Towards Improving Our National Education System

Around circles of readers, many have discussed and asked among themselves the appropriateness and the need for Malaysia to streamline their education system and importantly, the effort to improve the quality of our schools as a whole.

Chief among the concerns is the legality of vernacular schools itself vis-á-vis the Constitution and the Education Act 1996.

This I may add has been discussed rather thoroughly here.

But this issue shall be discussed at another time.

My main interpretation of school’s education system is this:

It must be free from any religious or cultural extremities.

In a way, it should be secular. Secular sounds dirty these days. Mainly because the word had been bastardised to the extent, it meant atheism or a belief system that is devoid of any religious connotations. Worse, it meant anti-Islam. However, the definition of secularism with regards to our children’s education should not be taken to the extreme. Certainly it does not mean that one rejects religion and faith in totality.

What we need is moderation.

These days, the majority of school children in national schools are Malays. Therefore, inadvertently Islamic teachings made their way into the schools’ general rules and education philosophy. I assume, those who are more objective as well as those who are not a fan of Anwar Ibrahim will pin point the cause of this ‘Islamisation’ of our national schools and the reason why non-malays shun these schools stemmed from the period when Anwar Ibrahim was the Education Minister.

That too, is an issue that can be discussed in another place.

But what I imagine is a school system that do not put too much emphasis on skin deep outlook on what is Islamic and what is not. It means, an education philosophy that prioritises worldly skills and knowledge instead of just focussing to permeate an intense Islamic culture within a school’s environment.

Without a doubt, this has made non Muslims felt alienated in their own surroundings. Parents were not happy. Even the less conservative Muslims found it hard to digest some of the do’s and don’ts. The effort to educate the children properly seems lost in the midst of all this. As the result, we cannot develop a well rounded Malaysians who are capable to interact with each other with ease.

In other words, the recent education system is worse than the education set in the 60’s, 70’s and till the mid 80’s. Experts pin pointed it due to the degradation of national schools; both in quality and self respect.

The cliché now is the world is changing at a rate faster than our children’s ability to absorb and comprehend all the knowledge. If we burden them with misguided priorities, then our future generations are trapped in a cycle of ignorance, or being mediocre at best.

Toning down religious and cultural extremities enables the school to produce a much healthier environment where tolerance is paramount and it breaks down the barriers between races, castes and classes. Emphasising too much on the ritual demands will not breed respect in fact, will isolate the children from each other. It will be “it’s us against them” mentality. And this does not happen in malay majority schools only.

How to move forward and take that jump in order to escape the mediocrity of our education system?

It is about time the Ministry of Education take a stronger role in steering our children’s future away from the negative elements that have been plaguing it. Elements that have always been sniping and eating away the very fabric of one’s edification in growing up within our Malaysian universe.

The bigger objective here is always a two edged sword. One that can improve via knowledge, a whole generation of Malaysians and one that also inculcate the spirit of togetherness and racial harmony among the children.

Of course this can be done with a single stream national education system. Preferably at the primary level.

Delving into few discussions on the one school system, there are obviously few doubts being raised among the concerned readers. Among others, questions regarding the quality of education and syllabus, quality of teachers and their approach, learning environment and school’s infrastructure as well as its overall ability to coalesce different ideologies, religions and cultures into one symbiotic and workable system.

Generally, many agreed that the holistic performance of the students is very important for their own future and this can only be done if the MOE is not weak in steering its direction and truly knows how improvements can be implemented.

One of the reasons why national schools could not generate enough interests from all levels of society is due to its inability to churn good students across the board. Yes we do have excellent schools that produce a myriad of high achievers. But these schools are far from between. The MOE should make all national schools at par with their more affluent counterparts.

Fortunately, all the points above are being discussed in the national education dialog which have been running since April 2012. They have 9 priority fields which they ought to improve which are:

1. quality of teachers

2. quality of headmasters

3. quality of school

4. curriculum and its evaluation

5. multilingual proficiency

6. post-school opportunity

7. role of parents and community

8. knowledge resources in school and its effectiveness

9. teaching methods and administrative structure

This could be the biggest project MOE has embarked since Penyata Razak in 1956 and Rahman Talib Report in 1960.

