Malaysia is spending heavily to bring information technology (IT) to the classrooms. But in our fascination with technology, we neglect the basics.
Examine the latest budget: RM978.8 million to supply teachers with computers, LCD projectors, and other IT gadgets, while only RM850 million to implement single-session schools. Hidden elsewhere is the amount to be spent on teacher training. Obviously it is of a magnitude considerably smaller, thus not meriting a separate line item.
The essential element to successful learning remains the well-trained teacher who can capture the imagination of her students. Our job is to ensure that she gets the necessary tools and support to do her job well. I venture that we would contribute more to the learning environment if we air-conditioned the classrooms than if we were to provide computers. Teachers know how difficult it is to get the pupils' attention in the heat of the day.
Air-conditioning is also cheaper. Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew once referred to it as the greatest invention of the millennium. It enables those in the tropics to compete intellectually with those in the temperate zone. Seeing how far the island republic has progressed, he may be on to something profound.
If my suggestion seems dramatic, consider this. We would do more by providing musical instruments like recorders, violins and clarinets, and music teachers. Early exposure to music helps not only in hand-eye coordination but also in abstract thinking. My point is that there are other priorities ahead of computers.
Limits of IT
I live in Silicon Valley, California, the nexus of IT, and I use computers in business as well as at home. IT boosts my productivity immensely, and I would be lost without it. I use computers to access patients' records and to look up the latest journals. I researched, wrote, edited, and transmitted this essay electronically, and I will read the final version on the Web. These are the wonders of IT. But IT is no substitute for my clinical competence or writing ability.
Likewise, IT enhances and extends the reach of but does not substitute for the competent teacher. This notion that teachers could be mere facilitators and that teaching involves merely switching on the laptop and LCD projector is laughable. Teachers must be knowledgeable and have pedagogical skills to engage their students.
Our schools are fast becoming the hobbyhorse of ambitious politicians. A minister out to impress his religiosity insisted that Islamic Studies be mandatory. Another suggested teaching entrepreneurialism, and yet a third would have his pet subject of tourism be in the curriculum. These politicians forget that there are only so many hours in the school day.
More recently Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi calls for teaching IT in schools. I do not know what he means by that. If he means teaching students to be computer literate, that is, to be able to use computers, then surely you do not need it to be a subject in school. Even the mosque in Section 14, Petaling Jaya, offers such classes.
I once taught a visitor from Malaysia how to use a word processor and then had him log onto the Internet and register for free e-mail, and by the time my wife was ready with dinner, he had already sent his first e-mail. I do not understand the big fuss over teaching IT.
In Mauritius they could train villagers to use computers, and after a few sessions these ladies were downloading the latest fashion off the Internet for their sewing classes.
Computers in classrooms?
But if the Deputy Prime Minister means computational literacy , meaning the ability to think digitally and understand the language and technology of IT, then that would be a different matter.
There have been attempts to teach programming like Basic at primary schools, but that fell by the wayside, as is the more recent Logo. But others are in the pipeline, the most promising being Boxer. But these are still, to use the ubiquitous phrase of the Web, "under construction." Malaysia should participate in these leading edge trials, but only under research protocol.
Frankly I do not think that Abdullah knows what he means. To him and others, IT and computers are simply the latest buzzwords to sprinkle their speeches.
Even if we do have computers in schools, that alone would not be enough. The current rates for Internet hookups must be overhauled to allow for flat charges. Otherwise schools would be burdened with prohibitive phone bills negating whatever benefits the computers would confer.
The Berkeley astronomer Clifford Stoll in his book, High Tech Heretic , goes so far as to say that computers do not belong in the classroom. He is overstating the case, but his point is well taken. Computers are expensive; they take funds away from libraries and laboratories, and teacher training. Consider that the minister of education recently announced grants of RM5k to RM15k for schools to buy books in English. That is less than the price of one computer and LCD projector!
Computers are also major distractions. I would rather have teachers teach writing using the word processor, with the emphasis on writing. Likewise, teach science experiments first and then on how to use the spreadsheet to present the data.
No shortcuts
Success in teaching science and mathematics in English depends on having well-trained teachers. Getting them should the highest priority. Yet today all we hear are "quickie" schemes to mass-produce them. There are no shortcuts to attracting and training good teachers.
I suggest that some teachers' colleges be converted to English medium to train teachers of English, science, and mathematics. Special allowances, as suggested, are also timely.
We would enhance the learning environment if we have single-session schools. With double sessions the last period of the morning session and the first of the afternoon are wasted, with students distracted with the commotion of shift change. Studies by the World Bank document the tremendous wastage of hours with double sessions.
To achieve this we must allow for private schools and have open tenders for school projects. The current practice of restricting bids to only bumiputra unnecessarily raises the costs. While that may be great for those successful contractors, the price would be borne by those precious young minds.
So before spending money on computers for teachers, I would first use the funds on the teachers so they can get better training and be better paid.
Adapted from the writer's latest book, An Education System Worthy of Malaysia , to be published in early 2003. The writer can be contacted at: [email protected].
