Caught in a time warp

On a quiet Friday afternoon, I dropped in my relative's office as I was passing by that area. Something like how a mafia henchman drops in at the boss' place to show respect! Anyway, just to say 'hi' and 'bye'. The Man was not in so I ended up with a tete-a-tete with his high society daughter. After the usual pleasantries, the conversation swayed on to her two children's education in an international school. The high heeled Madame managed to enlighten the poor relative (yours truly) on the latest happenings in an international school these days. It was indeed an eye opener!

Leave us kids alone!*

The catch phrase these days in the educators' circle seem to be to protect the psyche of the students and to refrain from creating an aversion to school. In other words, bend over backwards to keep the children happy and to put up with all their tantrums. It is a cardinal sin to ever upset their feelings and learning should be a pleasurable experience for them with no dent in their individual self esteems (ego). Students cannot be reprimanded for making mistakes in class and in their worksheet. They are not required to do corrections for errors in their school work. They do not have to sit for dictation. Red ink cannot be used to mark books as again it will upset them and maybe they would not like to come to school. At the end of the term test, they would not be given placing in class as again it may crush their little egos and may retard their self development. It appears to me that we are dealing with whiny spoilt bred babies and the educators are retarding their growth to adulthood with the ability to endure the trials, tribulations, competitions, failures and what not which is seen in the real dog eat dog world!
The good thing offered by the school is the exposure that the students get in the fields of games, drama and music. Being dissatisfied with the pace and depth of studies, the family members and private tutors were roped in to provide patch up work to fill up the deficiencies in the private school system so as to prepare a well rounded education for her kids to face the real world. And mind you, both kids have not reached double digits in their ages yet!
Hey! Looks like things have not changed much from RRF days. You still depended on tuition teachers and tuition classes even if you are in international schools. And guess what; even tertiary students in college and universities in the Klang Valley employ tuition teachers to teach them. These tuition teacher dependent varsity students are going to lead some multinational companies and perhaps rule the country one day. Scary!!!
*Pink Floyd, 1979: Another brick in the wall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4SKL7f9n58