[PSLE MT] PSLE less weightage in Chinese / Mother Tongue

[corneyAmber]

Funny how people think that bright sparks only exist in the those strong in English. If I recall rightly, during my time many could do well in all subjects except English and lowering English standards was completely unheard of and in the end we managed to raise the bar on our English standards. So why give up on MT and become monolingual in a multi-racial country? Are we not special as Singaporeans because of our linguistic capability? In India, I know of friends who have mastered 9 or 10 Indian languages and 3-4 Indian languages is the average. And mind you, they emphasized to me they are languages with proper scripts for each, not dialects.

[Way2GO]

Agree with ur points Blobbi.

Instead of lowering d bar further
we should teach our young to strive
harder to achieve. Absolutely.

If u speak to those who hv gone
thro’ d Chinese schools in d 50s n 60s,
our current CL std is oredi laughable
for an A* grade in PSLE

[corneyAmber]

Way2GO:

snowz:

My friend's kid is in SAP school. The kids in the school are advised to take only normal CL for PLSE not HCL. I think this is not for every SAP school.

Which SAP school is dat?
This is d school's policy?
Or just an individual(s) opinion for certain kids?

Actually this happens in every SAP school. By P5 they will decide to proceed with hcl for PSLE or drop to normal Chinese. However majority will continue like what someone mentioned 75% in NYPS will do it.

[Blobbi]

Granny Chong may have a valid point. But there are 2 possibilities - that her whole brood is genetically disinclined towards learning a second language, OR, the environment is not conducive.


Can’t do anything about the 1st although it’s statiscally unlikely - for eg the Ashkanazi Jews have a predisposition to Tay-Sachs disease, but not all of them have it. Instead she can try to uplift the second. Go Granny Go! Talk about your ancestors in China, bring them back for a holiday, immerse them in the language, watch Chinese videos together, have a speak Chinese day of the week … The list goes on.

[ihavethingtosay]

ks2me:

Funny how people think that bright sparks only exist in the those strong in English. If I recall rightly, during my time many could do well in all subjects except English and lowering English standards was completely unheard of and in the end we managed to raise the bar on our English standards. So why give up on MT and become monolingual in a multi-racial country? Are we not special as Singaporeans because of our linguistic capability? In India, I know of friends who have mastered 9 or 10 Indian languages and 3-4 Indian languages is the average. And mind you, they emphasized to me they are languages with proper scripts for each, not dialects.

absolutely agree. bright sparks are not only those who excel in English. how bright a spark can this kid be if he cannot even manage 4 subjects at pri sch level? we don't need elitist minds that English speaking are superior. why not we carry out separate gifted selection test to sieve out those who are gifted in MT. English, Sci and Math separately? why is there a bias need for English to go with other subjects? Though other subjects are taught in English, it does not mean that students who excel in English can do better in them as well. (This comes from personal experience. I may not have a stellar English grade, but I dare say my grades for other subjects are much better than a large group of potato-eating groups)

I think it is only fair to acknowledge that, yes indeed, some English speaking kids are BRIGHT SPARKS essential as the pillar of our country in future. Likewise, BRIGHT SPARKS do come from Chinese speaking kids. There is absolutely NO NEED to just cater to the English-speaking group.

[Way2GO]

ks2me:

Way2GO:

[quote=\"snowz\"]

My friend's kid is in SAP school. The kids in the school are advised to take only normal CL for PLSE not HCL. I think this is not for every SAP school.

Which SAP school is dat?
This is d school's policy?
Or just an individual(s) opinion for certain kids?

Actually this happens in every SAP school. By P5 they will decide to proceed with hcl for PSLE or drop to normal Chinese. However majority will continue like what someone mentioned 75% in NYPS will do it.[/quote]Dats y I thot if snowz suggest
it is dat SAP school's policy
it doesn't sound rite nor fair
to d kids.

[corneyAmber]

Way2GO:

Dats y I thot if snowz suggest
it is dat SAP school's policy
it doesn't sound rite nor fair
to d kids.

Likewise in non-SAP schools which support HCL learning, by P5 there is an option to do hcl for PSLE or not. People are given choices, now they want a choice to lower normal Chinese even.

[dimsum]

In the eyes of protective & vocal grandma chong, her grandsons are bright sparks. Very thick-skinned…

[corneyAmber]

Actually the grandma’s feedback is no different from the mum who wrote in 6A1 and 2A2s cannot get into HCI. If they respond to lower MT for this, that mum could argue why HCI not lower the entry points since her child’s result also bright sparks results?

[ihavethingtosay]

compared to her 6A1 and 2A2, there are brighter sparks with 8A1 and 9A1 so they got the place. i think that is absolutely fair.


if mama not happy, can encourage the girl to be more involved in CCA or leadership roles etc. same for grandma. if a child really shines so brightly, just a mere MT will not drag them down so much.