Any Updates As To When PSLE T-Scores Will Be Scrapped?
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Nebbermind:
Also agree Engg is tough for ladies so supporting the dd to do engg is commendable because many parents want their kids to do a degree but will stay away from Engg.
Agreejetsetter:
Well, at least she didn't go straight to Dartmouth...
But like ss88 said, some are \"uni-bound\", others are not (or yet). That's what KBW was trying to say...And if they so choose to advance their career, then go to those 2 new unis thru the Poly route. Don't need to fight tooth and nail and sweat at 12 to get into an IP school.
Anyway, don't take Engg lah. Tough life for ladies! -
sushi88:
:oops: thanks. But.. no lah, not saying that myself will compare whether \"my 8 points is better than your 10 points\" cause I, too, find such kind of comparison pointless. What I meant was, regardless of how you tweak the system, those (parents) who love to compare, will still find other ways to compare: comparing (AL) points, comparing schools, comparing IP/non IP, comparing 'express'/N(T)/N(A), etc.
I feel your story is an inspirational one that you did not force your expectations on your kids and your daughter can freely choose whichever school she wants with your support. So why still worry about comparison? You have been an excellent parent and your success speaks for itself...there is really no need to compete so hard at 8 points or 10 points. Say what people want and ignore because you know what's best for your kids.....education is a journey....so is life.
Come to think of it, besides parents, are we not comparing amongst ourselves as well? Like whether my job title is better than your job title, my car bigger than your car, my bag more atas than your bag, or whether my seaport is busier than your port, my university more prestigious than your university etc.. And if such competitions would spur one to strive harder, it may not be such a bad thing after all, is it?
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mum_sugoku:
No competitions definitely arent bad, imo, they are a key factor for growth and progress.
:oops: thanks. But.. no lah, not saying that myself will compare whether \"my 8 points is better than your 10 points\" cause I, too, find such kind of comparison pointless. What I meant was, regardless of how you tweak the system, those (parents) who love to compare, will still find other ways to compare: comparing (AL) points, comparing schools, comparing IP/non IP, comparing 'express'/N(T)/N(A), etc.sushi88:
I feel your story is an inspirational one that you did not force your expectations on your kids and your daughter can freely choose whichever school she wants with your support. So why still worry about comparison? You have been an excellent parent and your success speaks for itself...there is really no need to compete so hard at 8 points or 10 points. Say what people want and ignore because you know what's best for your kids.....education is a journey....so is life.
Come to think of it, besides parents, are we not comparing amongst ourselves as well? Like whether my job title is better than your job title, my car bigger than your car, my bag more atas than your bag, or whether my seaport is busier than your port, my university more prestigious than your university etc.. And if such competitions would spur one to strive harder, it may not be such a bad thing after all, is it?
But how much of the competition is self motivated at 12?
And is fine granularity of PSLE a true reflection of merit, hence of competition?
Are there better things our tweens could be working on than that one more mark ? -
pirate:
Ya.. those were the days.. :love: And I think you must be highly intelligent since, despite playing hard instead of studying hard, you still ended up qualifying for SAP school :rahrah:.Didn't really study for PSLE. Got more than a few big fat duck eggs for my Chinese around P3/P4, but still ended up by default in one of the SAP schools.
Ah.... the good old days when the time was better spent catching spiders, flipping bottle caps and coaching stranded kites from trees. :rotflmao:
But.. has it ever occurred to you that, had you been under the new (AL grading) system, your weakness in Chinese may cost you your opportunity to study in SAP school? As for me, as much as I resented my father for pressuring me so much, I was glad that I'd managed to squeeze into one, since its program had truly benefited me tremendously.
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Sun_2010:
No competitions definitely arent bad, imo, they are a key factor for growth and progress.
:oops: thanks. But.. no lah, not saying that myself will compare whether \"my 8 points is better than your 10 points\" cause I, too, find such kind of comparison pointless. What I meant was, regardless of how you tweak the system, those (parents) who love to compare, will still find other ways to compare: comparing (AL) points, comparing schools, comparing IP/non IP, comparing 'express'/N(T)/N(A), etc.mum_sugoku:
[quote=\"sushi88\"]
I feel your story is an inspirational one that you did not force your expectations on your kids and your daughter can freely choose whichever school she wants with your support. So why still worry about comparison? You have been an excellent parent and your success speaks for itself...there is really no need to compete so hard at 8 points or 10 points. Say what people want and ignore because you know what's best for your kids.....education is a journey....so is life.
Come to think of it, besides parents, are we not comparing amongst ourselves as well? Like whether my job title is better than your job title, my car bigger than your car, my bag more atas than your bag, or whether my seaport is busier than your port, my university more prestigious than your university etc.. And if such competitions would spur one to strive harder, it may not be such a bad thing after all, is it?
But how much of the competition is self motivated at 12?
And is fine granularity of PSLE a true reflection of merit, hence of competition?
Are there better things our tweens could be working on than that one more mark ?[/quote]I agree with you that granularity of PSLE does not give a true reflection of merit cause, in the first place, it's never meant to be one; the true objective of PSLE has always been to provide the fairest mean (using t-score system) to assign students to schools of their choices. -
mathtuition88:
Suppose the example above you give : is a 2021 Psle girl.My concern as Math educator is that students extremely talented in Mathematics/Science but slightly weak in languages will be disadvantaged in the new PSLE system.
