by Lee Ya Yun, Lian Cheng and Joanna Yap, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 13, 2012, Thursday
LIGHT MOMENT: KTS Group managing director Dato Henry Lau (second right) chats with KTS Education Forum moderator Dunstan Chan (left) and the invited speakers (from second left) Dr Welyne Jeffrey Jehom, Assoc Prof Dr Beena Giridharan and Prof Dr Lau Seng during the morning session of the forum at KTS Garden in Kuching. ? Photo by Kong Jun Liung
Education system will be polarised if it fails to inculcate respect and understanding for each other ? Lau
KUCHING: Is our education system up to the mark?
Are our schools, colleges and universities inculcating the principles for inter-racial harmonious relations in our multi-racial society?
These were the questions posed by KTS Group managing director Dato Henry Lau at the KTS Education Forum yesterday.
?Each year, we are spending billions on education nationwide. After more than four decades of almost free education in primary and secondary schools, we are still baffled and unable to distinguish the differences between language and knowledge learning,? Lau noted.
He observed that the country?s education system suffered from political interferences, racial quota syndrome as well as other trivial and mundane preoccupations ? even in the higher learning institutions where innovation and intellectual freedom are the most fundamental essence of education.
Towards this, he cautioned speakers and participants at the forum that the discussion on education system should be limited to the discourse of knowledge as any intention to interfere it with politics or religion would further complicate an already complex issue.
?If the discussion on the education system could not maintain its pure objective, the role of education in contributing to the harmony and solidity of a society might be jeopardised.
?Education should be limited to knowledge and should not involve politics and religion. I hope the forum will turn it straight while we are exploring the issue of education in Malaysia. We should refrain from raising the issue of politics or religion or any other issues except education in its pure sense.?
Lau said the country?s malleable young should be taught to recognise the multi-cultural origins of the various ethnic groups, appreciate each other?s religion and show respect and understanding for one another.
?If our education system does not inculcate these attitudes in our students, it will only tend to polarise us. Getting a string of academic A?s is meaningless if the students fail to understand, appreciate and practice good moral values.?
Lau further warned: ?If we do not have an even and healthy development of our human capital, someday when and if our oil and gas supplies run out and our population increases, the real price we have to pay for the defects, if we do not correct them soon, will be painful and detrimental to our country.?
The Education Forum is part of the KTS 50th anniversary celebration themed We care, we grow.
A string of activities, centred around corporate social responsibility (CSR), has been organised throughout the year.
On CSR, Lau said it should be beyond cash donation and such like.
?In fact, helping to maintain a harmonious and stable society in our community is also part of CSR.
?KTS would like to play a part in education since education has become part and parcel of the development of a society. That?s why we have initiated the education forum,? he added.
The one-day forum titled ?Education in Malaysia: How Do We See It? The Sarawak Perspective? saw seven invited speakers presenting their insights on education to about 300 participants.
Lau expressed hope that the forum could help provide pertinent and salient answers to the all encompassing questions on education.
?I hope the forum can come out with a statement or paper which we can submit to the government. I know many have submitted but I hope we can do a better one,? he said.
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Source: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/12/13/dont-mix-politics-and-religion-with-education/
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