On that note, I do hope the MOE will reinstate the PPSMI after reviewing the youtube video below.

Thank you.

_________________________

An article by:

Jebat Must Die

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Are you not ORANG MALAYSIA?

A plea for common sense

A question allegedly from a Form 3 History workbook

This snapshot is currently making its rounds in Facebook pages. And many people are aghast with this type of question and criticise it as against the spirit of 1Malaysia.

To the masses that feed on sensationalised issue and unable to think beyond the typical knee jerk reaction, this question was deeply riled as a racial and political plot to promote the much maligned ‘Ketuanan Melayu’  dogma.

If people would dare to apply their common sense and step back and breathe for awhile, the question posed was in the context of Malayan Union and the struggle of Malayans against their British oppressors.

Obviously the exploits of Datuk Onn Jaafar was learned by all of us and kids these days are not excluded from learning the history of Malaysia.

Try answer the question please.

Done? What have you answered if you were Onn Jaafar? What would you do in order to maintain the status quo of the Malays at that time in the face of being colonised formally by the British through the Malayan Union?

Don’t know? Are you not Orang Malaysia? Why are you offended with this type of question in the first place?

It is part of history.

The snapshot above is from a History subject. It is not a subject about 1Malaysia or current affairs or current political studies.

This is History education.

I wrote sometime back which greatly emphasised this exact issue:

History as a subject has two pronged objectives. One, to instil patriotism into the heart of every citizen from their childhood stage. Two, as source of knowledge on their surroundings and how they perceive their world.

In America, History was a touchy subject for the people especially with the advent of multiculturism among its people. With the influx of foreigners and the calls for equality among the afro-american movement, history as a subject was a sensitive issue indeed.

For example, how do you reconcile the fact that George Washington, the founding father of United States of America, has many black slaves and treated them harshly?

How can one see Abraham Lincoln as one of the greatest President the United States had ever had but at the same time he ‘supported projects to remove blacks from the United States’ and said that ‘blacks could not be assimilated into white society and rejected the notion of social equality of the races’?

Multi-culturism pose a big threat to the learning of a country’s history because history in the eyes of each community living in a particular country is different from one another.

Was the Great Settlement of the Mid West by the white colonials in America a great human achievement for the whites? Or was it a mass extermination of the native Red Indians and their way of life by the europeans?

So what if George Washington owned slaves? So what if Abraham Lincoln was racist?

Each and every American out there reveres them both as the founding father and a great leader based on their achievements alone and what good they had brought to the Americans even centuries after they had passed away.

In other aspects, the native Americans in the USA are very patriotic regardless what happened to their people in the past.

Back in Malaysia, we hear so many negative opposition from the people who are against the subject of history made compulsory in schools. This is precisely because their views came from the racial angle.

All the prejudice, the stereotyping, the paranoia are the by-products of segregated education they experienced in their early childhood. At the very least, their views were contaminated by the very people that champion the need to segregate our children.

In the end, history is being promoted by these clustered group of people as evil and should not be taught to our children. We see so many unsavoury characters in the cyberspace trying hard to re-write history based on fiction and malicious motives.

In any case, like how the Americans are accepting their history, Malaysians must accept their country’s history from the eyes of Orang Malaysia.

The need for racial posturing when it comes to history must be stopped. Only desperate politicians would look through the racial lense and try to skew history to further their agenda for power. People must not look at history as if it is a disease that must be eradicated.  – Full article here.

You may also like to read this.

Punca Polarisasi Perkauman di Negara Ini

 

Ke Mana Hala Tuju Bahasa Kebangsaan?

A Kadir Jasin

DI NEGARA kita, kalau kita tahu sedikit sebanyak mengenai bahasa, kita boleh tahu daripada aliran pendidikan mana seseorang itu melalui pertuturannya.

