|
 |
|
I was flabbergasted last Friday
when I read1about the student volunteer who collected the donation
tin and, instead of going around asking for donations, went home, put some
coins into the tin and then took it with him when he lunched with his parents.
At the appointed time, he returned the tin to the collection point. |
|
That act of his satisfied the minimum six hours of
the community involvement programme (CIP) that pre-university students had to
do each year for points needed to enter university. |
|
In putting in place the compulsory CIP activity,
the Ministry of Education (MOE) had a greater goal in mind - that of imbuing
in students sound values and
developing in them strength of character.
But, calculative students managed to circumvent the good intentions of the
programme and the CIP ended up a victim of some students' self-serving
motives. |
|
In the end, MOE had to
put to rest the idea of making CIP compulsory for all pre-university
students. Now, junior colleges and centralised institutes have autonomy in
integrating CIP into their curriculum to best meet and respond to the needs
and interests of their students. But CIP will remain an integral component of the JC curriculum. |
|
The Education Minister said in Parliament recently
that the change "will encourage
students to take greater ownership over these activities, follow their
passions and build camaraderie, rather than engage for the sake of gaining
points for university admission". |
|
We can take heart that CIP remains
compulsory for primary and secondary students. It may be too late to inculcate
in pre-university students desired attributes, but, there is hope yet that
given time, the younger ones will gel on to the idea of authentic and
enriching involvement in the community. |
|
A day after the article appeared, I was
having afternoon tea in a fast-food restaurant at Burlington, next to Sim Lim
Square, when I saw a score of upper secondary students from Maris Stella High
School soliciting for donations for the Children's Medical Fund. |
|
The boys were stationed at various
spots around the area. They caught my attention because they were moving
around in the hot afternoon sun although covered walkways were within reach.
Yet, they didn't seem the least bothered by the searing heat, for their minds
were single-mindedly focused on the passers-by thronging the area. |
|
These boys from Maris Stella were busy
running up to the young and the old. You could see the eagerness in their
faces as they went about their task. Each approach was energetic, and though
some pedestrians did not donate, the boys were not disheartened. |
|
In these boys, I saw the same
enthusiasm which gripped me as a secondary student some thirty years ago when
I was selling flags for charity. These boys from Maris Stella were certainly
not of the same grain as the one who took the donation tin to lunch with his
parents. |
|
So, there is hope for the younger set
of Singaporeans. We may be able to count on the younger ones
to embrace CIP with the right mindset. |
|
That schools have to turn to making CIP
compulsory in the first place shows up a weakness in the typical Singaporean
family unit. Parents have to take responsibility for the way our students turn
out. How they are raised at home, their experiences and relationships with
their family members will shape their character. Schools cannot do it alone. |
|
1. The Straits Times 11 Mar
2005 (1) |
Of pre-university students and CIP
