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So, today Jane shared with us about her spelling, ejaan, in the new school. Instead of individuals being forced to memorized words, such as the practice in her previous SJKC, her Bahasa teacher divided the class into two groups. Then she gave the spelling - fill in the missing characters. The students in each group will work with each other to attempt the words. The groups with the highest final school will win some candies. I was so impressed when I heard this. This is a great and fun way to learn. Group learning and encouragement by rewards. Sometimes I have to double check myself whether this is a private school or Sekolah Kebangsaan. My faith in Malaysia education is growing.

Which school did we transfer Jane to, that's probably what is in your mind? The graphics and the title above would have informed you the name of this school. But why this school? We first heard of Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Megah from a friend. Her 8 and 11 year old daughters are now studying there. Typically, she doesn't really talk much about the school but when probed further, she told us all about the school. There are few things she said which struck me really hard. The first being that the kids and the staff in the school are a happy lot. Yes, even the staff. She said when you go to the school and talked to the teachers, the Headmistress Puan Khoo or even the office staff, you will feel an ambiance of  warmth and politeness from everyone. It's a very pleasant feeling, unlike many schools where the atmosphere is cold. And she also said that the children there, her own two daughters, are always looking forward to school. The second thing she said which also left ...

So, I decided to stop my eldest daughter from her Primary One in Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (Chinese Primary School) because of the insane military regime when it comes to grinding homework. So we had to transfer her out and we decided to put her back to a national school (Sekolah Kebangsaan). What's the current process? Actually, it is pretty straight forward. Go to the SJKC school's office and inform them that you want to transfer your child out. They have a form for you to fill. Once you filled it up, the school will issue you a Surat Berhenti. You take the letter to the Ministry of Education (*) - in our case, it is Kementerian Pendidikan in Section 4, Shah Alam (Jalan Jambu Bol 4/3E, Seksyen 4). If you know which school you want to go, you can inform the officer there. Even then, they have to call the school to find out if they have place for another student. If that school is full, then the officer will select another school near where you live. Processing pro...

My eldest girl, Jane, turned 7 this year. She started Primary One. There was no doubt in our mind which type of school for her. It had to be Chinese School aka SJKC (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina), of course. With the poor state of our national schools as well as the horror stories one hears about the flip flop of the syllabus plus the laziness of the teachers, most Malaysian Chinese parents will send their kids to SJKC. In fact, in the school we signed her into, I often saw many Malay and Indian students. Malays and Indians studying Chinese! This was uncommon, indeed - or perhaps, it was more common than you think. Unfortunately, 2 months after she went to this SJKC(*), we pulled her out. Yep, we decided that Chinese school was not suitable for her. Every night she came back crying and was in fear of going to school. Every morning, she needed 30-40 minutes of prep talk before she agreed to go school. Every day she had this worried and extreme stress look on her face. When she came b...