Baru-baru ini, saya ditemu ramah melalui telefon oleh seorang wartawan Cina mengenai apa yang patut Senator Shahrizat Abdul Jalil lakukan. Dia merujuk kepada saya sebagai “kamu”,

Jelaslah daripada loghat, tata bahasa dan nada percakapannya dia belajar di sekolah Cina dan pergaulan antara kaumnya sangat terhad. Jadi bahasa Melayunya adalah bahasa Melayu sekolah Cina yang digunakan hanya ketika belajar mata pelajaran bahasa Melayu. Dan dia pun bekerja untuk sebuah institusi yang dikawal oleh orang Cina.

Di pihak yang lain, saya ada seorang “murid” Cina yang lulus ijazah dari Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman dan belajar di Sekolah Kebangsaan di Petaling Jaya. Dia tidak boleh berbahasa Cina.

Dalam bahasa harian masyarakat Cina, orang seperti beliau dipanggil “banana Chinese” atau Cina Pisang iaitu Cina pada warna kulit saja. Bahasa utama Cina Pisang adalah Inggeris, walaupun ramai daripada mereka yang fasih bahasa Kebangsaan.

Melayu pun macam itu juga. Ada Melayu sekolah Kebangsaan yang hanya boleh cakap Melayu yang tebal dengan loghat tempatan. Bahasa Inggeris sekadar lulus peperiksaan sahaja, itu pun tidak ramai. Malangnya, bahasa Melayu mereka juga tidaklah hebat mana.

Kemudian kita ada sekumpulan orang Melayu yang tidak fasih berbahasa Melayu sama ada kerana di rumah tidak bercakap Melayu atau kerana dihantar ke sekolah antarabangsa atau sekolah persendirian yang tidak menggunakan bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa pengantar. Antara mereka termasuklah anak Menteri dan orang kaya Melayu.

Saya hantar semua anak-anak saya ke sekolah aliran kebangsaan. Oleh sebab sekolah mereka dalam bandar dan di kawasan campuran, maka mereka berkawan dengan semua kaum dan fasih sekurang-kurang dua bahasa iaitu Melayu dan Inggeris.

Ini membawa saya kepada laporan Malaysiakinimengenai Ahli Dewan Rakyat DAP Bakri, Muar, Er Teck Hwa, yang tidak fasih bahasa Kebangsaan.

Portal berita itu melaporkan adalah sangat mencabar menjadi Ahli Parlimen apabila seseorang itu tidak fasih bahasa Malaysia.

Dalam laporan itu, Er mengaku yang dia terpaksa berusaha keras kerana tidak fasih bahasa Kebangsaan kerana belajar di sekolah aliran Cina.

Anehnya, menurut laporan Malaysiakini, Er mengaku yang dia kerap mendapat bantuan bagi menyatakan hujah-hujahnya daripada Ahli Parlimen Barisan Nasional seperti veteran Mohamad Aziz dari Sri Gading, Halimah Mohd Sadique (Tenggara) dan Noraini Ahmad (Parit Sulong).

Secara peribadi, sebagai produk Bulan Bahasa Kebangsaan (1965 dan 1966) dan pengguna tetap bahasa Melayu dan Inggeris, saya sudah lama hilang keyakinan kepada kemampuan bahasa Melayu menjadi bahasa sejagat di Malaysia.

Kegagalan melaksanakan Sistem Pendidikan Kebangsaan adalah punca kelemahan penguasaan dan penggunaan bahasa Melayu serta semakin teruknya polarisasi kaum di negara kita sekarang.

Bukti mutakhir kegagalan ini adalah kempen Bulan Bahasa Kebangsaan yang terpaksa diadakan setiap tahun selepas lebih 50 tahun kita merdeka. Adalah tidak keterlaluan kalau saya kata yang kita bukan saja gagal menghapuskan polarisasi kaum yang ditinggalkan oleh dasar pecah dan perintah penjajah, malah memburukkannya lagi.

Wallahualam, apa akan jadi dengan bahasa Melayu dan perpaduan kaum sukar hendak dibayangkan. Apa yang jelas adalah polarisasi ini telah merebak ke dalam bidang ekonomi dan pemikiran politik.

