Compulsory Overseas Trip
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ks2me:
Yes, fully agree.
I used to be irked by my dad waiting for me at the void deck, but my brother made a valid point to me that changed my mind. He told me that it would only take one accident to destroy you. So I appreciated dad's effort instead.
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nani:
Problem with planning service learning locally:daisyt:
hi nani, for my case, the school is paying everything. However, to me, its not about who is paying. My main concern is safety in Jakarta. I am thinking if the school would want the parents to sign any Letter of Indemnity for such trips. :?
Not sure if you are talking about complusory here. Reading on the negatives of safety and street kids in Jakarta already turn me off from visiting relatives there, dont even talk about school doing service trip there :shock: .
Again, I just dont understand what are the school objectives by sending our kids to 3rd world countries for service?? If is just to let them know how fortunate they are, I would rather they make it complusory for all schools to service the orphange here or even schedule schools to help with distributing food from the heart, etc. SERVICE can be found and start within our own country, need not make us PAY and risk our kids overseas!!
Just my 2 cents.
Parents feel that it's a waste of time and that their kids should be home studying instead.
Honestly, I have parents who write in to give all sorts of excuses so their kids don't have to do CIP. When I ask the kids what they did at home while we went, they said their parents forced them to study.
No matter what MOE does, there'll definitely be ppl who are upset/angry with the system or disagree with it. There's never a policy that will please everyone.
If this overseas trip thing is really bugging you and your family and the school is totally not supportive in assuring you, then it might be best to homeschool your child instead of having to 'live through' the system.
Teachers also love the kids and don't want anything bad to happen. We do put in alot of effort into ensuring their safety. If we have to report every move to the parents, it'll be extra work and we won't be able to totally focus on preparing for the trip and keeping the kids safe.
Can you guarantee that nothing will happen to your child on a family holiday, locally or overseas?
Can you guarantee that nothing will happen to your child even if you are at home the entire day?
If you really can't get over this issue, then take your child out of the system and homeschool. With homeschooling, you can 'control' the environment, the learning content and the learning experience. Maybe that will save you the frustration
Sometimes thinking about it too much just makes us feel more frustrated and cloud our judgement and objectiveness (just like how I keep thinking if I've chosen the right pre-school for my boy). Take a break and not read this thread for a while then slowly think through about it. Being in the system means you need to accept policies and plan around it. If really can't accept then no point making you and your child frustrated. Just find alternatives and move out of the system. -
mrswongtuition:
mrswongtuition, thanks to teachers like yourself, our children have the opportunities to attend many interesting and enriching activities and programmes both locally and overseas. Just want to let you know not everyone disagrees with the system. We really appreicate the effort from the schools, especially the teachers. Our kids feel grateful to their teachers too. We are glad that they enjoy their school lives even though it can be demanding.Teachers also love the kids and don't want anything bad to happen. We do put in alot of effort into ensuring their safety. If we have to report every move to the parents, it'll be extra work and we won't be able to totally focus on preparing for the trip and keeping the kids safe.
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Agree with mrswongtution, its not an easy task for the teachers. Don't talk about overseas, I have a teacher friend, already feel so stress up when bringing the kids to NDP. After they reach school, the teachers cannot leave the school until all parents picked up the children. By the time she left school, its about midnight. The most ridiculous thing she told me was, one parent, actually forgot had to pick up the child at a certain time. When she called the parent, she was sleeping. :shock: If its not she told me, I won't believe such story lor. :lol: :!:
Anyway, I am not against such system. So far, I have not come across any compulsory camps or trips for my dd. The schools would leave it to the parents to decide. -
mrswongtuition:
May I ask have school or MOE ever done a survey on whether to service locally or overseas? Why would parents feel a waste of time doing service locally? Are these the same set of parents that are willing to sent their kids overseas, paying for it, risk them and yet not thinking is a waste of time?[quote]Problem with planning service learning locally:Parents feel that it's a waste of time and that their kids should be home studying instead.
Honestly, I have parents who write in to give all sorts of excuses so their kids don't have to do CIP. When I ask the kids what they did at home while we went, they said their parents forced them to study.
