I have two children studying in a primary school in Bandar Baru Bangi. Believe me, checking their homework can be mind boggling, simply because they have too many books with them.

For instance, my child who is in Year Three has one textbook for Mathematics, one activity book, two practical books called 'Buku Trek' (A and B), and three exercise books! The same goes to other subjects, but it doesn't just end there. Some of the compulsory exercise and writing books also come in different formats and sizes, depending on the subject.

And don't forget, some of the books come with compact discs, too.

To put it simply, both of my children have to bring at least five books to school for most of the subjects, and that explains why their bags are so heavy.

But what really shocked me is that most of these books are rarely utilised. As a parent who has forked out a lot of money to buy books as per list issued by the school at the beginning of the school term, I'm terribly upset with my own findings when checking their books.

My Year Four child couldn't answer me why there are three different exercise books for his Mathematics. Yes, the answer lies with the teacher who requested the kids to do so, or probably the school for coming up with such policy. Even when the mid-term break for the first semester is approaching, only a few pages of these exercise books were utilised.

What is even more shocking is that some of the exercises are (both in exercise and practical books) are not even marked by the teachers!

A check on exercise book for the Music subject reveals another gruesome finding. For a child who has yet missed any class so far, it upset me to see that only one page of the book is consumed. When I asked him why, he told me that his music teacher teaches the class only on how to sing as she herself has no knowledge about music.

I can't blame her as she is a Science teacher who is asked to teach the subject due to shortage of teacher in the school. By right the school principal must have foreseen this problem and take necessary action to avoid shortages of teachers.

As for the CDs, pupils in my sons' school can only dream of enjoying their contents as the computer lab has yet been used to date. Pity the children whose parents can't afford to buy a computer at home.

Thinking about all these make me wonder whether our education approach now is better than before. When I was in primary school in the 1970s in a rural area in Perak, I only had one text book and one exercise book for each subject. The teacher would make us copy the questions on the blackboard and we answered in the exercise books.

Thank God, my teachers were very dedicated then (God bless all my teachers) and they hardly missed any class. Alas, my kids told me that it is not uncommon for their teachers to not appear in class, either due to the meetings or for reasons unknown to them.

Last but not least, I hope the government can re-look at its policy for asking pupils to use so many books, especially the work books that only benefit the publishers and book suppliers. Malaysians are already burdened with escalating prices of goods and services, and now I wonder whether parents should continue to be victimised through the purchase of many unnecessary books and materials.

No wonder, education has been very expensive these days.