Be Inspired

Failure in School Becomes Inventor
The Star 20 August 2011
Hope
That's the inspiration we get as teachers.

It's the exam season again. Schools are frantically on the alert to meet datelines for exams, results and all academic reforms to help the academically challenged ones. There is no denial that many are in need of help in writing and counting and we just have to bull-doze through to get the best out of them. At the end of the day, we hope that they can at least read, write and count and make a living out of life. As I have shared with the counselors of the school, inspire them to at least go out of the school gates with grades made for the 3 skills. Inspire them.

In tandem with the trend of thought, it was a delight to read in the papers this morning about this Robert Yong whose 'poor academic results' became an obstacle when he applied for jobs. He reiterated that he without financial support and with poor academic performance, could only rely on his 'inquisitive mind' and his penchant for 'seeing problems in life all the time and finding solutions' to arrive at his present state of becoming an-award winning inventor, with more than 100 creations to his credit.
The inventor of the Polyclone Instant Rubber Stamp Machine, which makes rubber stamps in just five minutes, he was also appointed as consultant for the Special Innovation Unit under the PM's Department to draft the new National Innovation Policy.

That is inspiration to teachers. So Yong in his dejected state found silver linings; that is perseverance and determination. Perhaps we need to inject those values more seriously in a child.

Just last evening I asked dad who survives better in life? The academically-inclined or the vocationally-inclined? He looked into my eyes and asked who will survive in the jungle better?I told him you need the brains to think and he told me you need survival skills to thrive. So how? We need each other; a good conclusion.

So for the academically-inclined and the vocationally inclined, all of you have a place here. The MOE's call for a revisit into vocational institutions is in the pipe line and next year will be the onset for a rethinking. Parents, if your child is vocationally-inclined, do not hesitate to enroll them; to give them a head start in life with skills that many will envy later in life.

A mechanic, a cook, a seamstress, a technician... these are skills for special people who are not want of the better in life. Give a try for vocational schools.