I wish I’d sent my children to international school

 

I have been working as a matron to six-year-old Adham for over a year now. This change of profession was not planned but a result of the pandemic.

Early this year, Adham joined an international school located in Petaling Jaya. The classes were conducted hybrid at the time, allowing online students to join lessons conducted in physical classrooms via Google Class.

The reason for this was to satisfy the demand from many parents who were still sceptical about the safety of their children following the pandemic.

Being a product of national school myself, and having sent my own children to national school for patriotic reasons, I was quite intrigued with the education system at the international school.

Adham’s journey began with a short interview via Google Meet. He spent a few minutes interacting with a school representative where his communication skills and reading skills were tested.

During week one of school, I sat next to Adham during his online classes, making sure he follows his lessons and does not face any technical difficulties. My role was more of an observant and not an assistant.

I must say that I was rather surprised with the classes he attended, especially since he is just six. The academic subjects and curriculum activities were combined well to ensure a very interesting day at school.

Among the academic subjects I was impressed with was Social Intelligence, where students were taught about social skills, how they can make their lives and the lives of others better by learning how to conduct themselves and making smarter choices in their daily routines.

International Primary Curriculum, or IPC in short, was another brilliant addition to the syllabus where science, history, geography and technology are merged into one compact lesson plan.

Information & Communication Technology, or ICT, trains the students to be computer savvy, enhance their typing skills and learn all about internet safety.

Every student, regardless of race, is expected to learn all the subjects together, including English, Bahasa Melayu, Mathematics and Mandarin.

Islamic Studies is also offered to Muslim students; however, this particular class is offered only once a week and is scheduled after school hours. Since there is no compulsion for Muslim students to join the class, Adham gladly skips his Islamic Studies, every week!

Effective learning system

What blew my mind during the first month of school was seeing the students being trained to make presentations because the school assessment for all main subjects requires students to present their coursework to the class.

I watched Adham discussing his course work plans with his teacher, on how he was going to deliver his presentation, the props he had to create, the content and the duration he needed. It was spectacular!

The teachers at this international school are also remarkable. Once when a teacher was talking about the life cycle of butterflies during an IPC class, a student raised his hand to comment on the teacher’s drawing of a caterpillar. Asking his teacher why she drew many legs on the caterpillar, the boy explained that all insects have six legs.

“I watched on National Geographic that caterpillars only have six legs. The rest are called prolegs and they are not real legs,” said the boy.

“Really? Why don’t we Google it?” said the teacher before sharing her Google findings on the smart projector with the rest of the class. “You are absolutely correct. Thank you for sharing that with the class. I learned something new today, thanks to you!”

The teacher’s reaction to the student’s question and the manner in which she responded was absolutely fantastic. While most teachers in national schools would instantly remind students who the teacher is and shut them up, this international school teacher celebrated her students’ knowledge and encouraged them to share it with the class.

After months of observation, I can confidently say that I have seen the same attitude in many teachers in the school. Thanks to them, learning has become effective, students become better thinkers and independent learners.

Students find comfort in knowing that school is a safe place where they can share their knowledge with teachers and friends – and be celebrated for it.

Skills enhancement programmes

Last August, Adham began attending physical classes. He enjoys school tremendously and is genuinely interested in his school activities. Besides the engaging academic classes, he is excited with the skills enhancement programmes offered.

Martial arts, futsal, dodgeball, drama, dance and music are among the classes he attends at school. The coaches and trainers are not merely teachers, but professionals in their own field. The school invests in bringing these people to share their expertise with the students.

Besides coaching and training, these professionals also inspire students by sharing the stories of their lives and their successes. I remember a sports coach who wowed the students during Adham’s online classes when he told them about his body-building career and his love for skateboards.

He taught the students that a good academic foundation can help them to pursue their passion in whatever field. And this was just one story from one coach.

Watching Adham’s progress every day, I must say I am very impressed with the international school he is attached to. I do not know if other international schools in our country share the same fundamental education system, but I sure hope they do.

In fact, I wish I had sent my own children to international school when I had the opportunity. With teachers and students from all races, religions and walks of life, I do not find anything unpatriotic with international schools.

As a matter of fact, there was nothing patriotic about the national school my children attended during their childhood. Besides singing Negaraku during assemblies and parading national costumes during Merdeka Day, everything else was ‘unpatriotic’.

Improving the education system

Recently Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad made a statement urging the government to improve the national education system in order to convince parents to send their children to national schools instead of international schools.

He claimed that the rising trend for parents to send their children to international schools would cause the education system in Malaysia to become more divided, especially along racial lines, hence breaking up the education system.

Nik Nazmi added that banning Malaysians from attending international schools as previously practised in our country was a good policy, stating that private schools which adopted the national education system were better choices than international schools.

I have to disagree with Nik Nazmi’s opinion. I believe sending children to international schools does not break the education system. I mean, how do you break a system that has already been broken?

I also disagree that sending children to international schools will cause the education system in Malaysia to be racially divided. Seriously, isn’t our national education system itself responsible for racially dividing our children for decades?

In all honesty, having 70 percent Malays, 25 percent Chinese and 5 percent Indians enrolled in national schools does not necessarily assimilate our children – especially when the 70 percent are constantly reminded to be cautious of the 30 percent ‘infidels’.

I don’t know about you, but I rather have 100 percent Malaysians in an international school learning how to be a better human and how to contribute to the world.

A thing of the past

Let’s not deny ourselves, please. Our national education system is a thing of the past. In this ever-changing world we live in today, we have to continuously strive to adopt new systems, methods and approaches to create a school environment which offers an extraordinary learning experience that emphasises on building a stronger human capital.

Our national education system which follows the conventional approach where students are trained to sit quietly, not talk unless given permission to do so, listen to teachers in class, never criticise them and memorise textbooks – does not work anymore.

We need a new system, not just an improved national education system. We need to flush this existing national education system down the toilet and start learning from the international schools.

Do I think we are able to do so? Hell, yes.

Do I think we will do so? Hell, no.

At the end of the day, politicians like Nik Nazmi will continue to talk about improving the national education standards and the ministers will continue to introduce meaningless new policies. But nothing will change.

For what it’s worth, I say leave the choices to Malaysian parents to decide the future of their children, be it national schools, private schools or international schools.

I hope one day, more Malaysians could afford to send their children to international schools and watch their kids reach their fullest potential. Insya Allah. - Mkini

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FA ABDUL is a multi-award-winning playwright and director in the local performing arts scene, a published author, television scriptwriter, media trainer, and mother. Her ultimate mission in life is to live out of a small suitcase.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.