The Cost of Ignorance

Though not my part of my everyday duty, in my professional life I come across many university students who are in need of assistance, especially on advice in life.

I find this not surprising, as I was once in a similar position. There were not many people who were there for advice, and equally clueless peers apart, I found no one and ended up not trusting the system of public student sponsorship.

Nowadays, we have PTPTN, which above all things, should be lauded for helping many students achieve their tertiary education ambitions. This is apart from JPA, MARA and a host of other GLC trusts which provide financial assistance through scholarships as well as loans.

Nevertheless, I personally believe, this assistance should be extended far beyond monetary aid alone. Sincere assistance through a more holistic approach should be adopted in ensuring that money spent on the future generation is not only optimally utilised, but also benefits them by building them up as good citizens with high morals, positive attitude and good communication and entrepreneurial skills. They must be well versed on current happenings as well as have sound general knowledge.

I recently came across a girl who got her studies terminated, having had poor CGPA in two consecutive semesters. I discovered that she was not all that bad; in fact she aced a few courses. What made her stay in the program brief was actually due to the ignorance of certain academic rules which would otherwise saw her safely through the first year of university.

I was aghast. Not only this poor if not foolish girl wasted a good year of her life away, but in the end she was shattered. Surely this would not have happened had this girl talked to someone who knew about these rules? How much of PTPTN funds are thrown away this way, bearing in mind that it takes awhile before they could even think of recouping the money?

What about the girl's parents? Together with the financiers, the parents are stakeholders of this project called the 'tertiary education'. As much as they wanted to help, they cannot really do much as times change, and so does the education environment.

I believe there is a flaw in the system. I believe this flaw must be rectified to ensure that no more funds, be it public or private, are wasted in financing educational ventures which are doomed to fail. I believe that apart from the education institution, the financiers should be more responsible in ensuring a higher success rate in university graduates, and those who graduate, do so with high quality distinction.

MARA has recently decided to gather their under achieving scholars so that they can be given motivation to improve their academic performance. This is a positive trend; having said that, I trust that they can do much more.

For one, academic advisers can be appointed to meet all scholars face to face to personally motivate them. I find that one to one sessions are the most effective as students may feel inhibited to air their problems with their peers present. Above all else, the advisers must have in depth knowledge of the university, academic rules, student life, etc so that students do not feel that they are talking to just another parent.

I notice that some students nowadays take some time to mature in terms of making the right decisions in life. Hence, having activities such as breakouts or camps may benefit them in instilling responsibility and decisiveness.

Producing resilient and quality graduates to lead the future of Malaysia should not only be borne by a few selected shoulders; it must be the duty of everybody in the country, for the sake of the country.

The loss of youth and the waste of money apart, what is the true cost of our ignorance?