Education - A modern parent's dilemma

Jeremy's first day to school is probably still some years away. But recent stories I hear from my friends and business colleagues with regards to their children's education experience do warrant some concerns:

One of my ex-colleague - He told me his daughter just completed the Standard 1 final semester in an established Kebangsaan school, but the teacher did not finish the syllabus for certain subjects. I am indeed appalled given that this is only in Standard 1 !

A business colleague - She recently told me her son just 'failed' Bahasa Malaysia in Standard 1. Examples of ejaan for a seven year old kid are words like 'menepati'. Wow! I thought I only learnt this word in upper primary. Even the base word ie tepat is not exactly a word I learnt in Standard 1.

Another interesting or rather bizzare story I heard recently was that one day, the son came back and shared what he learnt to his beloved mom. He put to his mom : " What is 2 push 1?". Initially, the mother did not understand. But after much probing, its actually a math question i.e. a literal translation of "dua tolak satu". As you may be aware, math is now taught in English, due to the poor command of the language, the teacher literally 'translated' from bahasa and hence that was how the notorious "two push one" came about. Sigh

One of my other friend tried the Chinese schools. I was told that after the first year, the students will be streamed between the two best classes and 'the rest'. Only students from the two best classes will be given the best attention by the teaching staff while the rest are left to fend on their own. And also, having huge amount of homework is an understatement. My cousin who already had a 9 year old daughter, and he showed me the mandarin syllabus that his daughter went through in Standard 2. Again, the stuff that was shown to me was I thought to be too difficult for a 8 year old child.

I must say sometimes its a 'blessing' I do not have to grapple with this now although eventually I have to face this a couple of years down the road. It is acknowledged that the national schools may not be the best option at the moment but there are challenges as well with regards to the alternatives.

The chinese national schools are natural alternatives but the rote learning method employed in these schoolsI believe is not in line with modern educational techniques which emphasise on proactive learning and combining fun and learning together. Also, I would like my child to do things beyond the traditional schoolwork so that he can have a balanced childhood. Heaps of homework being loaded on him will not help.

Many of my richer kawan-kawan send their child to international schools. The syllabus and teaching techniques seem superior in teory. But I have never felt comfortable about the environment. The kids will only be exposed to friends from the same social class. I myself came from a chinese national primary school and eventually went on to kebangsaan secondary school; while the facilities in these schools are not the best, but what I gained most was to be able to get a glimpse of the 'real world'. In these schools, I have the bright sparks, the school nerds, the pranksters, the naughty ones, the rich ones, the poor ones, the not so poor ones and the sportsmen all put in one single social pot. Exposure to such variety of personalities I believe would equip one better for the real world when they leave school.

So as u can see, its never easy to choose the best for your kids as far as education is concern. Well, I have another few years to think about the matter. Hopefully, by then I can find the ever elusive perfect solution !