Overworked and underfed, They were
all starving. Desperate with hunger, the poor boys in the workhouse finally
decided to ask for some more food. It fell on Oliver. So he approached the
master, his bowl and spoon in hand, and said, 'Please, sir, I want some more' …
What! You want
some more?!.. Such a demand came as a great shock to the system. The response
was a good hiding and confinement. He would be hung, they even believed.
Asking for more
can be risky. So, dare not to do such a thing. Otherwise, you may be punished
severely just as suggested in the story Oliver Twist. You are just expected to
be happy and content with what is considered enough for you by those in power.
They always know the best for you. Who are you to think for yourself? Just get
what is given to you and show gratitude to them. You do not exist to question
or challenge the power because you owe your existence to the existence of the
power, they presume.
We created the
administrations and the state for them to serve us. However, we gave them such
big powers that we have always had to serve them instead. But today, having
grasped the true meaning of 'the power', we realise that we are not satisfied
and happy at all. And, we now know that we need more and have to ask for it. We
need better education, better jobs, better money. We desperately need more
liberties: freedom of speech and expression. Most importantly, we need to feel
more secure about the future. The needs are compelling. We must do something
about them without delay.
What role does our education system play in securing the liberties of freedom of speech and expression? What can we do as teachers? Are our hands tied by the 'power' of the Ministry of Education and the school administration in dictating what and how we should teach? What 'power' do we have as teachers to effect the change your mention? Or, more to the point, what 'power' do students have to shape their own destiny?
ReplyDeleteIf we ask for more education, better jobs and better pay, who are you expecting to give this to us? Or, is it within our own power to make this happen rather than expecting someone else to do it for us? Perhaps like Will Hunting (in the film Good Will Hunting), we all have the capacity to achieve our goals, but we first need to realize that this power is within our own self.