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

[verykiasu2010]

ihavethingtosay:

ps. please do not be overly worried or concerned. if your grandson/granddaughter/son/daughter truly has what it takes, we will all be rushing to offer him/her a place or a scholarship. he/she does not even need to apply. we will grab him/her!

from the point of view of many scholarship providers/higher institutions

sounds cryptic ..... lolz

i like the part \"does not even need to apply, we will grab him.her...\"

are you from some schools ?

[ihavethingtosay]

nope. just a student not that great in english but has moved far enough in education arena

[mathsparks]

ihavethingtosay:

nope. just a student not that great in english but has moved far enough in education arena

but from yr earlier post you sound like someone who screens the candidates for scholarships. not so nice to use \"we\" when you dont represent them, agree?

[verykiasu2010]

mathsparks:

ihavethingtosay:

nope. just a student not that great in english but has moved far enough in education arena

but from yr earlier post you sound like someone who screens the candidates for scholarships. not so nice to use \"we\" when you dont represent them, agree?

and also i know some schools have kind of \"shortlisted\" some without applying .... so i thot he is very cryptic .... lolz

[ihavethingtosay]

ok, my bad then. but anyway, this is what most providers/schools claim in the pamphlets, briefings etc. real talents the society needs excel not only academically but also in other areas. character-wise too.


let me go editttt my post :love:

oh yes, i do have friends and myself who got invited to consider taking up their scholarships so on so on..

[verykiasu2010]

Apr 23, 2010

Poor teachers do damage
WASHINGTON - AN UNUSUAL genetic study supports the argument that good teachers make a difference and shows that poor teachers may do damage, even to gifted students, researchers said on Thursday.

The study, published in the journal Science, showed that effective teachers help kids with the best genes read better, while poor teachers brought down all the children in a classroom to the same mediocre level.

The findings by behavioural geneticist Jeanette Taylor at Florida State University and colleagues could influence the debate in Congress, the White House and school districts across the United States about measuring the quality in schools. 'In circumstances where the teachers are all excellent, the variability in student reading achievement may appear to be largely due to genetics. However, poor teaching impedes the ability of children to reach their potential,' Dr. Taylor and colleagues concluded.

To tease out the effects of genes and environment, the researchers turned to the time-tested model of twins. Identical twins share all their DNA, while fraternal twins share about half, or as much as any brother or sister. Their theory: if one identical twin does better than his or her sibling in a different classroom, much of the difference must be due to the teacher.

They studied 280 identical twin pairs and and 526 fraternal twin pairs in the first and second grades from a diverse selection of Florida schools. To determine teacher quality, they used Oral Reading Fluency test scored for the entire classroom of each twin. '(It's) a timed measure of how many words children can read in a passage,' Dr. Taylor said in a Science podcast. They checked to see how many more words children could read at the end of the year compared to the beginning. 'We felt that was a reasonable estimate of teacher effectiveness,' Dr. Taylor said.

When teachers were good, the genes really mattered. If one identical twin excelled with a good teacher, the other did too. But if one twin had a strong teacher and the other twin had a weak teacher, twins with strong genetic potential did just so-so in the poor teacher's class. --REUTERS

so, may be MOE did not get the right teachers for the MT - which I highly suggest is the root problem of the present MT issues

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/TechandScience/Story/STIStory_518134.html

[corneyAmber]

To be fair, it is an issue of parents, teachers and the quality of Chinese we have around us, look at our local TV programmes. I just cannot bear listening to their Mandarin. Once upon a time, I found Taiwan’s mandarin quite bad because of their Hokkien influence but they have improved alot in their younger generation and are able to dub the K-dramas much better than the China dubbing.

[James Ang]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1051943/1/.html


Admissions criteria to top secondary schools may be adjusted
By Hoe Yeen Nie | Posted: 22 April 2010 2259 hrs


Photos 1 of 1

Primary school students (file picture)




SINGAPORE: The Minister for Education, Ng Eng Hen said admissions criteria to top secondary schools may be adjusted, following Monday's announcement of possible changes to the mother tongue language exams at PSLE.

Earlier this week, Dr Ng said the weightage of the PSLE mother tongue language papers may be reduced, as part of his ministry's review of mother tongue education in schools.

On Thursday, he said the aim is to achieve a basic language competency for all students.

But the ministry will retain incentives for those strong in their Chinese, Malay or Tamil, to continue taking these subjects at a higher level.

For example, students are currently required to take the Higher Chinese language paper to be eligible for Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools.

\"Even among the top schools like RI, you should continue to preserve a significant proportion of places in the top schools for students with higher mother tongue. As for the others, if they don't reach these high (levels) in their higher mother tongue, they can also enter because they are good in the other subjects,\" said Dr Ng. - CNA /ls

[VitoRelax]

Will students in P5 now come under this new adjustment ?

[verykiasu2010]

VitoRelax:

Will students in P5 now come under this new adjustment ?

don't think they are able to make the changes so fast, if at all