Can I have a show of hands for those who went to Malaysian public schools? Great. What about those who went to a private school from lower primary to upper secondary? Nice. Or maybe, you’re one of those lucky children like me to have experienced the best of both worlds. Terrific, right?
It was the beginning of the school term in 2004 when dad told me ‘Jo, I put you in a private school-lah, you want?’ I almost immediately muttered under my breath ‘What did dad just tell me?’ I knew that dad wanted a response, so I answered with a ‘Huh? Are you serious?’
There were so many aspects to consider. What would happen if first, I didn’t get a place? Would my classmates and schoolmates be nice people? Would it be everything I hoped for?
What about the idea that Mum put me in a Kebangsaan school so that I could be fluent in Malay? In fact, my mum went to check out another Kebangsaan school because well, she was apprehensive as I was! What do we do? Besides, the following year, I was expected to sit for the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (the then PMR).
Moving to a private school, a new environment, would simply mean that I had to bid goodbye to all the things I was used to. For example, the infamous Monday perhimpunan (assemblies) and all the other 10-minute ones that usually took place on the other school days.
So okay, we went to the nearest private school to our then new home for its Open Day. Good to know that it offered the same KBSM syllabus and compulsory public exams. It was fancy in the sense that the school was equipped with colourful lockers, computers at the back of every classroom as well as LCD projector screens. In addition, the toilets are well-maintained (something you rarely find in Kebangsaan schools).
Also, the way the classrooms were built was probably what got me sold. In fact, it was the reason why I had the chance to mingle around with those outside my class.
Of course, some teachers were pretty memorable, others less so. But if you asked me about how much most of them tried to make the lessons interesting, I would say A+ for effort. Also, the principal was very encouraging and mostly engaged with the students and parents (sometimes, too encouraging :P). Isn’t that a characteristic of a good school?
Well, I have to say that I took quite a while to adapt to everything the school had to offer. For example, how I had to remember where I put my locker keys. If not, I had to call the guard for help.
The first few weeks were challenging, particularly because I experienced culture shock. Making friends was like climbing Mount Everest for me. The only consolation was that there were a handful of us from Kebangsaan schools in my class who had the same sentiments. For instance, the single-session, which was something new to us.
There was one day when I fell down because I accidentally hit the leg of my desk in class when all I wanted to do was hand in my exercise book to the teacher. Guess what? A prefect from another class (he happened to be in my class, chatting with my classmate for fun) offered to help me.
Oh, did I tell you about how the school is designed to be friendly to wheelchair users? (No, I don’t use one, but I have a very complex condition… *jeng jeng*) So, what the prefect did was wheel me down to the infirmary of the school. 🙂
In case you’re wondering if I made friends with my classmates, there were some nice ones who offered to teach me Chinese. In return, I taught them Malay, haha! What’s more! My English language proficiency was put to the test as the textbook was specifically Singaporean.
All in all, I’d say it’s up to you to decide where you want to be schooled. There is no right or wrong. However, it’s best to make an informed decision.
*Kebangsaan schools – to denote national schools where Malay is the official medium of instruction.
*Private schools – Schools that are run independently by corporates, and offer the standard syllabuses and exams as those in Kebangsaan schools.
