Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Oct 10, 2008	Interesting changes afoot
So it seems that there are quite a number of interesting changes to the Malaysian education system, following the Ministry of Education’s blueprint: 1. A holistic, less exam-oriented primary school curriculum. I like this idea. The early childhood years are highly formative and...... [view]

Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Oct 9, 2008	Young Malaysians - how can we support you?
Hey EducateDeviate readers - especially from Malaysia - I need your help. I’m planning to apply to the Sauve Scholars program, a one-year fellowship based in McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where you are given full support and resources to research, study, and work on a...... [view]

Posted By:  kamalkumar Posted On:  Sep 12, 2008	Rang Dey Basanti, (Paint it Yellow)
yellow, originally uploaded by Giga Pixel. Nothing special about this post. I am just trying to post a blog from my flickr account. If it works, then its great. Web has been really powerful. And of course, INTERNET IS MORE THAN BROWSING. *- This Picture has got 2 favs in flickr within 5 days of...... [view]

Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Sep 8, 2008	Homeschooling vs Socialization
This comic strip pretty much sums up my response to “homeschoolers don’t socialize!”: Thanks Tammy ! ... [view]

Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Aug 19, 2008	National Service = Racial Segregation
Ethan’s experiences at his National Service term strongly reveals just how racist the system really is - and how it’s institutionalised: We were asked several times to line up according to race (Malays here, Chinese here, Indians here, Dan Lain-Lain here) in order to...... [view]

Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Jul 22, 2008	Rites of Passage
We don’t really have all that many rites of passages in Malaysia. Each religion and culture has their own rites, sure. But there aren’t really that many that apply to the whole country. Take graduations, for example. In many countries (particularly Western ones) high school...... [view]

Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Jun 23, 2008	Is dropping out necessarily a bad thing?
I just saw these series of ads today and, as odd as it may seen, the sentiment portrayed here rather annoys me: I completely agree that education is important, and as the ad says, it’s good for everyone. (After all, that’s what guided the formation of EducateDeviate.)...... [view]

Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Jun 16, 2008	An open letter to my ex-primary school
I wrote a longer, more detailed version of this letter on my personal journal mainly as a form of catharsis - letting go of my anger and sorrow. Many of my friends were personally touched by the letter and asked me to publish it publicly to make Malaysians aware of the very real effects of...... [view]

Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Jun 13, 2008	Question about starting schools in Malaysia
What rules and laws govern the formation of schools in Malaysia? Do those same laws affect private schools? For instance, if you set up a private school, are you required by law to administer the KBSM/KBSR curriculum? Do your students have to take UPSR/PMR/SPM/STPM? What if you wanted to...... [view]

Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Jun 6, 2008	Severn Cullis-Suzuki: Changing the World Since Age 9
If you think young people don’t have the capacity, interest, or drive to make the world a better place, watch this speech and think again: That powerful speech ( transcript here ) is by Severn Cullis-Suzuki , who started the Environmental Children’s Organization in...... [view]

Posted By:  mydemand Posted On:  Jun 3, 2008	EduPunk - Tech or Mindset?
So recently in the education blog scene there’s been a hubbub over the term EduPunk . It was first coined by Jim Groom in his blog Bava Tuesdays , and from what I can understand, EduPunk basically covers two things: The use of Web 2.0 technologies, such as blogs, wikis, podcasts,...... [view]