STAR is on the brink. And the most painful part - we can do nothing to stop the decay. Or maybe not.
Last week we published an article titled STAR And The End Of Tradition. Not surprisingly we received a number of emails. Interestingly, most of the emails pointed the blame squarely on STAROBA for not doing enough to arrest this decline. The question is - can STAROBA do anything within its present legal framework to arrest this decay? The answer is plain and simple. We can’t. Of course, it is not right to say we could not do anything at all. But legally, STAR doesn’t have to listen to STAROBA. In other words, whatever STAROBA choose to propose, STAR could choose to dispose.
Even PIBG has its hands tied. PIBG capacity is only advisory. And STAROBA is represented in the PIBG. Let’s take a closer look at PIBG:-
Berdasarkan Akta Pendidikan 1996 di bawah Seksyen 130 (2) (i) memperuntukkan semua sekolah hendaklah menubuhkan Persatuan Ibu Bapa dan Guru (PIBG). Sehubungan itu setiap ibu bapa yang mempunyai anak bersekolah perlulah melibatkan diri dan bergerak aktif dalam PIBG dan aktiviti-aktiviti yang dijalankannya. Sebagaimana yang termaktub dalam Peraturan-peraturan Pendidikan (Persatuan Ibu Bapa – Guru) 1998, penubuhan PIBG adalah untuk membantu sekolah dalam kebajikan dan kemajuan pendidikan pelajar bagi meningkatkan imej sekolah.
Persatuan Ibu Bapa dan Guru (PIBG) yang ditubuhkan di semua sekolah kerajaan adalah bertujuan untuk mewujudkan permuafakatan antara ibu bapa dan guru di sekolah yang berkenaan. Permuafakatan seumpama ini diharapkan dapat membina kesefahaman tentang tugas dan tanggungjawab bersama dalam usaha untuk meningkatkan mutu pengajaran guru-guru dan pembelajaran murid di sekolah, selain mempertingkatkan kerjasama dan perkongsian antara pihak sekolah, ibu bapa, dan komuniti setempat (school home community partnership). Di samping itu, PIBG juga mempunyai peranan ’saling melengkapi’ terhadap fungsi Kementeiran Pendidikan dalam menyediakan prasarana, kemudahan, dan suasana sekolah yang kondusif kepada murid-murid dan guru-guru di sekolah berkenaan.
The above sentences give us some ideas about the roles of PIBG. To get a clearer picture let’s take a look at an excerpt of a circular issued by the Ministry of Education. Normally, to remind the PIBG about their limited roles, the Ministry issues this kind of circular once every few years:-
Peraturan 5 PERATURAN-PERATURAN PENDIDIKAN (PERSATUAN IBU BAPA GURU) 1998 yang berkuatkuasa pada 26 Mac 1998, dengan jelas telah menggariskan tujuan dan batasan Persatuan Ibu Bapa dan Guru (PIBG) di sekolah. Dalam subperaturan (5) dan (6) ada dinyatakan batasan-batasan yang dikenakan kepada Persatuan, iaitu :
Subperaturan (5) – Persatuan tidak boleh memperluaskan bidang kuasa Persatuan kepada perkara-perkara yang berkaitan dengan pentadbiran sekolah, pekerjaan dan syarat-syarat perkhidmatan guru dan kakitangan yang lain dalam sekolah.
Subperaturan (6) – Persatuan tidak boleh menjadi jentera bagi menyelesaikan pertikaian atau perkara-perkara lain yang berkaitan antara Persatuan dengan Guru Besar atau Pengetua atau kakitangan sekolah di mana Persatuan ditubuhkan atau Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah atau Pejabat Pendidikan Bahagian atau Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri atau Kementerian Pendidikan atau Kerajaan Negeri atau Persekutuan.
What about STAROBA then?
STAROBA is a registered society, made up of former students of STAR. It is a legal entity registered under the Societies Act 1966. The only relationship between STAROBA and STAR is its members - they are former students of STAR. Nothing in the Education Act, 1966 or the Socities, 1966, implied or otherwise, say STAROBA can meddle in the administration of the school. The only consolation is a letter from the Director-General of Education saying that STAROBA is a stakeholder (whatever it is?) in STAR. Whether that letter has any legal basis or not is debatable?
OK, tired of the legal lecture? Let’s go to the root of the problem.
STAR is falling to pieces. Our academic performances are mediocre - for the past three years we have been sliding downhill so fast pretty soon there will no one behind us. Our sports prowess is historical - gone are the days when STAR was a feared name in athletics, rugby, soccer, hockey and whatever game there was to play. And physically, our buildings are falling to pieces, too. The campus we were once so proud of is nothing but a crumbling piece of structure akin to those normally found in some under-developed countries whose names we could not pronounce.
These are things that do not go down well with the old boys. STAR is a symbol of pride for most of the old boys - any dent in academic performances, games etc would hurt their ego. As a result, the nostalgic call for the good old days become louder. Historically, STAROBA has been known to intervene in the administration of the school since its founding days. In the old days, it was a win-win situation - STAR gained monetarily, and the old boys had their pride installed. Lately, the relationship between STAR and STAROBA has been strained.
Previously relationship between STAR and STAROBA dipped whenever sports and academic performances were sub-standard (though the right word to say is below expectation as compared to other boarding schools). Recently, the issues are no longer exclusive to sports and academic. Since many years ago, the government has allocated 10 places in the school to sons of the old boys on preferential basis. From its inception, the program has been popular with the old boys and every year there are more applicants than available places. And the sons would come come home and tell their fathers about the school, about the teachers etc. Things unknown to many like the High Council incidence spread fast because of this. There are cases where sons of the old boys are beaten up and cause a lot of ruckus among the old boys. Things get from bad to worse when even school wardens are accused of mistreating students. STAR, like many government institutions, tend to sweep things like these under the carpet hoping that time would forget everything. When STAROBA, on cases where the old boys’ sons are involved, does not side with the school the relationship is strained further. Lately another issue has popped up, the poor maintenance schools - hostels facilities are not repaired, grass are not cut, benches are broken etc. Even the surau is not properly maintained - once when I stopped there I found it dirty beyond imagination.
We are damned if we don’t do anything about this. STAROBA is founded on the element of pride. Pride of being the old boys of a school we consider as the best in the country. Once the school is no longer the best, this pride that binds members together would wear off. At the same time, we are damned if we fight the school head-on. It would demoralise the teachers, insulate the students and probably in the short-term cause a lot of bad blood.
Legally, STAROBA is powerless. But in reality, there are avenues open to STAROBA to intervene. We have friends at higher places - 4 out 30 elected members of UMNO Supreme Council are old boys. Two are STAROBA office-bearers and one, a former office-bearer. They are in a position to influence the decision-makers whether to grant more money to the school or to change the whole management of the school. Then there are US, mere mortals we might be, but in number we have the strength to act as as a pressure group to change the situation. And the best way to do this is to use STAROBA as a vehicle. In my not so humble opinion, STAROBA has to change. It has to redefine itself. It must have the capacity to exert its influence not only on the school but on the whole country as a whole. STAROBA’s role as of now is only piecemeal, ad hoc and at best mediocre. It must have a comprehensive plan. Lobbying the ministry to have a teacher transferred because we are not satisfied with his performance is not an ideal solution. One way is to have a Board of Governors to run the school like the Malay College. If MCKK can have it, why can’t we?
Whatever way we choose we must do it now. We are damned if we don’t do it now.
Article courtesy of www.staroba.org
Loading ...