We can’t talk our national schools to greatness. We need to have the courage and determination to do something about it. I am referring to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s views on making national schools great again.
We tried to do many things except to change and rectify the most important weaknesses staring right at us. We refuse to accept we have been looking at education largely through a parochial lens. Headmasters are the most important persons in schools. It is in their hands how school discipline, teacher performance and academic and athletic prowess are maintained and pursued. But how do we appoint headmasters? Have we not seen how a well-performing school crumbles the moment a wrong person is put at the helm?
Today, my children send their children to a Chinese school. I can discern an immediate difference in everything – from discipline, teaching, the commitment of teachers, homework and assessment. They take everything seriously.