To quote from my own blog entry titled \"New PSLE System favors βAll Roundersβ over βSpecialists\"\":
Imagine a Math/Science-whiz with
Math:100 (AL 1)
Science: 98 (AL 1)
English: 84 (AL 3)
Chinese: 84 (AL 3)
Total marks: 366 (Approx. 275 T-score)
Total AL: 8
Previously such a student's score is more than sufficient to enter the top schools like RI/HCI. But under the new system, his score of 8, chances of entering the top schools are slim.
It is not about the prestige, but rather the resources and enrichment programmes that top schools provides that other schools may not. Some examples include Olympiad training, Laboratory sessions, etc.
For these kind of students, the PSLE score of 100 is not enough to capture their ability in Math/Science, they would score 150/100 if there is such a thing. Hence, their calibre is well above the \"All-Rounders\" who score 90 for each subject and get 4 points.
Unfortunately, the new PSLE system does not bode well for these students...
Let's name her X.
Let's suppose X not keen in NUS High (Clementi), because she stay in Tampines, very far from Clementi, X still prefer RGS Secondary (her dream school).
If X can receive a DSA offer from RGS, then no issue.
But suppose X didn't receive any DSA offer, then unlikely she can get in via AL score, as she is an 8-pointer. Very, very Wasted, isn't it ?
Had X been born one year earlier (born 2008), under T-score :
she would have gotten in.
As her 366 X 0.72, roughly = 263.5 (very high), would have met minimum RGS COP at 261, Yes, X would have gotten in.
Sec 1 (RGS intake) : roughly, 400, per batch
out of 400 : 200 (roughly), set aside / reserved for DSA entry -
via Academic specialised subject domain, after pass GAT test, after pass interview, or via Sports / Performing Arts.
the Remaining 200 : enter, via AL score
Suppose X failed to get a DSA offer, nor even a WaitList, because she did not do well at RGS interview.
Suppose, come 2021 -
out of remaining 200 vacancies left :
- 90 girls, with 4 points (Total for 4 subjects), apply for RGS, all put RGS as #1 choice, Top of the list of 6 schools
- another 120 girls : each with Total AL 5 points (for 4 subjects), also apply for RGS (1st choice)
So, what's going to happen ?
In this scenario :
All the 4-pointers, get in successfully : no need to ballot.
(So, 90 seats consumed, out of balance 200)
But 120 5-pointers left, all in the same band & all being Sg citizenship students, are going to ballot for remaining (200 - 90) = 110 vacancies, left.
In the end :
10 unlucky 5-pointers, got balloted out by computer.
for these 10 who couldn't get into RGS, computer will look at their (2nd to 6th choice Secondary schools), go down their list, one by one to check, where to allocate them to.
X, the 8-pointer girl above -
even though she put RGS as 1st choice inside her list, doesn't even get any chance to ballot.
In the end, she got posted to another Secondary school, which is Not her dream school.
In contrast, suppose her classmate Y who did poorer than her, who scored (90 X 4 = Total raw score, 360), lesser than X by 6 marks, managed to enter RGS smoothly without the need to ballot, because Y is a 4-pointer.
X feel very sad, disappointed, cried, because she studied so hard from P1 to P6, put her best effort in for all her subjects, yet cannot enter her dream school. She told her mom that she wish she was born in 2008, instead of 2009. -
After reading through this thread to better understand the new changes that will affect our children future education path, why do I have a sense of sadness and disappointment.
Iβm glad that a lot of parents have come in and put in their educated thoughts on this topic. And some, who had went thru the "old" system, lamented the new changes are just "ζ’ζ±€δΈζ’θ―", or shifting of goalposts.
Parents who want to chase after results, will just find a way to best the system. Going by the discussion so far, they are all about how better can the MOE grade a student in PSLE or what AL grades can get a kid into a so-and-so elite school.
My thoughts are, if these "bold" changes are to make our education more holistic and embracing, they have failed so far.
- No reduction of stress, some parents even comment "the final point chase has now become a 5 point chase"
- MT weakness has become an Achilles heel
- tuition for weak subjects are required as the new system less forgiving
- learn to be thick-skinned, so can tell our kid "better luck next time (for JC)"
- where or what are MOE support for the so-called children other interests(they are expensive)
Someone from MOE is reading this. Can MOE please come out and explain the scheme better and why the new changes will reduce stress, thus the need for tuition?
Donβt let the poor parents assume how this new system is going to be or let our children be your guinea pigs for your whitepapers proposal. -
mum_sugoku:
But.. has it ever occurred to you that, had you been under the new (AL grading) system, your weakness in Chinese may cost you your opportunity to study in SAP school? As for me, as much as I resented my father for pressuring me so much, I was glad that I'd managed to squeeze into one, since its program had truly benefited me tremendously.
Never did bother about whether SAP school or not back then.
Who say I weak at Chinese? Just because I get zero for Chinese once in a while does not mean I cannot get A1 for CL1 or read ιεΊΈ novels, ok? :rotflmao: -
phtthp:
X feel very sad, disappointed, cried, because she studied so hard from P1 to P6, put her best effort in for all her subjects, yet cannot enter her dream school.
Are you saying that the others who did get in were undeserving? :razz: -
pirate:
X just expressing her own personal feeling of disappointment, That's all.
Are you saying that the others who did get in were undeserving? :razz:
Nothing to do with others. Other people also deserve
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