Harapan tidak diletakkan kepada DS Najib

 

When will we have Leaders who will solve our race polarisation problem once and for all

While our political Leaders are promoting the 1Malaysia brand and giving support  to the vernacular schools as part of the branding process among others, its good to see and read many dissenting voices which opined that vernacular schools should make way for a one school system so that polarisation among the races which is increasingly becoming a very serious  problem in Malaysia could be curbed and controlled. One such voice is YB Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim:

Polarisasi kaum: Kerajaan disaran hapus sekolah vernakular
12/10/2011 7:49pm

KUALA LUMPUR 12 Okt – Ahli Parlimen Bebas bagi Bayan Baru, Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim hari ini menyarankan supaya sistem pendidikan negara diolah semula dengan menghapuskan sistem sekolah pelbagai aliran atau vernakular yang didakwanya menyebabkan polarisasi kaum di negara ini.

 

Justeru, beliau meminta kerajaan mewujudkan semula sekolah wawasan bagi memastikan murid-murid dididik dalam persekitaran majmuk dan seterusnya melahirkan generasi akan datang yang lebih bersatu padu dan tidak hanya memikirkan kepentingan kaum masing-masing.

“Malaysia bukan negara Cina, Malaysia bukan negara India dan Malaysia juga bukan negara Arab. Malaysia kita adalah satu negara majmuk dan seharusnya sistem pendidikan kita diolah kembali,” katanya ketika membahaskan Rang Undang-Undang Perbekalan 2012 di Dewan Rakyat di sini.

Zahrain berkata, transformasi sistem persekolahan atau pendidikan peringkat sekolah rendah dan menengah kini pincang kerana sistem peninggalan penjajah menyebabkan kemunculan generasi yang rasis dan hanya memikirkan kepentingan kaum masing-masing.

Beliau juga merujuk kepada perbuatan pelakon dan penyanyi rap Wee Meng Chee atau Namewee yang didakwanya kurang ajar hingga mudah memaki hamun seorang wanita dalam klip video terbarunya.

“Saya pasti Namewee tidak akan bertindak sebegitu liar dan memaki hamun seorang wanita dalam klip video terbaru-nya jika beliau diasuh secara betul dalam persekitaran yang majmuk,” katanya. – Bernama

Picked this up from the SatuSekolahUntukSemua blog here:

Kerajaan Di Saran Lagi Supaya Menghapuskan Sekolah Vernakular – Apa lagi yang DS Najib ingin pertahankan?

I have done some writing on this subject too, read here, here and here.

Here is some statistics I took off Helen Ang’s blog (read here):

I just do not know when the Government of the Day will stop trading our Nation’s Education System for political support and votes. I am normally a optimist, but in this instance I do not see a Malaysian Leader who would sacrifice his political position for a one school  education system in the next 2 decades.

I pray that one day there will be a Leader who sees that a One School System is indeed the key to  unity among races in this blessed country, and he like Singapore’s Leader Lee Kuan Yew has the political will and foresight  to change for the better for the country he leads.

Demi Negara ! For The Nation !

“Melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya”, says a Malay proverb. Where else to start to build a strong nation if it is not the schools where the young minds are being moulded?KijangMas Perkasa, the Demi Negara blog owner, is one of the patriots who wrote blog articles, many on socio-politics subjects. The theme revolves around nation building. Now, have a thermal flask of hot coffee or tea, with some tidbits. Pour a cup, sit back and relax. Take your time to read his masterpiece here, “Racial Polarisation and the Forging of Bangsa Malaysia”. You will need a good 20-minute reading. Done? Your coffee is cold already and you have not even touched your tidbits! KijangMas Perkasa’s masterpiece above and this article about vernacular schools here, have inspired the Demi Negara Community to conceive and finally gave birth to this very own “Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua (SSS)” website you are now reading. Read how it started here. Read also how Wee Ka Siong, the Deputy Minister of Education himself, in the capacity of Pemuda MCA, threatened to lodge a police report against the promoters of SSS. He did not even know the word “gejala” that he objected to has more than one meaning. Well, he met his match, here. KijangMas Perkasa wrote this about SSS:- “Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua is the catalyst of this journey towards meaningful, cohesive nationhood, a key component of the blueprint of a raceless Malaysia that has been vigorously expounded in Demi Negara.” Pour another cup and go on to read more of his blog articles. Come back another day to finish them and don’t forget your hot coffee or tea and your favorite tidbits. In the interest of nation building, and how some “Malaysians” live their lives which may jeopardize the efforts in building this nation, you may want to read these further:- –          The National Language is being undermined, here and here. And what happened after much instigations? –          Utterly Anti-National! –          Aidil Fitri’s Open House is still ongoing. Thank God! So far, so good! Hope there is no more of these freaking manners! –          Who is RPK ? –          Malaysian Insider’s propaganda –          A plain conversation in our daily life of “kau tim” culture which may eventually destroy a nation. –          Religion and politics have not been spared too! –          So you like politics, huh? With an episode of maid abused? –          1-Malaysia? Let us ponder now on KijangMas Perkasa’s latest posting. It will just take a minute or two of your time, but it will leave you pondering long enough to realize what makes you a true Malaysian. “You really a MALAYSIAN ka ?” Read this, understand this and recite this over and over. May we all be true Warga Negara Malaysia:- “Di mana kaki berpijak di situ langit dijunjung”

