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

[mathsparks]

I’ve voted a no even though both my kids have cleared the psle.


If you can lower the weightage of mother tongue today coz some kids dont do well, in future you may wanna lower that for science and maths coz not all kids do well in these either…Then why not make music and art examinable to be fair to the other kids who excel in these but which are not part of psle?

Or worse, lower the standard of maths and science coz parents are screaming murder after each psle.

And to think that Chinese language is gaining popularity in the west, (due to china’s rise…blah blah blah), we still hv people so against learning the language.

PS: Yes, I’m rambling and llls…must be the heat!
Instead of lowering the std or the weightage, why not continue the option of allowing students to opt out of the exam if they wish to.

[corneyAmber]

It suddenly occurs to me…will there be a backlash to this change in policy that people will no longer crowd SAP schools especially the not-so-popular ones and they can close off? The advantage of going SAP school is also to give an edge to their children learning Chinese better in terms of immersion and have more choices of schools in secondary.


So if the emphasis on Chinese is no longer there…would there not be an impact on the SAP Primary schools? If so, are the SAP principals against this too? They should be loud voices to MOE since they receive direct impact.

[verykiasu2010]

ks2me:

It suddenly occurs to me....will there be a backlash to this change in policy that people will no longer crowd SAP schools especially the not-so-popular ones and they can close off? The advantage of going SAP school is also to give an edge to their children learning Chinese better in terms of immersion and have more choices of schools in secondary.


So if the emphasis on Chinese is no longer there.....would there not be an impact on the SAP Primary schools? If so, are the SAP principals against this too?

I am doubtful

SAP schools have come a long way and it is more than HCL.

For the well known SAP schools, it is very visibly a combination of their system, curriculum, PTA, alumni, HR management, teachers, etc all these that click and make them tick. Quite hard to replicate

[corneyAmber]

verykiasu2010:

I am doubtful


SAP schools have come a long way and it is more than HCL.

For the well known SAP schools, it is very visibly a combination of their system, curriculum, PTA, alumni, HR management, teachers, etc all these that click and make them tick. Quite hard to replicate

But if we have more and more potato parents, how do such schools survive? Demand and supply will kick in sometime...

[vlim]

ks2me:

But if we have more and more potato parents, how do such schools survive? Demand and supply will kick in sometime...

but I think otherwise, as I think parents get to know the importance of mastering Chinese Language (with this current system) so I think more and more parents will choose SAP school for their kids so that they will have a better chinese language foundation..

[verykiasu2010]

ks2me:

But if we have more and more potato parents, how do such schools survive? Demand and supply will kick in sometime...

then less competition for places in sap school, better for the lao bai xin. eventually, it will be those truly bilingual people who will have more opportunities open to them

look at some asean countries where they emphasise race & language supremacy ..... where are they ?

[corneyAmber]

I agree with you but I hope there are no backlashes…if they insist their way

[lego]

HyperKiasu:

No. I am Non-SAP school parents. I want a change, I am considering transfer my son to a SAP school.....

No, my child is not in a SAP school too and she's only taking normal chinese.
I just don't see how reducing the weightage of MTL in PSLE will be beneficial to our children in the long run.

[HyperKiasu]

lego:

No, my child is not in a SAP school too and she's only taking normal chinese.

I just don't see how reducing the weightage of MTL in PSLE will be beneficial to our children in the long run.

拭目以待, 哈哈.....

[corneyAmber]

vlim:

but I think otherwise, as I think parents get to know the importance of mastering Chinese Language (with this current system) so I think more and more parents will choose SAP school for their kids so that they will have a better chinese language foundation..

If we are talking about our generation and perhaps one more generation, then there may be no impact yet. Beyond that if they grow up in new system where MT is not an emphasis and they themselves have no ability to enforce that with their children, naturally it would cascade the effect down the generation. As it is now, I have been hearing people saying their mother tongue is English due to such parents they have. In future such parents would be even more...

Btw, I am not as optimistic as you also because I believe the competitive landscape in Singapore is real, everyone wants a pie in the academic race so in the end, the not-so-important subjects will be sidelined, like it or not. In fact if they emphasized on CCA, CCA may even precede learning Chinese.... *sigh* Majority will play the rules of the game to stay relevant.