The Carnival

25th Jan 2014

Both primary and secondary school celebrated the school's anniversary by organizing a carnival. The VIP was supposed to be the Prime Minister himself as he was a former student, but he could not make it. The schools worked so hard to prepare for the PM's visit but it ended up with the Director of KL's Education Department officiating the carnival. 

The atmosphere in the primary school (my 10 year old's school) was alike a Malay wedding with students playing 'kompang' and holding the 'bunga manggar'. The children in uniform such as the prefects, scouts and red crescent societies were there lined-up to salute as the VIP passed. God knows how long they practised to get their salutes right. The climax was a performance of Malay, Chinese and Indian traditional dances by the pupils. The Chinese dance had no Chinese pupils and Indian dance had no Indian pupils. Some of the boys wore make-up and were dolled up like girls. I think the female teachers must have got carried away, or could it be the parents' who prepared the boys? The boys did well and looked cute, but the dance itself was not well coordinated/choreographed. I suppose there is only so much the teachers' can do.

I notice a trend of treating kids like kids in this school. They were always told what to do, instructions and instructions, never talked to like thinking human beings. The teacher plays the role of a parent rather than the educator. 

The carnival saw many groups selling food, drinks, merchandise, books, insurance plans?, etc. Some creative ones put up game stalls, and a mini petting zoo (more like rabbit-petting). There was also a horror house which saw many students queuing to enter. It was more excitement for the secondary boys as the neighbouring secondary girls' school were also in the queue.

Also at the secondary school level, there was the usual band display, quite impressive. This was followed by a cake cutting ceremony. The speech by VIPs were preceeded with the customary doa recital. I sometimes wonder what the non-Muslims do when the doa recital goes on, do they pray to their own God, fiddle with their mobile phones, look blank...wouldn't it be great if some acknowledgement were given to the non-Muslims who are obviously present, like please join us in saying a prayer in your own way for example...I looked at my boys and they stared stone-faced into space. I guess they have learnt to adapt.

Well, I took the opportunity to check out my kids' classrooms and here is what I found...

Standard 4 - the classroom had tables and chairs for about 34 students, a big number. My boy has got a seat right in front to the left side of the teacher. I am not too happy about this as it means the board is not in front of him but rather on his side. Where he came from, only the weak or the most disruptive kid was placed close to the teacher and all others were subject to rotating seats. 

There was nothing much educational on the notice boards. Worst of all, the classroom was strewn with rubbish on the floor and inside the desks. My boy told me it is usually like this when he enters the class. I also noticed an Islamic educational poster on the board. As for the curtains, they looked centuries old and badly in need of washing. I would love to volunteer just to spruce up the classroom a bit..

Now moving on to my other kids' school..

Form 1 - The class room has high ceilings and bay windows, so it is spacious, airy and has the potential to be best-looking. This image however is marred by the presence of rubbish such as torn papers, pencils and old books as well as leftover food and styrofoams in the desks. I checked my son's desk and yes, it was full of  rubbish. I asked him if it was always like this, he said yes. Most stuff are left by the Form 4 morning session boys. I think the last subject teacher or Class Monitor of both morning and afternoon sessions should do a check inside the desks before letting the boys go. All pupils who leave rubbish behind should have their names on the demerit list.

When I left, I was saddened, if this was one of the better schools in KL, what about those without the title?