02/04/2026
Post SPM: Time to rethink your children’s education plans
Congratulations to all the students who aced their SPM examinations. Whether you go on to earn placements in scholarships, matriculations or universities of your choice, or you don’t, just remember that life will reward you for every ounce of effort you put in, one way or another.
Many people will be at crossroads, specifically parents, as to how much to spend on their children’s tertiary education. For those who earned their places on merit, this is not an issue, as you have just done your parents the biggest favour you can at your age.
HOWEVER, for those whose parents are stepping forward to pay for their expensive degrees or similar forms of qualifications, or for those taking out loans from third party establishments, remember, this moment will weigh on everything you do for the rest of your life.
Spending huge sums of money, time and effort on tertiary education should begin with one thought: Will it be worth it?
Everyone wants their child to have a great life, better than them, and if possible, on par with the best.
But most parents are not aware of what they are getting into. They think that with one prestigious degree, their children’s lives are sorted for good.
In today’s reality, that is hardly the case.
And one of the biggest reasons for this is that the lifestyle that they have raised their child with isn’t exactly aligned with the resilience needed to dedicate one’s life to work and duty.
If your child is used to upper-middle class lifestyles – tuitions, talent classes, frequent dine-ins, daily takeaways, lots of recreational travel, generous smartphones and gadget allocations, etc – it becomes a challenge for them to tune their body, mind and soul to exist purely for work and duty throughout their adult lives. Which is why we see a lot of complaints, discontent, unhappiness and stagnation across today’s youth when it comes to career progression.
Back in the 60s, 70s and even 80s, before expensive middle-class lifestyles became common, people can just roll their children into any factory or mill or office or quarry or even onto a ship for that matter, and these children would gratefully adopt the discipline and simplicity and humility needed to serve in that environment for the rest of their lives.
Today, however, with too much of a lifestyle modification, there is an expectation that their future jobs will enable them to live at the socioeconomic comforts and status provided by their parents during childhood. So entry-level jobs, which are mostly tedious, long-hours and mundane, quickly become unbearable.
As a result, after spending on their degrees, a lot of children come back home saying that they can’t find the ‘right’ jobs, or that their jobs are too ‘difficult’. And with a fancy degree in hand, they feel that they have attained an elite status and deserve a job that aligns to this status.
This dilemma is something that parents must ponder upon before pawning their jewellery, mortgaging their houses, and taking out loans for tertiary education. When providing degrees or higher education to your children, managing future expectations becomes a very very important aspect to avoid regrets. Do your children have the discipline, simplicity and humility needed to later work in any position they are offered to?
So, as parents and children navigate their days and weeks after the results are out, remember that a whopping 366,435 or 94.29% have an SPM certificate (we will discuss hyper-inflation of grades in another article). Any of these kids can pursue a diploma, degree and even a PhD, given the democratization of education we have today and the myriad of creative pathways that exist for anyone, and we mean anyone, to earn any qualification they desire.
Wrong decisions will not only waste one’s youth, but also have direct consequences on other life decisions. People with huge loans suffer from indebtedness to parents or the funders, leading them to delay starting their own families. People are left childless and alone in later life due to being bogged down by such indebtedness, especially those from communities without sufficient political or economic leverage to land highly paid positions.
On the contrary, those who opt for lighter education/training pathways to their careers marry early and go many steps ahead in building their own social network and safety net, while saving themselves from the trap of debt and indebtedness.
For parents specifically, going for the glory of professional titles and then holding your children back from establishing their own lives -- marrying in their twenties, starting a family --- because you need some payback and some social upgrade from your children’s income, is especially unfair. Young people should use their youth for themselves – learn on their jobs, start building their own wealth, marry and start having children who will be there to take care of them as they age.
After all, there are many who complete their expensive degrees and are stuck looking for jobs. Some have jobs but are knackered 24/7 with no way out. Others have jobs but still struggle to buy a decent house, well into their 30s, and others have health issues for being stressed/living unhealthily away from the family for too long. And lastly, some just quit altogether and build something they could have built after SPM.
So think carefully, wisely and think with your children’s future and happiness and long-term welfare in mind.
Explore many alternative pathways for economic success – short courses, night/weekend classes, on-the-job trainings, online education, professional certificates, etc.
Remember, this is not just an era of the Internet and AI, but it is also an era of hyper-capitalism, super inflation and too much marketing.
Assess your children’s ability to withstand today’s employment challenges and INVEST GRADUALLY in higher education, at a pace that will not stress them or disappoint them, and keeps them free from monetary enslavement as they embark on life’s best times.
