Najib Abdul Razak took office as the sixth prime minister of Malaysia almost two months ago. He took office with a vision for Malaysia and for Malaysians ie, his ‘1Malaysia' vision.

Initially, many Malaysians were skeptical about the viability of Najib's vision. But after seeing the changes he has brought during his past two months in office, we could see that he means what he says.

If the support for Najib's vision is endorsed by all major communities and is strengthened then the BN can win back the seats currently held by Pakatan Rakyat. However, Najib and his team must show their sincerity and fairness in the execution of the ‘1Malaysia' vision.

The seventh value of the eight values of Najib's ‘1Malaysia' is education. It is no surprise that education is one of the values as education is the main seed we sow for the future of our younger generations.

No doubt the times have changed but a good education is still a sure bet for a better and brighter future. However, success in education is sometimes misunderstood by some students, parents and teachers.

To many of these people, success means the student must score highly in the most number of subjects ie. 17,18 and 19 distinctions. To get this sort of results, the student is reckoned to have sacrificed his/her youth-hood without any time for leisure, sports or healthy entertainment etc.

If the student is a genius then it is a different matter.

So, is it necessary to take so many subject at the SPM (O) level? Many pundits would agree that it would suffice to take just around eight subjects.

If I were to choose the subjects for my examination, I would choose the subjects based on the following criteria ie

1. All the compulsory subjects.

2. The subjects related to my choice of career; and

3, Reserved subjects which will benefit me in a broader spectrum.

One more important appeal of mine to contemporary students is that they shouldn't memorise the subject matter but understand it. The word study means to read, understand and remember. The student who studies by understanding the subjects would be successful not only in his/her examination but also in his/her career.

The teachers, too, must change according to the times. They should not use the same old orthodox methods to teach anymore. Today, multimedia plays important role in teaching.

Hence, the teachers must learn and use it in their teaching in order to make studying more effective and interesting.

The teachers must follow the aspirations of the government and that of the Education Ministry.

Even though the existing directive is that Science and Mathematics should be taught in English, there are students who say that their teachers still use Malay to teach those subjects because they are weak in English.

First of all, why have such teachers been selected to teach these subjects? I also hear that some teachers teaching Moral Studies and ‘Pendidikan Jasmani' (Physical Education) frequently do not turn up for classes. I hope this is not true.

Najib says that we should prepare our current students to fit into the workforce of the near future with good qualities. Of course, this is very much needed in this competitive world.

It is due to this reason I suggest that ‘Pendidikan Moral' (which has been taught for so many years) be replaced with Bimbingan Motivasi for the Form 4 and 5 classes. ‘Bimbingan Motivasi' should be made compulsory for all students and should be an exam subject at the SPM level.

I believe that education is very sensitive and important and an area which needs sincerity and truthfulness from the students, teachers, parents and the ministry of education.

It is a good news that the new Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, is also the Education Minister. Let us hope he comes up with some positive changes with the authority he has.