masterwordsmith-unplugged

We car-pool with another family so for one week, we take the boys to school and they take them back. Then we switch the next week. Normally, my husband will take them to school and I will take them back. This morning, my husband had to wake up at 6.30am to take my boy and his friend to school for the 1Student 1Sport 1Malaysia Run.


I only found out about the event yesterday as my son did not tell me why he had school so I naturally assumed it was a replacement class for some festive holiday.

Bernama reported that the event which was launched simultaneously nationwide, registered a participation of 4.1 million students from 9,980 schools for a place in the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) under the category of the largest participation of school students in a run.

Federal Territory Education Department director Mohd Adenan Deraman said the 1Student 1Sport policy was a strategy to boost the four existing core sports activities in schools.

You can read the Bernama report of the event AT THIS LINK.

I asked an educator in a high position for his input about the event in Penang and this is what he had to say:

1. Teachers think the run is an under-achiever's effort in trying to impress gullible Malaysians with this Malaysia Book of Records effort. Teachers are not impressed.
2. Almost all bus sekolahs were not on the road fetching pupils to school, so parents had to fetch their kids to school. There was massive traffic congestion this Saturday morning and another massive traffic congestion at dismissal time at 1 pm .

3. Many teachers clocked in late too. Apparently, the directive to start the run simultaneous at 7.45 am was not not well thought-out by decision makers. Students had to be in school earlier than on a normal school day. Surely, the not so early birds would have continued their sleep rather than having to wake up early to register their participation in the run.

4. Participants had to register using the official Malaysia Book of Records form this morning before the run. Absenteeism was high in many schools.

My son also said that many did not turn up in his school. While I am all for sports to help instill discipline and to help students enjoy the benefits of exercise, I truly hope that more careful thought and planning will be invested in plans of such nature. Authorities must take into consideration the dilemma faced by parents as well when it comes to transportation issues.

Kids of today will be future leaders and it is important to leave positive and lasting impressions on them to impact their lives. Let's make sure we do the right things, with the right motives for positive and longlasting effects.