Brunei HAVE NO FEAR! HAVE YOUR SAY!

MAKING THE SPN21 INTO A GREAT SUCCESS

I have great eagerness to make the SPN21 into a great success. The future of our younger generation and those yet to come depends on this. I would like to make a few suggestions which I hope will be looked at by those in authority.
1. Goal of SPN : Chances for students to achieve full potential.
The real situation : Too many students per class. Impossible for teacher to reach out to every one to ensure that every student achieves his potential.
2. Goal of SPN : To make students be equipped with practical skills.
The real situation : Overcrowding in classes. Impossible for students to sit comfortably in labs and get a chance to do experiments on their own as shortage of apparatus, lack of lab space. Safety of students in the labs? A BIG DANGER!
3. Goal of SPN: Character-building.
The real situation : Too many students in the class, teacher cannot give individual attention to those who need it badly like those from problem homes, etc. These children get ignored, resort to drinking and drugs and influence others. The situation gets unreported as some Principals prefer to maintain their silence and safeguard their school’s good reputation.
4. Goal of SPN: Raise standard of learning and teaching.
The real situation: Classrooms without fans (got fans but not working), faulty aircons, cramped. Can standard of learning be increased when the physical environment is not conducive?
When I was sent overseas, I was shocked to find out that Principals teach in schools. Here Principals do not. DPs do not. Some DPs very cunningly try to show on the master timetable that they have classes but what are they teaching? Nothing but supervising students during library period or doing non-examinable subjects like MIB. I think it is time that Principals and DPs be given at least one class to teach, an examinable one so that they can show the teachers how to produce good results which they press teachers to do. It is only when one does a job that one learns whether or not it is possible to do something. Another fact is that schools have too many SMs which are actually a free ticket to have lesser periods but who actually only wear the SM crown but do no work and instead, delegate the work to others under them, the ordinary teachers and who most often happen to be the new teachers or the daily-paid ones. Some teachers are not confirmed for years for the reason that the Principal is too lazy to write a comment about them. When teachers request the Principal to write a comment about them for pursuing higher studies they give us the look that says “Oh you have given me work to do”.
When a school is faced with shortage of classroom, there must be double session. More teachers must be employed. Teachers should never be burdened with too many students in a class or learning CANNOT go on in the best way. A 5kg washing machine is meant to handle that many clothes. Try putting more clothes into it and you will see that it turns very slowly or doesn’t at all. That’s the way teaching is. Too many students, too many classes per teacher, teaching and learning fails. Overworked teachers produce results - bad ones. So, let’s work together to rectify these major hurdles and make SPN 21 a great success. AMIN.