Chok Suat Ling of the NST did a piece on residential schools in which I was quoted. I think that opening up the residential schools to all races is a good thing in theory but equally as important is the way in which students are taught in these residential schools - critical thinking, tolerance and respect for others, etc... In other words, the environment of teaching is as important as the mix of students who are being taught. I'll reproduce the article in full below for the benefit of our readers. I'll leave you with one last taught, inspired by a fantastic book I read as an impressionable young kid whilst in my first year in Singapore - Does familiarity breed contempt or understanding? (To Kill A Mockingbird)
Opinion: Unity may reside in boarding schools
By : CHOK SUAT LING
Residential schools could play a valuable role in national integration if they were open to all Malaysians regardless of race, writes CHOK SUAT LING.
NURUL Nadia Mohd Izmir spent a large part of her growing years in Sekolah Seri Puteri, a prestigious all-girl residential school.
She recalls the close friendships forged with classmates with whom she not only studied but shared rooms, clothes, food, gossip and girl stuff. Nurul remains in touch with her classmates from SSP, as the school in Cyberjaya is popularly known, even though all have embarked on different pursuits. She herself is now pursuing her degree in Universiti Teknologi Mara.
Although her formative years were spent in a school with an all-Malay student population, Nurul's large network of friends is multiracial. "I have many good Chinese and Indian friends too and I am as close to them as my SSP-mates. To me, everyone is the same irrespective of racial, cultural or religious background."
Nurul gives the lie to the perception that those not exposed to other races at a young age are likely to negatively stereotype people they have never known as individuals. And while some government and private boarding schools are open to all ethnic groups, most are not.
Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah recently observed that the country would benefit from residential schools reflecting a more "complete" composition of Malaysian society. He noted that it was untenable for multicultural Malaysia to segregate schoolchildren according to ethnicity or religion. "The education policy and the implementation of its agendas must make the fostering of religious and racial ties a priority," he said.
Professor Dr Rosnani Hash-im of International Islamic University Malaysia's Institute of Education agrees that schools comprising one ethnic group are not conducive to national integration in the long run.
"For these schools, civics and citizenship education, even if offered in the curriculum, are just academic subjects for examination rather than a practical exercise in deliberation and seeking consensus as a community of Malaysians. There is no opportunity to hear the views of the 'other'."
Rosnani stresses, however, that even if there is going to be open admission for non-Malays, the raison d'etre of residential schools - to help those from the lower socio-economic strata - should continue to be applied.
She points out that private independent Chinese secondary schools would also benefit from having a more ethnically diverse student population, sensitising them to the cultures, traditions and concerns of all Malaysians. National-type Chinese primary schools, however, already have a relatively high non-Chinese enrolment. Of the more than 640,000 students enrolled, almost one-tenth are non-Chinese.
Ong Kian Ming, who runs the education weblog educationmalaysia.blogspot.com, notes that it is not only important that children in residential schools interact with those of other races, but also how they are educated there.
He thinks it unfair to group all residential schools under one general banner. "The Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK), for instance, although exclusively Malay, is also a place where students are taught to think critically and challenge themselves," he says.
"I have not met many MCKK students who are narrow-minded and cannot or do not want to interact with the other races. But then MCKK students come from middle- to upper-class Malay families in urban areas and go to top universities abroad, which provides them the opportunity to interact with other races."
Some argue that opening up residential schools to non-Malays would not work if the parents and students themselves are not interested. Mara junior science colleges (MRSM) set aside 10 per cent of places for non-Bumiputera students, but fewer than 100 non-Bumiputera students are enrolled in the more than 30 MRSM around the country.
"When the policy was introduced in 2002, the response was quite good but the numbers slowly dwindled," reports MCA education bureau chief Dr Wee Ka Siong. At first, non-Bumiputera students were placed in five colleges, but now they are spread among all 30, keeping their numbers in each college negligibly low.
"They are greatly outnumbered in these colleges," says Wee.
"Non-Bumiputera parents are not comfortable sending their children where they can feel like outsiders. For instance, during prayer times or when there are religious programmes, the non-Malay students will be left to their own devices."
Wee is sure that if the 10 per cent quota is removed, more non-Bumiputera students would enrol. "All residential schools should open their doors to non-Malays. We need to force students to mingle for the sake of unity. When they study and play together, meaningful friendships can be forged."
He admits it won't be easy. "There will inevitably be unhappiness. Even if it were made policy, the schools may not be receptive."
Ong suggests establishing new residential schools enrolling students of all races, along the lines of Kolej Yayasan UEM or KYUEM, but at secondary school level. KYUEM, owned by Yayasan UEM and part of the UEM Group, is a fully residential college modelled on top British boarding schools.
