UN-Educate Yourself

I have very little faith in education as it is today and much lower regard for what the institutions of higher learning has to offer in terms of what is taught especially when compared to the amount it cost for a student each semester: education it seems has become yet another lucrative businness a sure income maker for institutions and their stake holders. A student today will almost have to sell their soul if not their physical bodies to see themselves through four years of college and what they are being taught is no gaurantee of their success in life after. it is almost a syndicate how today's higher education is being run especially by private institutions vying for as many students as they can harness. luring them with all kinds of enticements towards acquiring a certificate that is supposed to assure them their future. It is short of criminal breach of trust how most of these institutions operates in cohorts with their foreign counterparts and the vicitms are parents who wants what is best for their child. Sadly enough, parents are mostly so conditioned that it almost sacrillage if not irresponsible for a fahter not to make sure his kid gets good education, it is frowned upon by society not to mention relatives and friends Hence the guilt ridden parents are forced to send their kids for higher educations

What is best for the child is not necessarily what is best for the institutions they attend to and most have set curiculums and and students pretty much have little choice in what they study.That the students are forced to abide by regardless if it benifits them in the long run so long as they fit with the program they belong just as in the Marine Corp of the United States recruit. The whole idea is to churn out so called educated minds, as many as possible to fill up the job market.

I have no faith whatsoever in most academiciams; it is today mostly economics. Teaching is a job that earns money and respect for most teachers and schools are where the children are being exploited to conformity for the benifit of the whole, the government the society to be more precise; work hard boy, you will have a job like mine. Education is one of the most lucrative industry in the market today and the cost of a complete set of education per student is phenomenal. Most parents, who were victims of the educational institutions themselves spend most of their lives worrying over if they can afford to educate their children just like other children so that they will not be left behind or out of the job market.

Children for the most enjoy their lives being a part of the educational system as it allows for them to become a member of a group, be able to hook up with others of their age group and spend time hanging out at classrooms and cafeterias while the teachers are busy with their preperations. The genuine and hard core students as are teachers are mostly far fewer in number and these. they see education as a means towards a brighter future or a better placement in the job market. They compete and are ruthlessly competitive by nature and would go to extremes to stay ahead of the game.

My daughter goes to the MMU(Multimedia University) which is also fondly known as the Money making University. This could imply both ways graduation or that the University is making money out of the students, either way it is still all about money. She has incurred a RM20K loan for her studies which is complete in three years. This includes her living expenses and travelling and to date I have invested over five thousand additional amount to cover for when she is short of cash. This semester the University have an additional"Adjustment" cost added to the regular

fees and at RM500 a head the University does not need to explain what this "adjustment" is. Upon moving out of her hostel the University owes her RM350 for the deposit still pending for the past three months but, hey! pay us 500 more if you want to sit for your finals!

Now let us find out what is the real meaning and intention of education. Can

your mind, which has been conditioned by society, the culture in which you have

lived, be transformed through education so that you will never under any

circumstances enter the stream of society? Is it possible to educate you

differently? `Educate' in the real sense of that word; not to transmit from the

teachers to the students some information about mathematics or history or

geography, but in the very instruction of these subjects to bring about a change in

your mind. Which means that you have to be extraordinarily critical. You have to

learn never to accept anything which you yourself do not see clearly, never to

repeat what another has said.

It is highly doubtful that the institutes of higher learning today has the capacity to handle this type of education for the future generation of students, not in the climate it is in. Too many students in one lecture hall and too little interest and time for the teachers to fulfill each students' need, too much beureaucratic mismanagement among other excuses stands in the way. The Malaysian educational system is considered on of the best in Asia led by the Deputy Prime Minister himself, however it is still going through constant change and needs strong policies to ensure that the integrity and purity of institutions delivering is maintained: it is a huge task that is paramount to ensure the success of this country's future.

So, the question is how to bring about the right kind of education so that the mind can withstand all temptations, all influences, the

bestiality of this civilization and this culture. We have come to a point in history

where we have to create a new culture, a totally different kind of existence, not

based on consumerism and industrialization, but a culture based upon a real

quality of religion. Now how does one bring about, through education, a mind that

is entirely different, a mind that is not greedy, not envious? How does one create

a mind that is not ambitious, that is extraordinarily active, efficient; that has a real

perception of what is true in daily life which is after all religion.

Being a multiracial society this issue is critical for us to dwell upon and we cannot put off for a latter date to understand and accomplish the impossible. Our children today are far ahead in their grasp of knowledge in this 'Age of Information' and we especially those involve in education have to remain awaken and proactive in our approach to cater to their need. The old school paradigm is no more legitimate; we have to un-educate our minds.