Today is the third day of the new school term for primary and secondary schoolchildren in Sarawak.
The new school term began last Thursday.
Many parents, especially mothers, with children in primary and secondary schools, have to wake up early during the weekdays to help their children prepare for schools.
Some mothers will prepare breakfast and pack some food for their children to bring to school.
There are no school-going children or any children in my house anymore. All my nephews and nieces have grown up and like birds, flown away to greener pastures.
However, I remember the years when I, too, had to wake up early to prepare breakfast for them. Their parents, who lived in Sibu, Bintulu and Johore Bharu, had sent them to schools in Kuching.
They stayed in my house. Although I was their aunt, I was like a mother to them. Besides preparing breakfast and other meals, I also drove them to school and signed their report cards. I also gave them pocket money, sometimes out of my own pocket, and of course, showered them with love.
Later, after discovering the school bus service in my neighbourhood, I stopped braving the school hour rush traffic and relied on the school bus to ferry them to and from school.
Last Thursday, the first day in school, must have been an exciting day for many schoolchildren, especially those going to school for the first time or entering Primary 1 or Form 1.
They must have fun making friends with many new classmates and schoolmates and getting acquainted with their new schools and teachers.
I know of a cute four-year-old boy who is going to preschool for the first time in his life. His nanny, who had been taking care of him for the past three years, cried rivers of tears when she had to part with him.
On the first day of school, I saw a picture of him looking happily at a big pile of building blocks at the preschool.
I know of another seven-year-old girl who is entering primary one. School should be no problem with her since she had spent a few years first at preschool and then at kindergarten.
Going to preschool does make a difference in a child’s life. By the time a child enters primary one, he or she will have learnt the alphabets and languages like English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin.
What do I remember about my first day in school? Mind you, that was aeons ago when there were no preschools and only a few kindergartens in my hometown, Sibu.
In those days, in my family, only the boys went to kindergartens. Chinese parents then did not invest much on their daughters. They believed their daughters would one day leave home and become part of other people’s families.
Flashing back to my first day in school, I was seated in a classroom with many strange boys and girls of my age.
The teacher was busy at her desk in front of the classroom registering the children for her class. She called out names and those who were called went up to her to receive something. I cannot recall what it was.
I waited and waited but she did not call my name. My father, who sent me to school on that first day, was busy catching up with a friend and did not pay attention to the teacher.
At long last, he realised that the teacher had not called me. The teacher told him that she had called my names many times but there was no response.
That was the day I found out that I had another Chinese name. It was long and appeared in my birth certificate. But I had never heard my parents or family members call me by that name.
Because I had never been to school, I did not know that was my official name, the name that would also appear later in my identity card, driving licence and other legal documents.
Until then, I only answered to the nickname my parents, relatives and friends called me at home.
According to her, last year also showed that about 99 per cent of Primary 1 children had received early childhood education, a sure sign that the state government’s mission of providing access to early childhood education has been realised.
