RIGHT FOR A BOUQUET

I personally think that the state of Terengganu is in the verge of further success. It was indicated by the overwhelming result of UPSR which was announced earlier. The teams that he and his officers created at all levels became selfmotivated and selfactualized in struggling to achieve success upon success.

Of course one would wonder how Trengganu could produce 2,078 students who scored 4 As in 1996. It was an increase of 118.28 per cent; not to mention 2,410 students who secured 3 As and 1 Bs or 3 As and 1 Cs. It is now common knowledge here that the education officers and teachers are preparing for another battle in 1997. I sincerely hope that the moral of teachers and officers in the state would be firmly high so that more success would be on our way.

Talking about successes, what worries most parents with children who secured good grades this year is that their children would have very little chance to be admitted into boarding schools as places for them became scarier due to the overwhelming result. However, I am optimistic that the problem could be resolved by Dato' A. Rahim with the help of the state government and the ministry of education. He said that he would introduce elite classes in all the secondary schools in order to cope with the demands for so-called "good" schools by parents. This would certainly benefit those schools which in the past lost their cream to boarding schools.

Since the remaining students with high grades who could not be admitted into elite schools would be retained in elite classes called "MB" classes created in all secondary schools, I certainly believe that such a move would improve those schools tremendously. Not only that those schools would have students of high caliber , but also would bring about the change of attitudes among teachers and parents. The school community would have role models among themselves. Unlike before, when most secondary schools were robbed off their good ones. Thus, they had to struggle very hard to achieve success. Unlike their brother elite schools all over the country which did not have to work as hard to achieve success. Those role models would help to motivate the weak ones. So leadership training would occur in all schools beside eliminating unwanted behaviours and bad elements in schools these days. All these years, students from non-elite schools had no one to copy or hero worship due to having no good grades students around them. With the introduction of elite classes in all secondary schools the future of all Trengganu school leavers would be better. Bad elements would give way to goodness and acceptable behaviours among them. This is what I call education. The right of every student to befriend elite students would not be deprived of and, thus would create less bad elements in school. At the same time deciplinary problems would recede.

So, as a parent, I strongly support whatever move that the state education department with the help of the state government and the ministry of education has taken or about to take for the good of students and future school leavers in Trengganu.