|
| Malaysian Mission Schools News Archive
Sunday Star, Star Education, July 4, 2004
Preparing Students for Life
Story by Gavin Gomez
'IT is a hazy Monday afternoon in Petaling Jaya as pupils of SK Assunta II gather for their weekly assembly in the school hall. The event is run entirely by the prefects, dressed as usual in their traditional brown uniforms.
The other pupils line the hall in orderly fashion and need little prompting to settle down for the start of the assembly.
While the prefects oversee the proceedings, taking notes and even leading in the singing of the school song and national anthem, the others listen attentively to what their teachers have to say.
Like clockwork, the pupils assume their roles every week without any prompting from their teachers. Such is the culture in mission schools like Assunta.
“We provide our girls with a holistic education. It is not just about grades but also about learning good manners, values and discipline,” says headmistress Ho Swee Ping, better known as Mrs Lee in school.
Although grouped under the category of national schools by the Education Ministry, there are many things that make these partially-aided schools stand out from the rest. There are now a total of 462 mission school nationwide – 338 primary and 124 secondary.
The mere mention of schools such as St John's in Kuala Lumpur , Ipoh 's St Michael's and Penang 's Convent Light Street or any of the heralded Methodist and Anglican schools evokes an association with quality and excellence.
What sets them apart
“Can you feel the energy? There is something different about this school. The boys leave here with a certain X-factor. Many become prefects in whichever secondary school they go to and are leaders in their respective fields once they graduate,” says Yeo Sai Lim, headmaster of SK La Salle.
A look at the nation's leaders affirms his view – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik, Education Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, and several other Cabinet members are all products of mission schools.
So what makes mission primary schools different?
First and foremost, it is the prevailing “multi-racial, multi-religious feature”, says Brother Michael Jacques, honorary adviser to the Malaysian Christian Schools Council (MCSC).
“We have a school culture that cuts across all biases,” adds the 88-year-old retired educator.
As another headmaster puts it: “The Government is creating Vision Schools to foster racial integration but mission schools have had it all along. Why not just use mission schools as model Vision Schools?”
While many national schools may have acquired the image of being too racially polarised and Islamic, mission schools are thriving as centres of integration.
In SK La Salle, Petaling Jaya, Year Five classmates Rayhan Raj, Mark Low, Mohd Najmi Mohd Sazali and Leong Wai Qi have no qualms about hanging out together.
“I don't know why but we are the best of friends. We do everything together, from our homework to spending recess time and playing,” shares the eloquent Rayhan, who is deputy head of his school's choral speaking team.
Mohd Najmi says he does not pick his friends according to race but how he gets along with them.
“If they want to be friends with me, then okay-lah,” he adds.
Apart from being pals, all four boys are in the school's 40-member choral team, which is headed by Mohd Najmi and will be representing Selangor in the national finals soon.
”English is one of the strengths of mission schools. Parents who want their children to master the language send their children to mission schools,” observes Yeo.
Pupils converse fluently in English in SK Assunta II and SK La Salle – schools that can be considered representative of mission schools nationwide.
This is perhaps among the most evident legacies left behind by the missionaries, who made their way here about 150 years ago to establish the schools. Those who have gone through mission schools take pride in their grasp of the language and English literature.
And, add MCSC chairman Gloriosa Rajendran and its honorary secretary K.Y. Yin, the mission schools' strength in English has also been a vehicle for inter-racial interaction.
Discipline and the imparting of positive values among pupils also rank highly in these schools. This is perhaps why mission schools have done well academically and in sports and other activities.
“When the boys do something wrong, you must reprimand them and make them understand what they have done wrong,” says Brother Michael.
A former principal herself, of the Methodist Girls Secondary School , Ipoh , Yin feels the integrity of teachers and their willingness to walk the extra mile for the children have also earned mission schools the reputation they have.
“Now we sometimes have no say in the appointment of headmasters but we still try hard to maintain the same standards,” she says.
Mrs Lee, a former SK Assunta II pupil herself, tries to retain things like curtsying and stresses the importance of manners to her pupils – although, admittedly, the older girls now are a little self-conscious when it comes to the old-fashioned bob.
“Maybe the times have changed but it does not mean that we should stop teaching them good things,” argues the headmistress, who has served in the school for over 20 years.
Symbols and icons
Other aspects such as a school's song, logo and colours have also great meaning attached to them, adding to the mission school identity.
The personalities that have passed through the schools over the years are no less important.
Assuntarians still recall with great fondness the times when Sister Enda Ryan, founder of the secondary school, would lead students in song.
“I remember the excitement we felt when we heard that Sister Enda was coming to school. Listening to her sing our school song gave us goose bumps,” say twins, Angela and Beverly Rodrigues, 24, who entered Assunta after Sister Enda had retired.
Mission school figures such as Sister Enda, Brother Michael, Brother Lawrence Spitzig of St John's and the late Brother Conleth Henry, who served in St Xavier's Institution in Penang, St Paul's in Seremban, St Michael's and St John's, have near-celebrity status among former pupils and are institutions themselves.
As Brother Michael points out, there is no single item that makes mission schools what they are, but a combination of factors.
“We have strong old boys and old girls associations, and dynamic parent-teacher associations that go to great lengths to preserve the identity of our schools,” he adds.
Despite changes over time resulting in the schools losing some of the characteristics that made them so special, mission schools are still associated with quality and the notion of an all-round education.
“We prepare them for life,” says Yin.
It is now up to the present and future generation of mission school pupils to help maintain and enhance the legacy that they are a part of.
Pix: BEST BUDDIES: (Clockwise from front right) Rayhan, Mark, Mohd Najmi and Wai Qi are a good example of how racial integration is thriving in mission schools.
Pix: HO: 'It is not just about grades but also about learning good manners, values and discipline.'
Pix: YEO: 'Boys from mission schools leave with a certain X-factor that makes them great leaders.
Notes: STF -: In the fourth part of StarEducation's series on primary schools, GAVIN GOMEZ discusses the rich legacy of mission schools.
Related Stories:
[Back to Malaysian Mission Schools News Archive] [Top]
|
