Benefits of Music

Why did MOE put Religious studies as an optional subject in the first place? Is this what you call a better education system? His Majesty was very alert enough to realise this issue. Thank you to His Majesty our Sultan.

Other than that, I just want to express my opinion regarding music.There are some private music schools in this country. Some pupils can’t afford to enroll themselves in these music schools. Maybe it’s still a wise idea to still continue music in the education system rather than just stopping it abruptly. This means all children can learn music.

Music and Islam can be linked too. There are nasyid choir competitions praising Allah the Almighty and Prophet Muhammed held every year in school..not to mention, hadrah too. Apart from learning the piano, guitar, xylophone, flute and all basic instruments, students/pupils can also learn the instruments which are allowed in islam like the drums used in hadrah and other percussion instruments…

Music has a lot of academic benefits to a child who is learning in school. Google it, there are are millions of articles supporting this.

e.g Benefits of Music Education
http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/benefits.html
http://www.encoremusiclessons.com/benefits-of-music-education/success-in-school

Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning. It is thought that brain development continues for many years after birth. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds.

There is also a causal link between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things). This kind of intelligence, by which one can visualize various elements that should go together, is critical to the sort of thinking necessary for everything from solving advanced mathematics problems to being able to pack a book-bag with everything that will be needed for the day.

Students of the arts learn to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions, rejecting outdated rules and assumptions. Questions about the arts do not have only one right answer.

Students with coursework/experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT: students in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation. - College-Bound Seniors National Report: Profile of SAT Program Test Takers. Princeton, NJ: The College Entrance Examination Board, 2001.

Students of music learn craftsmanship as they study how details are put together painstakingly and what constitutes good, as opposed to mediocre, work. These standards, when applied to a student’s own work, demand a new level of excellence and require students to stretch their inner resources.

A study of 237 second grade children used piano keyboard training and newly designed math software to demonstrate improvement in math skills. The group scored 27% higher on proportional math and fractions tests than children that used only the math software. - Graziano, Amy, Matthew Peterson, and Gordon Shaw, “Enhanced learning of proportional math through music training and spatial-temporal training.” Neurological Research 21 (March 1999).

Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. He found that 66% of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. 44% of biochemistry majors were admitted. - As reported in “The Case for Music in the Schools,” Phi Delta Kappan, February 1994.

SPN 21’s concept is “fun, play and learn more” …In my opinion, though it’s not a must, teachers should still be implementing music in schools (as an elective or an option-when necessary) BUT remember, spn21 should never had forgotten to make religious studies AS A COMPULSORY/WAJIB SUBJECT…..that was a mistake in the first place…..”when everything’s balance, it will run smoothly”

this is just an opinion and i don’t expect people to judge my post as a correct one or a false one….

thank you for your time

This post was submitted by GleeGlow.