Fed up with policy flip-flops, brainwashing, parents turn to home-schooling

Primary education is compulsory in Malaysia but there is a small number of children who are not part of the formal schooling system. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, January 16, 2016.

An outdated school system, education policy flip-flops and religious indoctrination are among the reasons cited by parents who choose to home-school their children.

This is despite the fact that primary education is compulsory in Malaysia and permission from the Education Ministry is required if parents want to keep their children out of school, which is usually only granted if a child has severe health problems. 

And because most parents do not have approval from the authorities, it is impossible to estimate how many children are being home-schooled, whether at home by their parents or at “learning centres” under the guidance of tutors.

Author Chong Wai Leng, who runs a support network blog for parents of home-schoolers called Learning Beyond Schooling, says there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that the “unschooling” concept, as she prefers to call it, is growing and not limited to the main cities but smaller towns, such as Port Dickson and even in Kota Baru. 

Another indication that home-schooling has more followers since it started in Malaysia more than 20 years ago is that there are more and more new faces, especially young parents of all races, spotted at events organised for home-schooled children.

Chong said there were many reasons parents opted to home-school their children, but one of the more recent factors was disillusionment with the schooling system, which she described as “messed up” and subject to policy flip-flops. 

There were also parents who have to deal with children who disliked going to school, she added.

“Kids today are exposed to technology and learning from the iPad from the time they are in the womb but then have to go to school and use wooden chairs and tables, and in addition have to cope with so much writing and homework.

“There is a real mismatch right there between the children of today and how schools are teaching them.

“Technology has advanced so much, and in the West, for instance, they do things differently, they are not so bogged down by curriculum, but their children learn just as much, if not more.”

For Jessica, it was the creeping religious indoctrination and her lack of confidence in the school system which prompted her take her eldest son out of a reputable government school in the Klang Valley. 

The 46-year-old mother said who only wanted to be known by that name said there was too much focus on one religion in public schools, while those of the other faiths were neglected.

“Indoctrination was one thing, but the neglect of the non-Malay students was alarming at the government school my son attended. They just leave them on their own in class while the Muslim students went to solat camp and other religious activities.

“Then there was the case of the English test paper that was full of grammatical errors to the point that even the students were making fun of it.

Haslinda Halim decided to home-school her children because of difficulties with her dyslexic child. – The Malaysian Insider pic, January 16, 2016.“So I took it to the principal, and after staring at it for five minutes, she could not find the mistakes and said she saw no issue with the paper.

“That was the limit for me,” Jessica told The Malaysian Insider.

She also related an incident where her son, then in Standard Five, took out his sandwich to eat during recess, unaware it was the first day of Ramadan, the fasting month for Muslims.

“His Muslim classmate came up to him and threw his food container on the floor,” she said.

Her son, now 16, is currently enrolled in a home-school centre and will soon be taking the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) certification, while Jessica continues to home-school her two younger children, aged eight and 12.

She added that the cost was also manageable, paying RM14,000 a year for her son to go to the centre, which assists home-schooled children.

Exam fees for IGCSE are RM350 per subject on average, and students usually take between five and 12 subjects, typically over a two-year period.

In addition, she spends about RM2,000 a year to purchase the curriculum for both her younger daughters. 

Jessica givea tuition classes in the evenings to supplement her income.

“The reality is that I don’t have to sit down and teach them or breathe down their necks. 

“The information in the books is laid out in such a way that they remember what they read.

“And we have so much more free time, my two younger ones only spend about two hours a day and have more time to pursue other interests and hobbies.”

Facilitating self-learning

Haslinda Halim said she decided to home-school her five children after finding out that her third child, who is dyslexic, was struggling to cope with studies in both government and private schools.

Haslinda, 42, then decided to try home-schooling her daughter, and told the rest of her children that they would also be given the option if it proved workable. 

She said she was also keen to find an alternative for her eldest son, who did not seem to be interested in most things, despite being a good student in school.

“He got 8As for his PMR in Form Three and when I asked him what he wanted to do after that, he told me he hated science but would take it anyway for Form Four as all his friends were doing it.

“I felt it was not right.

“Many people do not realise that it is unfair to ask a 16-year-old to choose, they have not been exposed to a variety of things… to limit their options to science or arts, it’s just not fair,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

Haslinda, a pharmacist by training, also felt that the focus on exams in schools has killed enthusiasm for learning.

“I am not generalising, I know there are kids who do well in exams, but I did not want that for my children,” she said. 

Now a stay-home mum, Haslinda said when she pulled her children out of school, many of her friends and family members questioned her move.

“My parents were not happy. They asked me if I thought I could do a better job than the schools, especially since my son was doing well.”

But like Jessica, Haslinda says she has no regrets and has been able to handle all her children’s studies despite having a newborn baby.

She said that there was not much teaching she had to do, as her role was to facilitate and guide them.  

“I realised that you can only teach a kid so much, it is more effective for them to learn on their own.

“All you need is a curious child, if the child feels learning is interesting, then half your job is done.

“We guide them but the main learning is done by them.”

She also said when electronic devices were taken away from children, they started to explore and did experiments which failed, and this fuelled their interest in subjects, such as physics, chemistry and biology.

“When we studied these subjects back in school, it was because we had to sit for exams.

“But if you change the way you teach them and they see physics and chemistry in real life, even the most boring subjects like history become more interesting.”

Haslinda is also relieved to be spared the morning chaos of getting uniforms ready, deciding the lunchbox to getting them to school on time.

“Today is a school day and my kids are having a great time at Kidzania, because they have the whole place to themselves,” she said on a Wednesday afternoon.

Not for everyone

Unlike Jessica and Haslinda, Vicky Ganesan found home-schooling too restrictive an environment and no interaction with other children.  

Her two sons were initially enrolled in a home-schooling centre after she moved back from Australia, but after a year, she placed them in an international school, as she felt they were not getting exposed to a proper school environment.

“The children would sit in cubicles and do their work and raised their hands if they needed help from the teacher. It was like an office setting. 

“My concern was that if kids studied like this, how would they be able to get along in a university campus where everybody mixes and mingles.”

VIcky also believes that it is important for children to interact and socialise with other kids while learning and this was only possible in a school setting.

“My kids have that in their international school, it’s like being in a university campus and they get to do a whole range of activities with their friends, such as swimming and using the gymnasium.”

Jessica agreed that the negative side of children staying home was that they were not part of any social circle, but said she tried to mitigate this by having cooperation workshops with other home-schoolers and their parents.

“For instance, every Thursday we go to a park and do science lessons together.

“We have about eight children and the mothers take turns to do the lesson.”

- TMI