However, Jasmine Adaickalam, a service consultant with the MIC's Yayasan Strategik Sosial, cautions that it won't be enough to "just put everyone together and say 'this is it'".
"We should learn about diversity in a mutually appreciative environment. In India, where I am from, all students learn about Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. Only when we really know and understand each other's beliefs and value systems would we be able to appreciate one another."
Rosnani sees a single national school system as the best way to unity. "We need to develop a single system that caters for the needs of all ethnic groups - mother-tongue languages, traditions and cultures, and Arabic for Muslims," she says.
"I believe having a single school session which involves prolonging school hours and providing school lunch for needy students would help achieve this."
For Nurul, it is simpler. "Family upbringing is the most important thing," she says. "My parents lead by example. They have close friends of all races, and from childhood encouraged me to do the same."
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Ed Links (Now with Less Ed)
Chaim Soutine, “Return From School After the Storm”
The Future in Academic Reading: iRex Iliad review
We’re book people. The usual result is we’re laden down with overstuffed briefcases and bags every time we get on planes . . . . Since purchasing my Iliad, I’ve gotten this under control. Everything that I get in text format, I PDF in a big friendly font, and I upload to the Iliad before traveling.
[I want one when they get cheaper and a little better, and got a two-side-at-once scanner for our Department in preparation for the imminent death of boxes full of articles—you can take notes on the page and highlight with this thing—AS]
Working Mothers: Who's Opting Out?
Are mothers dropping out, or being pushed out, of the workforce? What are the labor statistics for moms as a whole? What are the trends among the more privileged women? Ours was an all-star panel—including Heather Boushey, Ellen Bravo, Linda Hirshman, Joan Williams, and a brilliant volunteer in the audience, Pamela Stone, each of whom has researched and written a great deal about working families.
Just Interesting: Is Atomic Radiation as Dangerous as We Thought?
A mounting number of studies are coming to some surprising conclusions about the dangers of nuclear radiation. It might not be as deadly as is widely believed.
Over the current business cycle, the share of "good jobs" fell substantially (2.3 percentage points), following much smaller drops over the same period in the 1980s (down 0.5 percentage points) and 1990s (down 0.1 percentage points) business cycles.
The Geography of Hate
The level of hate crimes in the
Where the Wild Things Came From
How children's books evolved from morals to madcap fun. [A slide show.]
A new cosmopolitanism is in the air
Sociologist Ulrich Beck presents seven theses to combat the global power of capital.
The Dance of Evolution, or How Art Got Its Start
By her reckoning, the artistic impulse is a human birthright, a trait so ancient, universal and persistent that it is almost surely innate. But while some researchers have suggested that our artiness arose accidentally, as a byproduct of large brains that evolved to solve problems and were easily bored, Ms. Dissanayake argues that the creative drive has all the earmarks of being an adaptation on its own. The making of art consumes enormous amounts of time and resources, she observed, an extravagance you wouldn’t expect of an evolutionary afterthought.
More Teens Victimized by Cyber-Bullies
The schoolyard bully has gone digital.
The Story of Measurement
The Story of Measurement covers not merely the obvious elements that we record – distance, time, temperature – but also the more intriguing: body mass, light frequencies, scientists’ peer group ratings and stress of both humans and building materials.
Let Me Count the Ways: A book in which one isn't the loneliest number.
And her haul of facts makes for a tasty bouillabaisse of the numbers found in language, math, love, literature and everyday life. For example, she tells us that, in the 18th century, the English Royal Treasury maintained their numerical accounts in the form of marks on wooden sticks called tallies. Having ported their system to paper, they began burning the vast number of outdated tally sticks in the furnaces beneath the Parliament buildings -- which set fire to the paneling and burned down both Houses!
Good Stories, Good Math
Preschoolers who can tell good stories develop good mathematical skills by the first grade
Automated decision-making: The death of expertise
Mr Ayres predicts that automated decision-making will soon see other professional jobs going the same way as that of the bank-loan officer, once well-paid and responsible and now a mere call-centre operative, paid peanuts to parrot the words a computer prompts. [And look what a wonderful job these loan officers did—AS]
Your preferences are in your genes: Genetic Influences on Economic Preferences
We find strong evidence that economic preferences are heritable. For altruism as well as risk preferences the genetic effect is significantly different from zero. In our best fitting models, the point estimates suggest that 35 percent of the variation in altruism and 27 percent of variation in risk preferences is explained by genetic influences.
