I enrolled my child in the new Wawasan (Vision) school hoping that the quality of teachers would be better. However, this is not the case. The quality of teachers we have these days is appalling, with the exception of a handful few.

The respect shown by teachers, and administrators in the Wawasan National Primary school to parents, is depressing. Parents have been passed condescending remarks as well as shouted at on the third day the Wawasan school opened. All these were done in front of the pupils and teachers. Are these the moral values we are imparting to our children?

The lack of communication among parents, teachers, and the Education Ministry is appalling. Most parents are afraid of complaining directly to the school for fear of repercussions on their children. Perhaps the best way would be for every school to form an Internet forum where parents can give feedback on the experiences we face in schools. It may be better if every class can have its own e-group.

The school or the Education Ministry should monitor the feedback if they are serious about instilling confidence in the Vision school project. They should make an effort to nip problems in the bud.

The parent-teacher association (PTA) has not been formed either. The headmaster is always having one excuse or another saying he needs to meet the minister or director of education to get this done.

Meanwhile our children are in dire need of a good education system. It is their democratic right, and we can't do anything without the PTA in place.

The school doesn't even have a telephone yet and there are not enough teachers. Some classes have overrun their capacity — there are classes with 48 pupils. Is this the 'quality' school we wish to introduce to the rest of the country?

Pupils are also required to bring a plastic bag for their rubbish as the wastebasket in the class is meant for the teacher only. This is really perplexing.

The latest requirement is that the children have to bring their own storybooks to read during recess as they are required to read after they have finished snacking. Those who did not bring any books have their names taken down by the prefect.

And who can we air our grievances to? The headmaster is too busy attending kursus (courses) and visiting the kementerian (ministry). If he is always so busy, it's about time he learns how to use the Internet so that we can at least e-mail him our grouses.

To cap our concerns, the school syllabus is not only not well designed, but it is actually unsuitable. My child who is in Standard One of the National Wawasan school came back with homework, an extract of which is enclosed here (see letter's end) for the readers to judge if it befits the understanding of a seven-year-old.

The teacher had neither explained the words nor the homework to the kids. It was more like homework for the parents than the child. I tried to explain as much as I could to my child, but realised that it was futile as there were just too many words that my child didn't understand.

The teachers do not seem to care if the work may be beyond the understanding of young minds. Gone are the days when the education system was designed for the steady progress of the students. Standard One teachers had to ensure the pupils have a good grasp of writing, spelling, speech and simple sentence construction before moving on to more complicated work.

The emphasis then was to ensure the children understood what the lesson was all about. Now the emphasis is to bombard the children with as many words as possible and expect them to cope somehow. Or is it just bad planning on the part of the teachers or education ministry?

Judge for yourself if these homework extracts for Moral Studies and Bahasa Malaysia are suitable for seven-year-olds:

Isi tempat kosong dengan perkataan yang sesuai:

jiran, ternampak, memelihara, mengurung, ponteng, rugi, berkat, kaum, mengganggu, bermuafakat

  1. ___ sekolah ialah perlakuan yang tidak baik. Pelajar akan ___ jika dia tidak pergi ke sekolah. Orang ramai yang ____ pelajar yang ponteng sekolah perlu melaporkan hal itu kepada pihak sekolah.

  2. ___ ialah orang yang tinggal paling hampir dengan kita. Kita mestilah hidup berbaik-baik dengan jiran. Jika kita ada ____ anjing, kita patut __ anjing peliharaan kita supaya tidak __ jiran kita.

  3. Kita hidup di Malaysia yang aman, tetapi kita semua bersatu-padu. Kita mestilah __ untuk kepentingan semua kaum. Hidup bermuafakat membawa __.

Bulatkan jawapan yang betul

  1. Kita hendaklah ___ dengan baik-baik sebelum bertindak
    A. berfikir
    B. belajar
    C. termenung

  2. Kita perlu mempertimbangkan __ sebelum membuat keputusan.
    A. upahnya
    B. kesannya
    C. ganjarannya

  3. ___ sekolah adalah perbuatan yang merugikan.
    A. Hadir
    B. Mengecat
    C. Ponteng

  4. Kita akan __ jika melanggar undang-undang.
    A. dibenci
    B. didenda
    C. dipuji

Bahasa Malaysia Tahun Satu

Baca petikan di bawah dengan teliti.

Sepak raga bulatan ialah sejenis permainan tradisional yang terkenal di kalangan masyarakat Melayu. Pada zaman dahulu, permainan ini diminati oleh golongan istana. Biasanya, permainan ini dimainkan pada waktu petang untuk mengisi masa lapang.

Permainan ini mempunyai tekniknya yang tersendiri. Para pemain akan berdiri dalam satu bulatan. Bola raga akan disepak oleh para pemain secara bergilir-gilir. Pemain yang paling banyak membuat sepakan akan dikira sebagai pemenang.

Kini, permainan sepak raga bulatan kurang popular. Sebaliknya, para pemain lebih suka memainkan permainan ini di gelanggang. Permainan ini kini dikenali sebagai sepak takraw.

A. Baca pernyataan di bawah. Kemudian, tuliskan permainan yang berkaitan dengan pernyataan tersebut.

Sepak raga bulatan, tingting, wau, seremban

  1. Permainan ini popular di Kelantan. Diperbuat daripada buluh dan kertas. Dimainkan selepas musim menuai.
    Permainan: ____

  2. Dimainkan dalam bentuk bulatan. Sesuai untuk kanak-kanak lelaki. Menggunakan kepala dan kaki ketika memainkannya.
    Permainan: ___

  3. Dimainkan oleh kanak-kanak perempuan. Mereka duduk ketika bermain. Memerlukan tujuh biji batu.
    Permainan: ___

  4. Garisan perlu dibuat sebelum memainkannya. Pemain perlu melompat. Memerlukan dua orang pemain atau lebih.
    Permainan: ____