[quote]No matter what MOE does, there'll definitely be ppl who are upset/angry with the system or disagree with it. There's never a policy that will please everyone.[/quote]Yes, is true. Hence for overseas trips it should be done optional and not complusory. Just a reminder, I started this thread saying is COMPLUSORY overseas trips, and I really mean complusory not even strongly encourage nor optional. FYI, there are schools that enforce trips unless due to medical reasons.
[quote]Can you guarantee that nothing will happen to your child on a family holiday, locally or overseas?
Can you guarantee that nothing will happen to your child even if you are at home the entire day?[/quote]No one can!! Only GOD's knows. If he would want to take his child back anytime, no one can stop him. But as far as I'm concern when God's entrusted me with this lovely gift, I'm to give my ulmost protection, and not leave her to someoneelse hands.
Yes is really frustrating having to rant and stick with the system cos taking my child out of the school is out of the question as I would admit that I'm academically incapable. Hence, writing here is to hear views on how parents in our society has create this competitive stress and hope MOE or school or even teacher's like you can give feedback to the system[/quote]Thank you. -
daisyt:
Lucky youAgree with mrswongtution, its not an easy task for the teachers. Don't talk about overseas, I have a teacher friend, already feel so stress up when bringing the kids to NDP. After they reach school, the teachers cannot leave the school until all parents picked up the children. By the time she left school, its about midnight. The most ridiculous thing she told me was, one parent, actually forgot had to pick up the child at a certain time. When she called the parent, she was sleeping. :shock: If its not she told me, I won't believe such story lor. :lol: :!:
Anyway, I am not against such system. So far, I have not come across any compulsory camps or trips for my dd. The schools would leave it to the parents to decide.
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I am with nani in this matter as I know how compulsory some schools can make things. I do hope she has a place to air her feedback that trips should be made optional. I am not sure if moe advocate that, my gutfeel is school chooses to be so so that the trip can happen. Without the numbers they may not get subsidy approval or the trip cannot happen. All these are logistics issues to me and parents should not be made to feel obliged to let the little ones fly out of the nest when they are not ready. And all these talk about doing anything also have danger is really unnecessary because who does not know that. Not all children are ready at the same pace so we should try to use lesser of our yardstick but listen clearly to the cries of compulsion enforced when people are not ready. Also, I don't think we should pounce on homeschooling just because there is a flaw in the system. Did we go to school to learn compliance or negotiation? My benefit was the latter. I give credit to a SG education despite it being very stressful at times.
Nani, constructively I would check with a few mums of the cohort and request a meeting w the p to sound the concern. The objective is really to make him or her understand that it is not appropriate to make such trips compulsory. Over here, the age group of children are diverse and even if there is agreement, there is little impact on your school if your school p refuses. I hv recently walked into my p's office to clarify something and at least I see a clear circular being issued now.
Hope this helps.
Today is everybody's birthday, wishing all a happy birthday! -
[quote]Not all children are ready at the same pace so we should try to use lesser of our yardstick but listen clearly to the cries of compulsion enforced when people are not ready[/quote]
Sometimes, the children are actually ready. The parents are the ones who are not ready emotionally and mentally and this led them to think that their children are not ready too.
:lol: -
csc:
[quote]Not all children are ready at the same pace so we should try to use lesser of our yardstick but listen clearly to the cries of compulsion enforced when people are not ready
Sometimes, the children are actually ready. The parents are the ones who are not ready emotionally and mentally and this led them to think that their children are not ready too.
:lol:[/quote]True buddy but......
actually if we go granular, this is considered not ready. We do not exist alone and there should be some give and take within the family. Of course if parents 'imprison' the child for prolonged period then this is deemed abnormal. As long as done within reasonableness I would give parents the leeway to make their own judgement call. -
ks2me:
True buddy but......csc:
[quote]Not all children are ready at the same pace so we should try to use lesser of our yardstick but listen clearly to the cries of compulsion enforced when people are not ready
Sometimes, the children are actually ready. The parents are the ones who are not ready emotionally and mentally and this led them to think that their children are not ready too.
:lol:
actually if we go granular, this is considered not ready. We do not exist alone and there should be some give and take within the family. Of course if parents 'imprison' the child for prolonged period then this is deemed abnormal. As long as done within reasonableness I would give parents the leeway to make their own judgement call.[/quote]“Every mother is like Moses. She does not enter the promised land. She prepares a world she will not see.”- Pope Paul VI
“A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.” - Cardinal Mermillod
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