Bak kata pepatah Melayu, “Melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya”. Di mana lagi kita hendak mulakan usaha-usaha membina sebuah Negara yang kukuh lagi bersatupadu jika tidak sejak dari bangku sekolah lagi, iaitu di mana pemikiran anak-anak kita mula dibentuk?KijangMas Perkasa, citrawan laman citra Demi Negara, adalah salah seorang Wira Negara yang menulis banyak artikel-artikel  mengenai sosio-politik. Tema penulisan beliau berkisar ke arah usaha-usaha membina Negara. Sekarang mari kita sediakan sebuah bekas untuk mengisi kopi ataupun teh panas, serta sedikit makanan ringan. Tuangkan secawan, mari kita duduk dan bersantai. Kita luangkan sedikit masa untuk membaca sebuah tulisan ulung beliau ini, “Polarisasi Kaum dan Pembentukan Bangsa Malaysia”. Anda memerlukan sekurang-kurangnya 20 minit untuk membacanya. Habis membacanya? Kopi anda telah sejuk dan anda belum pun lagi menyentuh makanan ringan anda! Tulisan ulung KijangMas Perkasa di atas dan juga artikel berkenaan sekolah-sekolah vernakular ini, telah mengilhamkan komuniti Demi Negara untuk mencerna dan akhirnya melahirkan laman citra “Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua (SSS)” yang sedang anda baca sekarang ini. Bagaimana SSS bermula. Bacalah juga bagaimana Wee Ka Siong, Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran sendiri, di atas kedudukannya sebagai Ketua Pemuda MCA, telah mengancam untuk membuat laporan polis terhadap penganjur SSS. Beliau tidak pun tahu akan makna dan penggunaan perkataan “gejala” yang disangkalnya. Akhirnya, beliau telah menemui lawannya di sini. Mengenai SSS, KijangMas Perkasa menulis (dialih bahasa):- “Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua merupakan satu pencetus dalam perjuangan untuk membentuk sebuah Negara bersatupadu yang penuh bermakna. Ianya merupakan suatu komponen asas kepada “blueprint” bagi menyediakan sebuah masyarakat Malaysia tanpa perasaan perkauman, yang sentiasa diperjuangkan dengan gigih di laman citra Demi Negara” “Minta lagi kopi sêcewãn!” dan mari kita terus membaca artikel-artikel beliau di laman citra tersebut. Kita luangkan lagi hari-hari selepas ini untuk menyudah membaca, tetapi jangan lupa secangkir kopi/teh panas beserta makanan ringan kegemaran anda. Demi semangat membina Negara, dan juga untuk menyelami bagaimana sebahagian dari yang dikatakan “rakyat Malaysia” telah menjalani kehidupan seharian mereka, anda mungkin berminat untuk selanjutnya membaca seperti yang berikut:- –          Bahasa kebangsaan telah diperkotak-katikkan. Baca di sini and di sini. Dan apa yang berlaku selepas perlakuan yang mencetuskan perasaan tidak senang hati itu? –          Sememangnya Anti-Nasional! –          Rumah Terbuka Aidil Fitri masih berlangsung. Syukur kerana setakat ini belum berlaku perkara-perkara yang tidak beradap ini. –          Siapa dia RPK ? –          Propaganda Malaysian Insider –          Perbualan biasa kita seharian mengenai budaya “kau tim”  yang sebenarnya boleh menghancurkan sebuah Negara sekiranya tidak dibendung dan diambil perhatian. –          Agama and politik juga tidak terlepas dari dipergunakan! –          Jadi anda suka kepada politik? Dengan sebuah episod  penganiayaan pembantu rumah ? –          1-Malaysia? Mari kita renungi muatan terkini dari KijangMas Perkasa di laman citra Demi Negara beliau. Ia hanya mengambil masa barang seminit dua untuk membacanya tetapi anda mungkin akan mengambil masa yang agak lama untuk menjawab persoalan tentang apakah yang membuatkan seseorang itu dikenali sebagai seorang warga negara Malaysia yang tulen. “Betulkah anda seorang warga Malaysia?” Baca pepatah ini, fahaminya dan lakukan berulang-ulang kali untuk menghayatinya. Semoga kita menjadi Warga Negara Malaysia yang sejati:- “Di mana kaki berpijak di situ langit dijunjung”

