Kuala Lampur, Nov. 4 -- NOVEMBER 4 - Your child scored straight As. The family is celebrating, social media is flooded with congratulatory messages, and relatives are proudly sharing the good news. But here is an uncomfortable question. Can your brilliant child solve a problem without being told what to do? Can they handle failure, communicate confidently, or make a responsible decision when nobody is supervising? If the answer is no, perhaps we should reconsider what exactly we are celebrating.

For decades, Malaysian parents have been conditioned to believe that examination results are the ultimate measure of intelligence and success. We spend thousands on tuition, sacrifice weekends for extra classes, and turn childhood into an endless...