All About GEP
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Vanilla Cake:
Thanks for posting the article.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gx7Tqcrtamarind:
Today there is an article about GEP preparation schools in the Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao. Some schools are charging $3000 for a 10 week sessionks2me:
The Learning Lab requires the child to go through assessments before he/she will be offered a place. They select the best students. Why do the best students need extra lessons ? By logical deduction, is to get into the GEP.I just read the LianHe ZaoBao....is Learning Lab, Learning Point and Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning GEP Prep Schools? I don't think they are touting themselves as such. Can someone enlighten me?
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ChiefKiasu wrote:[quote]If you think your son is indeed naturally gifted, and if he did not attend any special \"GEP Preparatory course\", then go for it. Given that you have 4 children, I daresay that you are unlikely able to provide the kind of support and attention that might be needed to help your son achieve the best of what he can be. This is exactly what the GEP is designed for.[/quote]
I totally agreed with CKS.
How I wish I have discovered this website last year. My son is in the P4 GEP this year. He likes the programe and enjoying him very much. I am also very glad with myself that I am still survivng well. :lol: Not to scare off the GEP parents-to-be, your kids are able to tune them fairly well to the programe once they are in it.
But recently my son came back home and tell me that his teacher told them some of them are on the review list. I was so confusion initially, until today my son piano teacher told me that one of her P5 GEP student told her that his teacher told them that the school can transfer them back to the mainstream if they are being proved that they are not suitable for the programe. That means some of them could be the trained gifted and not the truly gifted that were \"accidentially\" being selected. :shock:
I believe the MOE are aware of this problem. So why worry...... be it in the GEP or not. End of the day still sit for PSLE same as all the other children.
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I believed GEP can be trained too
if you expose the child to the style of GEP questions, tune the mind to think along that line, sure do, can be done
versus other children who only see those GEP questions for the very first time in their life during the screening, I am sure those with prior exposure will flair much better
sort of like O level 10 years series. Practice the past year papers sufficiently, grasp the way questions are set, very hard to fail your exam, right?
Having say that, I don’t agree with the method of drilling the child with GEP questions. The child may pass the screening but end up struggling. Even more demoralising if he or she is ‘banish’ back to mainstream
However, to be fairer, I believe all students should be offered a sample set of questions to minimise the ‘shock’ when they see the style GEP questions -
Emelyn:
...Because of all the private training schools, the truly gifted children are being robbed of the opportunity by those \"trained\" children...
Emelyn, that's an interesting way of looking at it. It reminds me of the long argument I had years ago with a friend of mine who was also a scholar, over how the government should have a specific quota for scholarships for students from low-income families. He was against the idea, because he felt that a true meritocracy should judge purely on ability, and not diminished by the fact that the ability has been attained through exposure to the better education and experiences that the wealthy can \"buy\".
I can't fault his logic on pragmatic terms. -
ChiefKiasu:
Emelyn:
...Because of all the private training schools, the truly gifted children are being robbed of the opportunity by those \"trained\" children...
Emelyn, that's an interesting way of looking at it. It reminds me of the long argument I had years ago with a friend of mine who was also a scholar, over how the government should have a specific quota for scholarships for students from low-income families. He was against the idea, because he felt that a true meritocracy should judge purely on ability, and not diminished by the fact that the ability has been attained through exposure to the better education and experiences that the wealthy can \"buy\".
I can't fault his logic on pragmatic terms.
Actually I think that high income families can afford to send their children overseas, even without government scholarship. These students are also more likely to break the bond, if they are bored with the government job they are assigned to after they graduated. There have been cases where students break the bond, and their parents do not hesitate to pay back the government. Some students do not even return to Singapore.
So why not give more chances to students from low income families ? These students are less likely to break the bond, and more likely to serve the country. We will have an even larger pool of highly educated talent. -
EQmum:
I think why a lot of parents want to squeeze their kids into GEP is because it opens many opportunities. For eg, for non-GEP student, perhaps you need 275 to get into RI. But if GEP student, you just need 250.
I believe the MOE are aware of this problem. So why worry...... be it in the GEP or not. End of the day still sit for PSLE same as all the other children.
My cousin's son scored 240 in 2006's PSLE...but he is in ACS(I) now. All because he was from GEP.
So, for non-GEP student, you really need to work extra hard to get into good schools lor.
Ok... I'm going to send my son to GEP training school !!! He's taking the test in 2010. For the good of his future and the many opportunities that will be opened to him.... let's do it !!
:lol:
Ok... I'm just being sarcastic to the entire system. LOL. -
tamarind:
ChiefKiasu:
[quote=\"Emelyn\"]...Because of all the private training schools, the truly gifted children are being robbed of the opportunity by those \"trained\" children...
Emelyn, that's an interesting way of looking at it. It reminds me of the long argument I had years ago with a friend of mine who was also a scholar, over how the government should have a specific quota for scholarships for students from low-income families. He was against the idea, because he felt that a true meritocracy should judge purely on ability, and not diminished by the fact that the ability has been attained through exposure to the better education and experiences that the wealthy can \"buy\".
I can't fault his logic on pragmatic terms.
