COMMENT: Parents and teachers must help build a thinking nation
by P N Balji
Nearly every discussion on education inevitably ends in a blame game with all the guns aimed at the government. The teaching is so rote-based. Blame the syllabus. There is so much homework. Blame the system. The school bag is so heavy. Blame the kiasu government.
This litany of complaints is beginning to sound like an old music record. For a refreshing change, why not turn the issue on its head and move our attention to the role of two other stakeholders – parents and teachers?
It is no secret how most parents pile on the pressure by adding on to the school load by sending their children to tuition classes and so-called experiential activities like ballet, music and boxing for their children.
There is the case of a seven-year-old whose parents got him to attend a session that teaches kids how to be businessmen after they realised that he was showing interest in entrepreneurship.
The boy walked into the hall on a Saturday morning and immediately recoiled because the classroom setting reminded him of school. The parents realised their mistake and did not press him to stay on.
As for teachers, most just listen to their bureaucratic master’s voice and teach according to what the book says. They want their students to excel in exams because then they look good. There is hardly an attempt to get the students to ask probing questions and see beyond the obvious.
This blind spot in the debate in education resurfaced as the knives were sharpened to attack the Ministry of Education for coming out with a half-baked new textbook on social studies.
The book moves away from using foreign examples like religious strife in Northern Ireland, racial violence in Sri Lanka and the rise and fall of Venice as a city state to hot button issues affecting Singapore.
The Little India riot, the poverty line and the influx of foreigners feature prominently. Unfortunately, the questions on these issues are framed in a way that are likely to make the students think in a one-dimensional way.
What are the efforts to maintain security? Would a poverty line help Singaporeans with low incomes? How far do Singaporeans view foreign manpower as valuable additions to the workforce?
You can see where the Ministry is going with this line of questioning: An attempt to straitjacket young minds into looking at issues from an establishment point of view.
Onus on teachers and parents
Don’t expect the authorities to change their approach, at least not in the immediate future. But teachers and parents can seize the initiative and get the children to look at these questions too: How and why did a road accident turn into a violent riot? Is there poverty in Singapore? Why are some Singaporeans unhappy with the flow of foreigners?
This way, students’ minds are stretched and parents and teachers can provide the balance as the children start searching for answers. These questions won’t provide black and white answers and that is where the two stakeholders can help by getting our children to think. Their responsibility is precisely that: To help create and build a thinking nation.
P N Balji is a veteran Singaporean journalist who is the former chief editor of TODAY newspaper, and a media consultant. The views expressed are his own.
