THE report on a school in Tanjung Malim charging students 10 sen for using the toilet during non-recess hours caught my attention.

My school contemplated doing the same thing when our new toilet was built. The decision raised two key issues in our education system that needs to be addressed.

First, are schools being provided with adequate funding for development? If schools have to resort to charging an entrance fee to build new facilities for their students, maybe it is time that we re-look such allocations to schools.

If we can spend RM12bil to build projects on the Iskandar Development Region, I bet we can find some money to spare for our schools to maintain and improve their facilities.

The second issue that demands our attention is that of students skipping classes. Such occurrences are often quickly blamed on students who lack discipline and are not serious about their studies.

While this is true to a fair extent, I think it should also be appropriate for us to look into the curriculum we are implementing in schools.

While I admit that my school did a great job of preparing me for the SPM, I have to admit that it wasn’t the friendliest environment for learning with the absurd amount of focus on doing well.

Are we doing our best or are we too busy training our students to attain As in public examinations?

Schools should be a place where students discover their fields of interest and passion. It should help them find the career that best fits their strengths.

Skipping class would be the last problem we would be dealing with. Its time we gave our students better facilities and an improved curriculum.

TIMOTHY WONG,

Warrensburg, Montana, USA.

Source: The Star – January 9, 2008