From Sociological Research Online, a special issue on Pierre Bourdieu: A Critical Tribute in Times of Uncertainty. [Scroll down—AS]
Pre-school Program Shown To Improve Key Cognitive Functions, Self-control
| An innovative curriculum for pre-schoolers may improve academic performance, reduce diagnoses of attention deficient hyperactivity disorder, and close the achievement gap between children from poor families and those from wealthier homes, according to new research. |
Violent TV, Games Pack A Powerful Public Health Threat
| Watching media violence significantly increases the risk that a viewer or video game player will behave aggressively in both the short and long term, according to a new study. |
Ed Links (Now with Less Ed)
Chaim Soutine, “Return From School After the Storm”
The Future in Academic Reading: iRex Iliad review
We’re book people. The usual result is we’re laden down with overstuffed briefcases and bags every time we get on planes . . . . Since purchasing my Iliad, I’ve gotten this under control. Everything that I get in text format, I PDF in a big friendly font, and I upload to the Iliad before traveling.
[I want one when they get cheaper and a little better, and got a two-side-at-once scanner for our Department in preparation for the imminent death of boxes full of articles—you can take notes on the page and highlight with this thing—AS]
Working Mothers: Who's Opting Out?
Are mothers dropping out, or being pushed out, of the workforce? What are the labor statistics for moms as a whole? What are the trends among the more privileged women? Ours was an all-star panel—including Heather Boushey, Ellen Bravo, Linda Hirshman, Joan Williams, and a brilliant volunteer in the audience, Pamela Stone, each of whom has researched and written a great deal about working families.
Just Interesting: Is Atomic Radiation as Dangerous as We Thought?
A mounting number of studies are coming to some surprising conclusions about the dangers of nuclear radiation. It might not be as deadly as is widely believed.
Over the current business cycle, the share of "good jobs" fell substantially (2.3 percentage points), following much smaller drops over the same period in the 1980s (down 0.5 percentage points) and 1990s (down 0.1 percentage points) business cycles.
The Geography of Hate
The level of hate crimes in the
Where the Wild Things Came From
How children's books evolved from morals to madcap fun. [A slide show.]
A new cosmopolitanism is in the air
Sociologist Ulrich Beck presents seven theses to combat the global power of capital.
The Dance of Evolution, or How Art Got Its Start
By her reckoning, the artistic impulse is a human birthright, a trait so ancient, universal and persistent that it is almost surely innate. But while some researchers have suggested that our artiness arose accidentally, as a byproduct of large brains that evolved to solve problems and were easily bored, Ms. Dissanayake argues that the creative drive has all the earmarks of being an adaptation on its own. The making of art consumes enormous amounts of time and resources, she observed, an extravagance you wouldn’t expect of an evolutionary afterthought.
More Teens Victimized by Cyber-Bullies
The schoolyard bully has gone digital.
The Story of Measurement
The Story of Measurement covers not merely the obvious elements that we record – distance, time, temperature – but also the more intriguing: body mass, light frequencies, scientists’ peer group ratings and stress of both humans and building materials.
Let Me Count the Ways: A book in which one isn't the loneliest number.
And her haul of facts makes for a tasty bouillabaisse of the numbers found in language, math, love, literature and everyday life. For example, she tells us that, in the 18th century, the English Royal Treasury maintained their numerical accounts in the form of marks on wooden sticks called tallies. Having ported their system to paper, they began burning the vast number of outdated tally sticks in the furnaces beneath the Parliament buildings -- which set fire to the paneling and burned down both Houses!
Good Stories, Good Math
Preschoolers who can tell good stories develop good mathematical skills by the first grade
Automated decision-making: The death of expertise
Mr Ayres predicts that automated decision-making will soon see other professional jobs going the same way as that of the bank-loan officer, once well-paid and responsible and now a mere call-centre operative, paid peanuts to parrot the words a computer prompts. [And look what a wonderful job these loan officers did—AS]
Your preferences are in your genes: Genetic Influences on Economic Preferences
We find strong evidence that economic preferences are heritable. For altruism as well as risk preferences the genetic effect is significantly different from zero. In our best fitting models, the point estimates suggest that 35 percent of the variation in altruism and 27 percent of variation in risk preferences is explained by genetic influences.
From Sociological Research Online, a special issue on Pierre Bourdieu: A Critical Tribute in Times of Uncertainty. [Scroll down—AS]
Pre-school Program Shown To Improve Key Cognitive Functions, Self-control
| An innovative curriculum for pre-schoolers may improve academic performance, reduce diagnoses of attention deficient hyperactivity disorder, and close the achievement gap between children from poor families and those from wealthier homes, according to new research. |
Violent TV, Games Pack A Powerful Public Health Threat
| Watching media violence significantly increases the risk that a viewer or video game player will behave aggressively in both the short and long term, according to a new study. |
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