Actually I think that high income families can afford to send their children overseas, even without government scholarship. These students are also more likely to break the bond, if they are bored with the government job they are assigned to after they graduated. There have been cases where students break the bond, and their parents do not hesitate to pay back the government. Some students do not even return to Singapore.
So why not give more chances to students from low income families ? These students are less likely to break the bond, and more likely to serve the country. We will have an even larger pool of highly educated talent.[/quote]Hi, tamarind. This thinking also happened to come across my mind last night. I really appreciate and am also very grateful to the government for providing my boy an opportunity to be in a programme that could cater to his learning needs. Single income families with two children like us have to struggle very hard to meet our ends every month, it's impossible to find extra money to groom or nurture him. For example, whenever we bring him to any big book fairs, he is very fascinated with those encyclopedia sets and you know they cost at least a few thousand dollars. He would sit there and read non-stop with the sales staff at the side pestering us to buy a set for him since he is so interested. I know he longs to have them but he is also aware that his daddy and mummy could not afford it. I feel very guilty towards him, my husband and myself always tell each other that our son should be born in a better-off family with highly educated parents.
This programme is also going to help him in another area in the sense that he would be given opportunities to develop higher level thinking skills and acquire research skills for independent study. As he has a strong inquiring mind since young, he always pops out questions out of nowhere and eagerly awaits for your answer. He also raises a lot of questions in class which results in becoming disruptive to the teacher and classmates. -
Windflower:
Hi, tamarind. This thinking also happened to come across my mind last night. I really appreciate and am also very grateful to the government for providing my boy an opportunity to be in a programme that could cater to his learning needs. Single income families with two children like us have to struggle very hard to meet our ends every month, it's impossible to find extra money to groom or nurture him. For example, whenever we bring him to any big book fairs, he is very fascinated with those encyclopedia sets and you know they cost at least a few thousand dollars. He would sit there and read non-stop with the sales staff at the side pestering us to buy a set for him since he is so interested. I know he longs to have them but he is also aware that his daddy and mummy could not afford it. I feel very guilty towards him, my husband and myself always tell each other that our son should be born in a better-off family with highly educated parents.
This programme is also going to help him in another area in the sense that he would be given opportunities to develop higher level thinking skills and acquire research skills for independent study. As he has a strong inquiring mind since young, he always pops out questions out of nowhere and eagerly awaits for your answer. He also raises a lot of questions in class which results in becoming disruptive to the teacher and classmates.
Windflower,
There is no need to feel guilty ! My hubby's father can afford to buy him the complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica, and also any books he wanted. My parents cannot even afford to buy new textbooks for me, I had second hand textbooks. But they allow me to take bus alone to the national library since I was 11 years old. My hubby did not do half as good as me at A levels :lol:
There are a lot of free resources, like the library, and now we have the internet, where you can learn anything, and it is free. Who needs the encyclopedia, when there is http://www.wikipedia.org/ ? http://www.google.com is the fantastic seach engine that will find you anything that you want.
Also check this out :
http://www.mathtv.com/
It is a website that includes many videos of tutors teaching maths. Your boy can learn all the way up to sec 4 maths And it is free
This may be a bit too advanced for your boy now. Checkout the MIT open courseware :
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
Complete sets of lecture notes are available free
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tamarind:
Thank you very much for the websites and info, tamarind. My boy would be thrilled when he comes back later to find out so many websites waiting for him to explore and learn.Windflower, There is no need to feel guilty ! My hubby's father can afford to buy him the complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica, and also any books he wanted. My parents cannot even afford to buy new textbooks for me, I had second hand textbooks. But they allow me to take bus alone to the national library since I was 11 years old. My hubby did not do half as good as me at A levels :lol:
There are a lot of free resources, like the library, and now we have the internet, where you can learn anything, and it is free. Who needs the encyclopedia, when there is http://www.wikipedia.org/ ? http://www.google.com is the fantastic seach engine that will find you anything that you want.
Also check this out :
http://www.mathtv.com/
It is a website that includes many videos of tutors teaching maths. Your boy can learn all the way up to sec 4 maths And it is free
This may be a bit too advanced for your boy now. Checkout the MIT open courseware :
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
Complete sets of lecture notes are available free
-
tamarind:
...Actually I think that high income families can afford to send their children overseas, even without government scholarship. These students are also more likely to break the bond...
That is precisely the point. It is not the money offered by the \"scholarship\" that the well-off families need - it is the prestige that comes with the \"scholar\" label that everybody, rich or poor, wants. However, as you pointed out, the richer families can afford to pay off the bond at the end of the scholarship - and still retain the scholar title. To be fair, meritocracy cannot discriminate based on wealth. But in the process, this person could be depriving a less wealthy student a chance for an overseas education. One can argue that the less wealthy student didn't do as well in the examinations, and so is less deserving. But one can also argue that the less well-off student have less opportunity to prepare better for the exams.
I fear that the GEP, though well-intended, could be degenerating into the same situation. GEP is now used as a yardstick for academic success, just like the term scholar. This drives some parents to try to prepare their children for GEP, going against the very purpose of the programme. This hurts both bright children who get into the programme but cannot keep up, and truly gifted children who are late bloomers and did not make it into the programme due to less exposure to the topics required for the tests.
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