After my Form Five, I threw away my books in glee, thinking I had reached the pinnacle in my pursuit of education. When I commenced working, I realised my inadequacy as I saw my bosses with degrees working at supervisory levels and earning much more than me and with more rapid progression in their careers. I then decided that I should also strive to improve myself academically.
I realised I had wasted five years of my life playing billiards and skittles at the club house while my classmates went on to Form 6 and then to University. After wasting four years in clubs and watching my classmates pursuing university education I decided to do my Higher School Certificate. My family circumstances did not permit me to quit my job and pursue Form 6. I wished to continue working and then studying on a part time basis. I found attending Further Education Classed in public Institutes was a waste of time as it required part time studies after working a full 8 hour shift in the office. I decided to study at home and requested my friends who had done Form 6 in regular school for their notes. My friends were kind and obliged me with their old books and notes as they were in Universities and did not need such notes. I started studying from home after an interval of 4 years, failed in my first attempt and then passed my Form 6 on my second attempt.
While my friends who passed decided to pursue their further education at Universities, I looked at opportunities for progress in my career at work. They were the days when Malaya did not have many graduates. There were many jobs that required a degree but because of the unavailability of graduates the Public sector decided to recruit those who had passed Form 6, for jobs that required a Pass degree. I was fortunate to land a job as a Labour Officer that required a Pass Degree as a minimum but because of the shortage of graduates, they were prepared to accept candidates who had a Higher School Certificate (HSC).
I had worked for three years and with a Form 6 qualification, I was appointed as a Labour Officer. I had worked for 3 years when I met an old classmate who had gone on to Form 6 and then the University to pursue his graduate studies. He was reporting to my Department as a Labour Officer and found he was now my junior by three years. He did not ask me but was green with envy when he realised the unfairness in the public sector. When I was promoted after another two years he realised I would be his Superior. He then opted to joining the teaching service only to realise that promotions in the teaching service were indeed difficult to come by but he had made his choice and found all his colleagues in other public sector services were moving faster than him. He did not have many options and continued to remain in the education service and watched his colleagues moving up in their grades much faster than him.
While I did not have a scroll I moved up in the public sector which at that time, viewed job performance to be more important than the possession of a piece of paper from a public learning institute. After obtaining a few promotions I decided to upgrade my educational standards and opted for an off campus programme when Universiti Sains Malaysia decided to open their courses for working adults.
After 5 years of studying while working full time I managed to obtain an honours degree in Social Science to make up for the inadequacy in my educational attainments. By then I had been promoted making my course mates wonder what I hoped to gain by attaining a degree when I was already in a profession that required a basic degree. The same year I was awarded a scholarship to do a Post Graduate Diploma in Labor Studies at a University in the UK, silencing my critics who were wondering what I was up to. My only regret was that I had given up my desire to do a law degree.
All contents (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana@blogspot.com
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