I AM responding to Irked by ridiculous school rules as well as Ensure pupils are safe (The Star, Feb 21).

First of all, I certainly agree with Irked Parents of Seremban on the ridiculous school rules.

What were mentioned in the letter are just a few examples of how schools put too much attention on many trivial matters.

There are many other examples I can quote from my own experience.

Some schools maintain that the tudung must be of a certain length and we have heard of very drastic actions taken against pupils who do not follow the ruling - like using scissors to cut the tudung in school. Already, wearing tudung is a personal choice and making ridiculous rules will just de-motivate the girls.

Often my son told me that his friends got their hair cut by the headmaster for being long. The bottom part of the legs of their pants cannot exceed certain width limits.

My daughter’s school insists that apart from logos and strips being a no-no, socks must be completely white - even a black part which is inside the shoes is not allowed.

All this and many other rules create additional burden and unnecessary problems to the children and their parents, and make school-going a very unpleasant experience.

All my three kids attending different schools told me that they cannot use liquid paper to make corrections, but must use the more expensive correction tapes instead.

Very often they are told to make notes by copying certain parts of their textbooks into their notebooks. Sometimes, they even have to photocopy certain pages of their textbooks and paste them in their notebooks!

When they are asked to do a folio, too much emphasis is given on the format rather than the content. Because our education system is very exam-oriented, the students are given too much homework, and they have to attend tuition classes as well.

Having to carry heavy schoolbags every day to school is an issue raised by so many parents so many times, yet it is still not resolved after many years under different Education Ministers.

Students taking examinations at the end of the year will need to go to extra classes, resulting in inconveniences to them, their parents and the bus operators. This might even jeopardise the safety of these children when they have to wait for their school buses or the parents having to come and pick them up much later than the other students.

Some have to resort to walking home alone, which might put them in danger as mentioned by Nazreen of Mersing.

The whole education system needs a thorough re-engineering. Teachers and students waste too much time and effort on unimportant and sometimes silly matters.

Yes, enforcing discipline is important, but we should not overdo it. It is time to put our focus right. Students must go through a motivating, interesting learning process.

Emphasis should be given more on creativity, thinking process and reasoning, leadership and communication skills, confidence-building and other areas which will prepare them for the real world when they start working.

They should not be trained to just follow rules and instructions without questions, do just what they are told to do and memorise facts and formulas for their examinations. Such an approach will make them grow up being mere followers at work, or worse, they might not even get a job at all as what is happening to thousands of our graduates now.

Equally important is the safety of our kids at school. The Education Ministry must put adequate focus on this aspect. Last but not least, please also stop asking our pupils to go around begging for donations.

We need a real change in our education system. Our focus and priority must be right. Otherwise, the world will be moving fast ahead of us, but we will continue to be busy attending to complaints from the students and parents like Irked Parents, Nazreen, me and many others.

A. HASHIM, Sungai Petani.

Source: The Star – February 22, 2008