The loud and lengthy press discussion about our school system, as in the case of most other discussions through the letters pages of newspapers, appear to produce heat and noise rather than light and understanding.

A teachers' union official suggested that students were unruly perhaps because teachers were away and he is lambasted, not by the education authorities, but in a newspaper editorial. Apparently, in a guided democracy, discussions are closely guided and their purpose is not to raise problems and suggest solutions but to give the participants the satisfaction of seeing their name in print.

Another newspaper, in a column, suggests that having too many Malay teachers results in students hating the government. Having identified the wrong problem, we go for the wrong solution.

On the other hand, if we are looking for real solutions to real problems, then face the right set of facts. Is it a fact that teachers are often not in class? As a parent of a "premier" secondary school student, I know it is a fact. If so, face the fact that discipline will suffer.

Also, is it a fact that we have a top-heavy education service with too many ministry pen-pushers in too many departments and units and sections on the backs of teachers, asking them to do anything but teach? More specifically, how much time do teachers spend on non-teaching activity, like filling forms, preparing reports and attending meetings?

The question calls for factual answers and journalists worth their money should dig them up, that is, if we a really interested in finding solutions. Another question that arises is, why are the teachers not protesting? Is it because many of them would rather do anything else but teach?

Is it a fact that 80 percent of teachers being female makes discipline a problem in boys schools? If so, why was this allowed to happen and is anything being done about it? Do a large majority of boys dislike going for further studies and, if so, what turned them off studies?

Has education become a passive thing producing passive people, a majority of them women, while the active and creative find school stifling? These are tough questions calling for deep study and honest answers, but the press has apparently been told not to delve too much into tough questions or to suggest answers.