B.

Task 2 Writing (60%)

Theme: Education Event : A talk on the displine of students in SJK(C) Kong Min 2 Good order is essential in a school if children are to be able to fulfill their learning potential. Researches have proven that poor and disruptive behavior in the classroom reduces childrens ability to concentrate and absorb information. With these facts in mind, S.R.J.K. (C) Kong Min 2 had recently conducted a talk on discipline in the school. The school invited officers from the state Department of Education, the Penang State Welfare Department, students, parents and members of the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA). The objective of the talk was to emphasize on the importance of parental and school intense on students discipline. Parents and school both play significant roles to radically improve behavior of students today. The school hoped both parents and teachers could take advantage of this event to learn invaluable ways to help achieve the objective hand in hand. The venue of the talk was at Dewan Seri Pinang, Padang Kota Lama, Penang and it was held at 8pm on 15th of February, 2012. Several guest speakers were invited to present on that day. Among them are YB Tuan Sim Tze Tzin, Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) of Pantai Jerejak, Encik Mohd Abu bin Abah, representative from the Education Penang State Welfare Department, and Dr. Lim Mah Meng, a child psychology lecturer in University Science Malaysia. The talk started with the opening speech by the emcee and followed by a welcoming speech by the schools headmaster, Mr. Tan Jooi Kok. Mr. Tan expressed his gratitude to the guest speakers and the audience for their presence. According to Mr. Tan, this was the second event held by the school to raise awareness of discipline issues among the school students. The school had organized a similar activity back in early 2010 and the response was very encouraging. Mr. Tan stressed that parents and teachers should foster a closer relationship to reduce discipline problem among the

school students. Mr. Tan urged the audience to find ways to confront the problems of discipline and school violence collaboratively. During Mr. Tans talk, he touched on a few programs which he believed were able to reduce disciplinary issues and were now under the schools consideration. Among these considerations was to implement the Reaching Success through Involvement concept. This concept had been implemented in several schools across the United States. Kong Min 2 had decided to adopt this concept which involved students in improving their schools, requiring adult school members and student leaders to form a community of learners and leaders for improvement. This process would alter school contracts, roles and responsibilities of students, teachers and administrators. The students work with the adults to help other students develop a sense of ownership and control. This new feeling of control would make students more motivated to learn. It had been a success in schools which implemented the idea and is being introduced in more schools around the States. This concept was well-received especially by the parents, judging from the encouraging response given to Mr. Tans speech. The first guest speaker invited to the stage was YB Tuan Sim. YB shared a story of unfortunate incident that happened recently in a school where students were caught fighting during lunch breaks. The investigation revealed that the fights happened due to frustration among the students after queuing too long for food. YB Tuan Sim proposed that schools should reschedule their classes by spreading recess time at different timing. This will help to reduce the stress of having to put up with a crowded break period that may potentially cause temper flare ups among the students and other logistic problems. Students in the hall responded by demanding for an extended recess time. The next guest speaker, Encik Mohd Abu and Abah is a veteran in the education field. Encik Mohd Abu was a teacher for over 25 years and now serves in the state office as juvenile criminologist. He cited a statistics which showed that juvenile crime has increased dramatically over the last 5 years. Criminal acts such as robbery, larceny or theft and aggravated assaults are at the alarming stage. Encik Mohd Abu suggested for all school uniforms to include students photo identity. Many schools should also ensure their students display a photo identity to cut down on unauthorized persons

coming into the school. This could foster a warm relationship between students and teachers by identifying each other by names.

Dr. Lim who has been a child psychology lecturer since year 1998 stressed that society must recognize and should not forget that the school is a learning place. Repeatedly, school systems should emphasize that schools are places for learning, not recreation or social centers for students. Once this "learning atmosphere" is established and enforced, schools would have a lower percentage of discipline problems. This should be planted into every childs mind especially with the advancement of social media networks and technologies, where our children are exposed to lots of violence and antisocial acts which could aggravate discipline problems. Dr Lim concluded his talk by calling for total involvement from the school authorities, parents and society at large.

The talk ended at 10pm. Throughout this event, the crowd was positively engaged during the talk. The objective of the talk to foster closer relationship between parents and teachers was achieved. It is hoped that SJKC Kong Min 2 would be better equipped to solve behavioral problems. The parents and school authority had achieved a common understanding to work together to solve the disciplinary issues. All in all this event ended on a very positive note.