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27 April 2012| last updated at 12:17AM

EDUCATION: Pupils love fun and playful activities

By Samuel Yesuiah, Seremban, Negri Sembilan

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WHY do children “walk to school and run home” in a figurative manner of speech? It is because the home offers them much excitement and fun.

 The children have access to the latest gadgets and technology that provide hours of entertainment and amusement.   

 The school, on the other hand, is mundane and “sleep-inducing”, as revealed in a survey  a few years ago on classroom teaching.

 The scenario in  primary school classrooms is  devoid of fun and play activity. Chalk and talk, textbooks, workbooks and worksheets are the order of the day.

 Primary schoolchildren are playful and love  fun activities.

 English language teaching has always been considered as difficult and boring because of the stereotype lessons and  a syllabus that is dry and dull.

 The report, “Pupils learn English the fun way” (NST, March 27), had 50 primary schoolchildren in Raub in a two-hour NST Niexus workshop learning English the fun way.

 Students  meaningful, exciting lessons away from the “chalk and talk”.

 Schools should organise more field trips, real-life experiences and self-initiated programmes to make learning fun Teachers have a lot of responsibilities  and are unable to carry out their core business of teaching effectively.

 They are bogged down by  paperwork and clerical duties.

 The class size also makes it difficult for  teachers to carry out activity-based learning. Teachers have to handle 30 to 45  pupils  in a small classroom.

 Examinations are the biggest factor that takes  the fun out of  learning. Teachers are hard-pressed for time as they have to complete the syllabus and get the children prepared for examinations.

 If we are serious about making  schools exciting and fun for  children,  we have to revamp the  education system and make it less examination-oriented.

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