COMMENT BY V.K.CHIN
One fact that seems to escape most Chinese parents who enrol their children in Mandarin-medium national type primary schools is that they will just be studying there for six years.
All the stress and frustrations the parents and children have to undergo is just to ensure that they do well in their UPSR or Standard Six examination.
Some parents are so serious in preparing their loved ones for this test that they give the impression that they are readying their children for university.
They should realise that the UPSR is just the first step in the academic ladder and that the children will have another five years to go before the SPM or Form Five examination.
Those who do well in the UPSR will not necessarily perform well in the PMR three years down the road.
If the parents and children get so stressed preparing for the UPSR, then image the nightmare they have to go through for the PMR, not to mention the SPM and STPM.
Few will deny that the Mandarin-medium primary schools prepare their pupils well, in mathematics at least. If they should continue to pursue their upper secondary education in the Mandarin medium, they will have to do so at independent schools, which are not funded by the Government.
Under the Constitution, non-Malays are guaranteed that they will have primary education in their mother tongues, which is Mandarin or Tamil, but not for secondary level in these two languages.
These secondary schools will have to depend on the support of their respective communities for funds, and the Chinese have never stinged when it comes to education.
With annual donations, these schools are able to survive, though of course their numbers are limited; and no matter how committed they are towards education, the Chinese contributions for this purpose are not bottomless.
Anyway, the purpose most Chinese parents send their children to Mandarin-medium schools is to ensure that they have some knowledge of their mother tongue to remind them of their roots.
The pupils will most probably enrol in a national school after their UPSR. If this is the reason, is the pressure and frustrations on the parents and the children really worth it?
The answer will have to be a big NO. Mandarin-medium schools are notorious for piling their pupils with lots of homework, and with the kiasu attitude of some mothers, they will have to attend all sorts of tuition, too.
In the process, the children will not be able to enjoy their growing up years, which must surely be more than just study, study and study in the formative years of their existence.
So parents should give their loved ones a break, that is, if they really love them, and put less pressure on them and themselves. Let the children develop at their own pace.
Just remember that in any examination not everyone will be able to obtain all distinctions. There will always be only one first boy, and another will come out last.
(The Star - 11 January 2006)
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