It is about 2.20 pm. I was cutting fruits at the kitchen sink and my five years old kid came and asked me, “Mommy, why David so late not yet come home?”
(Regular classes ended at 1.35 pm and the kids have 25 minutes to grab a quick snack before continue at 2.00 pm)
“He has kelas tambahan today.”
So, I went to check what time he is suppose to finish.
The schedule is as above. This is coming from a school that is not considered kiasu and hence, the schedule can be said to be bearable. There are other Chinese schools which finish at 4 pm.
Note that our school kids start school at 7.30 am (or latest 7.45 am). That means they have to wake up around 6.30 am or even earlier. We are lucky the school is just next door. Other school kids who missed their regular school buses normally hang around the school compound until their parents fetch them after their work around 5 pm.
(schedules, time table, calendar….stick ’em where we won’t lost it)
I observe. My two older children have less additional classes than my #3 boy. The children seem to study more and more. But I don’t see them getting smarter and smarter.
Just as I was typing this, my boy came barging through the door to the delights of his baby brother. But give them 10 minutes and the little boy will be screaming because of his brother’s teasing. *sigh* Love-hate relationship that I cannot understand.
(Poser posing for mommy because I told him ‘bloggable material’! Let me show people how poor you are, have to study until so late.)
My #3 was obviously sweating, with a red face and all grubby because he is one of those kids that can never stay clean. His white school shoe is almost black. Today, is Wednesday where all the school children in Malaysia must don their pakaian berseragam. I.e. on every Wednesday, the school children must wear the uniform of their chosen uniformed body which consists of Red Cresent Society, Scout, Karate, Girl Guide, Cadet and don’t know what else.
Well, wearing them doesn’t make my #3 boy more decent than my eldest son who never have to buy a scout uniform at age 12. The only results I get are the extra money to buy all the uniforms and a poor kid who sweats even more because these uniforms are extra thick and you can imagine the current temperature during noon.
While I am talking about school, this year, there seems to be an increase in school fees. Our Government have loudly proclaimed that education is free. They give us books loan and save us RM4.50 in the regular school fees. But somehow, we have to pay even more this year for all sorts of funny fees. There are things like fees for moral education, fees for sports, fees for computer classes, takaful insurance and etc. My hubby refused to pay for all of them and insisted to pay only for sports t-shirt. *roll eyes* So, if you hear any politicians who tell you the Government provides free education, tell them to STFU. There is nothing free about that. The money comes from our taxpayers money. Read also Pak Lah tok kok suggestion on solving crimes against children which is related to long school hours.
Of course, my son is one of those lucky ones who doesn’t need to travel far to school, has a home next door and meals ready for him. He also does not attend any other tuition classes or any extra lessons. But there are thousands of students out there who have to take the public buses, return to an empty home and attend even more tuition classes.
Many kids that I see in the urban area are over-worked citizen.
Primary school kids nowadays are being put to study for almost 8 hours (or more) in school not unlike adults having to work for similar number of hours. Add some parents who think that tuition is a must and you’ve got a sample of child abuse. The more developed we become, the more kiasu we are in the name of being the best. What beasts are we turning into?
*side track – eh, you son peeing onto the wall kah?
when I was in my previous previous school
their class last until 2pm, then ask u to stay back until 4pm for house practises & cuccriculums until 6-7 o’clock…
reli siao la…make ppl so exhausted until go back home no energy to study..
extra classes doesn’t equal to better results.
more hours doesn’t equal to better student.
lucky i need not to do that when i was a kid. if not i may end up a schizophrenia. lol!
charleskey – The standard six students exempted from ko-ko and sports practice this year. But the secondary school one, same schedule like you mention lah. Reach home 6.30 pm, flat out liao. 12 hours long in hot sun, hot school wor.
pablo – And they wonder why our youths are so screwed nowadays. Sheesh….
My son? No lah, Bad camera angle. He is acting tired look but I took from the side so ended up like pang jio.
hcfoo – It is a crazy education system because kids study science and maths in TWO languages. Siao, I tell you.
during my primary school days, they ask for extra RM50 buck every month for the extra classes..it is also made compulsary even you have any tuition outside, you are ask to cancel all yr appointments/tuitions on tht hour to attend their class.
If parents insist on canceling, they sammor treaten that your son may not do well in their UPSR.(I personally got treaten tht I will fail my english & BM if I do not attend their classes)
speaking of paying..my schoola force student to donate money or else you’ll be rotan..
Is that what student shud endure to have education?
Do we have to really pay for those extra this & that?
I doubt it.
I just register my son into the pre-school..and the fees is RM487.00!! Wah lau!! i last time went to kindergarten baru pay RM15 for whole year!! So scared with the future edu..mana tau they kasi naik the fees kaw2 one..korek tanah to find money loh!
We closed down the regular tuition classes that we used to run when the schools started to keep children as young as 8 years old till 4.30 p.m in Melaka. Just don’t think it’s effective to have them come for tuition classes after long hours in school, and it won’t be morally right to torture children like that too. But, even if we don’t do, many others are doing it and parents will still send their children there, everyone has been telling that.
Extra classes and extra workbooks are all extra source of income for the head of school. It’s known a fact that headmasters get rebates for whatever the school buy. Quite a few headmasters in my area drive Merz and BMW wan.
No, children don’t get any better by staying longer in school staring into blank or put into a corner to rot. Parents should visit the school and observe for a few minutes how the classes are conducted. With 45-50 children in one classroom, it’s quite common for teachers to ‘ignore’ kids who can’t keep up or kids who are naughty, and your kid may be just one of them.:-)
Illiteracy is quite rampant, we have encountered too many children as old as 12 years old who don’t read, write or spell in either BM or English, you wonder what do they do in school for that long hours, go figure.
agree with you wholeheartedly and as an educator
kids need time for themselves, and time to absorb what they have learned, and room for other interests which will develop them in other ways
Noticed that your boy is from 7th Georgetown Scouts. Is that the PFS one? I was from there once :).
Ladies & Gents,
We all love our children. Longer hours will keep them off the streest and trouble. I am all for the longer hours. Only thing I want out of these longer hours is tire them until they cant cause problems.