"Education is no longer about the expansion of the child's mind. It is now merely KPI's, the need to do 'well' for the sake of nation's image." - Zashnain Zainal
SPM candidates will be sitting for their final examination tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure most of them will aim for the straight A's. And the reason why I'm writing this blogpost is to share my opinions on straight A's. Personally, I wasn't a straight A's student myself. In fact, I never got straight A's during my school days. Thus, this post might sound a bit contradicting.
Straight A's don't guarantee your future. That's the truth. If anyone ever told you by getting straight A's will promise you a bright future, they lied. But it does make your future seems better. And it does make you easier to get into any universities by scholarship(if you're a Malaysian, being a Malay or Bumiputera in general is enough since we're provided with privileges and top priority).
In my opinion(this is a disclaimer alright), getting straight A's is not healthy for your kids. Well unless your kids are naturally smart. You see, most parents don't send their kids to school for learning anymore. They send their kids to school for one purpose, so they can do well in school and graduate with flying colours and get a decent job with decent salary. In order to achieve that, they tell their kids to get straight A's or as much A's they can get. It's all about the results now, you see. And few other reasons why I said it isn't healthy;
THE PRESSURE
You go to school, tuition, seminar, straight A's programs and such because you parents want you to get straight A's. Some students that I know even get scolded if they got 7A 1B. Their parents demand for perfection. Well, not all of them. This kind of pressure is not healthy for the students. Students should go to school and learn, instead they go to school and memorize. Today's generation of students are designed for examinations. They have set up this kind of mindset in their children's minds; "If it's not straight A's, then it's a failure". These students have to handle the expectations to do well in exams and if they didn't, they're nothing but a disappointment to their parents. This is wrong.
MISUNDERSTANDING
They've been told if they got straight A's in exams, a bright future awaits them. Which is wrong. As I've stated above, straight A's don't guarantee your future. Even though by getting straight A's is better than straight E's, the process in achieve straight A's could oppress your kids and disturb their psychology condition. And what I meant by misunderstanding, they're missing the point of learning and the importance of education. Learning has become memorizing. You don't need to be educated to do well in exams. You just need to know the right answers to the questions without knowing why.
The teachers aren't helping. Most of them teach in class and emphasize on results. It's for the school's image. It's for the nation's image. Students are segregated according to their results. Smart students study with smart students and students who don't qualified to be called as smart study with the students who posses the same intellectual level like them. They're torn apart by the grades. It's like a hierarchy. What's important for them teachers; these smart students do well in exams. If you're not a straight A's student then you're not that important. Go die in a hole(exaggeration is needed here).
Few years back, Malaysia Ministry Of Education has done something good to prevent this matter from getting serious. They've limited subjects you can take for SPM to 10 subjects. If it wasn't 10, I'm sure there'll be a lot of students try to break Nur Amalina Che Bakri record of 17 A's. Crazy.
In conclusion, you can work hard on getting straight A's but don't push yourself over the limit. And don't get the idea wrong. The real world is way harder than getting straight A's. No, I'm not saying by getting straight A's won't do you any good. It's just that education is something more than getting straight A's. Study because you wanna learn and achieve something in your life. Study because you wanna know. Study because you're curious to know why Earth is the only planet that safe to live in. Study because you wanna gain knowledge. Don't make your life depends on a piece of paper. You know you worth more than that. Straight A's are nothing but a beauty in your certification papers.
Well, that's all I want to say. And it's just mere opinions from me. Nonetheless, do your best in SPM and good luck. Real life awaits you ahead :-)