Hot Potato / Kentang Panas

The One School For All (Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua, SSS) Proposal came out of the realization that there is a strong need to unite all Malaysians, especially in the light of increasing racial polarization in the country. Many news items and comments in the mass media portray the widening gap of understanding among the various communities. The attitude and the mentality of the people have become increasingly opposed to one another as a result of the actions of one group that bring about dissatisfaction to another in recent times.   The aim of Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib’s 1Malaysia is clearly towards the unifying of Malaysians and the reduction in the disparity gap among various communities. But the methods of achieving that aim are not that clear yet. In fact, he himself has welcomed Malaysian citizens to give opinions and suggestions for his consideration by writing to his blog. This SSS Proposal is one that was conceived and discussed publicly in the Demi Negara blog. Although this Proposal is still at the discussion stage, it has received media coverage since the time of its pronouncement in May 2009.  Various statements have been made by several quarters, including the mass media, activists in the field of education, politicians, government leaders including the Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Education himself. We realize that the current political situation may be a stumbling block to our leaders to take positive action and pay serious attention on the SSS Proposal. It is suspected that the present Government leadership places more importance on votes from certain communities which are opposed to the SSS Proposal. Nevertheless, we are confident that there is a “silent majority” that wants the suggestions made in the SSS Proposal be acted upon by the leaders accordingly. The question is: “Has our political leaders, specifically the Minister of Education, the ‘political will’ to take the initiative in a firm and positive manner, in the interest of Bangsa Malaysia and the Nation, to achieve the dream of a strong and cohesive society that is reflected by the slogan ‘Satu Bahasa, Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara.”		Kempen Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua (SSS) ini lahir dari kesedaran betapa perlunya diadakan usaha-usaha untuk kembali menyatu padukan rakyat lebih-lebih lagi dalam keadaan polarisasi kaum di negara ini yang dikhuatiri kini semakin meningkat. Banyak berita dan komen di media massa yang membayangkan keadaan yang semakin meluasnya jurang persefahaman antara kaum. Pemikiran dan pendirian rakyat semakin bercanggah berikutan dengan tindakan-tindakan kumpulan tertentu yang membangkitkan perasaan tidak senang hati kepada kumpulan yang lain sejak kebelakangan ini.   Matlamat 1Malaysia Perdana Menteri, Dato’ Seri Najib, nyata berhaluan kepada penyatuan rakyat dan bertujuan untuk mengurangkan jurang perbezaan kaum. Tetapi cara-cara untuk mencapai matlamat itu masih belum begitu jelas lagi. Sememangnya beliau sendiri telah pun mempelawa rakyat untuk memberikan pendapat dan syor-syor untuk dipertimbang dan diteliti oleh beliau sendiri dengan menulis di blog 1Malaysia. Kempen SSS ini merupakan satu syor yang diilhamkan dan dibincang secara umum di laman citra Demi Negara. Walau pun cadangan SSS ini masih di peringkat perbincangan, namun ia telah mendapat liputan sejak dicetuskan pada Mei 2009. Terdapat beberapa kenyataan mengenainya telah pun dibuat oleh pelbagai pihak termasuk media massa, mereka-mereka yang bergiat di dalam bidang pendidikan, ahli-ahli politik, pemimpin-pemimpin kerajaan termasuk Timbalan Perdana Menteri merangkap Menteri Pelajaran sendiri. Kita sedar bahawa keadaan politik sekarang nampaknya agak menghalang para pemimpin untuk mengambil tindakan yang positif serta prihatin ke atas syor SSS ini. Adalah diprasangkakan bahawa pemimpin kerajaan sekarang ini lebih mementingkan undi dari kaum-kaum tertentu yang menentang syor SSS. Walau pun begitu, kami yakin terdapat golongan majoriti senyap yang mahukan saranan-saranan di dalam Kempen SSS ini diambil tindakan yang sewajarnya oleh pemimpin. Persoalannya: “Adakah pemimpin-pemimpin politik, khasnya Menteri Pelajaran, mempunyai keazaman politik untuk mengambil inisiatif yang positif serta tegas , demi bangsa Malaysia dan Negara, untuk mencapai impian sebuah negara yang teguh lagi bersatu padu yang dilambangkan oleh ungkapan “Satu Bahasa, Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara”.
Instilling goodwill and a spirit of togetherness should fittingly be done among children beginning from their days in school. The Malay proverb “Melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya” (literally: bending the bamboo should start from the shoot) reflects this. It is important to nourish the mind and guide the thinking of the children towards a sense of togetherness and genuine social cohesion in the interest of the Nation. For this the Government needs to appreciate the suggestions contained in the SSS Proposal and take steps to implement them. The leading suggestion in this Proposal is the carrying out of an in-depth study and recommendations on the existing education system, with the aim not just to produce intelligent and well informed pupils, but also to inculcate a sense of unity for the development of a cohesive and harmonious nation.   Towards that end, let us all contribute whatever within our means towards the efforts of building up our country. The least we could do is to give moral support to this Campaign by signing the SSS Petition. Additionally, we can ask family members and friends to do so. And we can help disseminate information on this Campaign as widely as possible.		Menyemai silaturrahim dan semangat bersatu padu sewajarnya dilakukan di kalangan kanak-kanak sejak di bangku sekolah rendah lagi bak kata pepatah, “Melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya”. Oleh kerana amat pentingnya untuk memupuk dan membimbing pemikiran serta pendirian kanak-kanak untuk mencapai persepaduan yang jitu di kalangan rakyat demi kemajuan negara, maka Kerajaan perlulah sedar betapa pentingnya syor-syor Kempen SSS ini diambil perhatian serius serta mengambil langkah-langkah proaktif untuk melaksanakannya. Syor utama Kempen SSS ini adalah supaya dilaksanakan suatu kajian mendalam terhadap sistem pendidikan negara dengan sasaran bukan hanya untuk melahirkan pelajar-pelajar pintar dan berpengetahuan, tetapi juga menyemai semangat kekitaan dalam membina negara yang bersatu padu serta harmoni.   Oleh itu, marilah sama-sama memberikan sumbangan termampu untuk sama-sama membina Negara. Sekurang-kurangnya setiap kita dapat menzahirkan sokongan terhadap Kempen ini dengan menandatangani petisyen SSS. Sebagai tambahan, kita boleh mempelawa keluarga dan rakan untuk turut sama memberi sokongan. Kita sebarkan maklumat Kempen ini seluas yang mungkin