Here's a quick take on the woes and complain about the education system and what we could do.
Rename "Ministry of Education" (MOE) to "Ministry of schools" (MOS)
I think the Ministry is doing an excellent job trying to improve the school system. Credit needs to be given for the efforts in trying to improve the qualities of teachers, liberate and improve standardized testing, improving infrastructure of our schools, etc as described in the Education Blueprint launched earlier this year. Whatever their intentions or motivation may be and as long as it is done with the true intent of helping children, we should support them. They should continue to do just that - improve schools, innovate it, take the best processes and technologies available and bring them into the schooling system.
Acknowledge that the education process does not happen only in schools
Having said that, we also need to recognize that the family, the community and society at large, play an equal, if not, more important role in the education process of the child. We need to acknowledge this wholistic aspect of education. Perhaps this is why an "education" ministry finds it so challenging to compress the education process into schools. Our children can truly benefit from their communities' cultural and spiritual values. Such values are gradually being eroded in a consumeristic and increasingly profit-driven society. Education is about the preservation and expoliation of culture and its inherent values. We must allow the family and community to decide how to best do this, even if it means parents choosing to opt out from the formal schooling system of the MOS.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) Role
The MOE needs to acknowledge the diversity of influences that contributes to the education of the whole child. Balancing and supporting all such aspects must be the function of education. Hence, there may still be a need for a Ministry of Education. Their scope needs to include all these other approaches and influences and offer assistance and support to children and families on a much wider educational landscapes beyond conventional schooling. In my opinion too, the education of children must move beyond standardized testings and academic achievements and progress towards a caring mindset and the holistic practice of social, environmental and economics of sustainability. Admittedly, this is a huge task indeed!
I believe this can only be achieved if an open-minded and inclusive attitude is adopted. It requires more then just mindset change. It is an entirely new shift - a mindshift!
No one can claim to have all the answers to all the problems faced by the current schooling system but I am positively concerned about my children's future in this rapidly changing world of ours. And I have a vision.
Is change possible?
When we choose to complain without creating solutions to problems, it is called unproductive criticism. Guess what? Each day that we complain instead of doing something proactive is a day wasted. Each month that we moan and groan at its problems is a month wasted. Before you know it, our children have gone through the entire system that we are against. It is like applying handiplast strategies and quick fixes, such extra tution, extra classes and extra whatever money can buy.
I believe that change must happen from the grassroots - parents like you and I who are deeply concerned about our children's education, and their children to come.
Change is possible when we are committed, when we see the bigger picture and deal with the smaller problems. It is possible when we are not afraid to question, comment or discuss. We need a whole new thinking process and this can only be done individually as well as collaboratively.
The question I want to pose to critics is: what are YOU doing about it? Is it sufficient just to hit the "repost" or "share" button for articles from Sir Ken Robinson or titles that have catchy phrases like "reform, not just transfrom", and just wait for a response?
The choice is in your hand. It is entirely up you!
I am thinking about getting together and discuss deeply about this, we need to act. Interested? Drop me a note! Thank you.
