliness and its tendency to overlook matters involving sophisticated weapons and equipment eventually led to its defeat.
The teachers actually hoped that their students could kick-start their day by paying attention to small details, which would later enable them to develop into confident and disciplined individuals. They had played their role in “changing the destiny of the country by providing education.”
However, teachers nowadays are facing certain difficulties while playing their role. For instance, there are concerns about the progress of teaching, as well as worry about taking blames from school authority and parents. As a result, they would rather spend their time “teaching for academic purpose” than “educating people.”
Just when we are immersing in complacency by thinking that our schools have cultivated an increasing number of top students, one after another incidents involving school discipline and unfortunate events surface. This has prompted us to review our education system. It is time for a reform.
