Any Updates As To When PSLE T-Scores Will Be Scrapped?

[Acaciahua]

waterbay:

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.


I'm 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 \"换汤不换药\", 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?

Don't 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.

I agree with you.

Now I feel lucky that my children finish PSLE under the current T-score system. The new AL system is even more flawed compared to the current system.

The biggest problem with our education system is streaming students according to their academic abilities. What happens when you group students with the lowest marks together like in the normal stream? Students who do not get good results are those who do not like to study and prefer to waste their time playing. I have taught such students before and their attitude is so bad and the class is so noisy that it is impossible for teachers to teach properly. Parents of course do not want their children to end up in a such a class. A class with students who are very strong academically will be very quiet and attentive. It is not only a joy to teach such a class, but every student in the class will be motivated to work hard because of the good influence from their classmates. It is only natural for parents to wish for their children to study among the best students in the country. Many people like to say that it is not the end of the world if your child ends up in the normal stream. Only teachers like me who have taught students in the normal stream know the truth that it is very difficult for a student to do well in normal stream where teachers cannot even teach properly and everything has to be dumbed down to ensure passing rate.

Do not blame parents for wanting the best environment for their children. The problem is with the education system, not with the parents.

The only way to relieve stress is to scrap PSLE completely. Primary school to secondary school based on 100% balloting. However many parents who die die want to get their children into the so called top schools will not accept this.

So there will never be a system that will please everyone. We need education experts to work out what is the best system for the country and push through the system instead of trying to make everyone happy.

[phtthp]

lee_yl:

pirate:

Don't waste time and money sending for tuition to get all the extra points above 90 that don't count.

You think you shooting arrow ah, so accurate? Can make sure all the 4 subjects score exactly 90 and not one point less?

Under AL :
Who are these 4-pointers ?

Those equivalent to say, T-score 270 ?

[lee_yl]

jnemummy:

\" No matter the system, there will still be parents who stress their kids. If so, then it really is parental accountability.\"
http://petunialee.blogspot.sg/2016/07/n ... m.html?m=1

If there's only 1 or 2 parents who are highly stressed, then it is an individual parental issue. However, if the majority of the nation's school going children's parents feel stressed about the PSLE and its aftermath, then it is a systemic issue.

I remember some of Petunia's posts about her son struggling in primary school (esp with Chinese). Now that her children has exited the primary school system, she can afford a loftier tone in her blog.

[pirate]

lee_yl:

If there's only 1 or 2 parents who are highly stressed, then it is an individual parental issue. However, if the majority of the nation's school going children's parents feel stressed about the PSLE and its aftermath, then it is a systemic issue.

I don't think they feel stressed about PSLE and its aftermath. I think they feel stressed about their children's future life in Singapore as a whole. This one takes much more than making changes to PSLE or secondary school admission.

This is not an examination issue. This is an existential issue.

[lee_yl]

phtthp:

lee_yl:

[quote=\"pirate\"]
Don't waste time and money sending for tuition to get all the extra points above 90 that don't count.

You think you shooting arrow ah, so accurate? Can make sure all the 4 subjects score exactly 90 and not one point less?

Under AL :
Who are these 4-pointers ?

Those equivalent to say, T-score 270 ?[/quote]Difficult to estimate as the t-score is a normalized statistic and is only relevant to the specific cohort. So, regardless the difficulty level of the PSLE exams, a t-score of 270 (and above) is likely restricted to the top 1% of the cohort. However under the AL banding, there could be many many 4 pointers if all the PSLE papers are easy that year.

At this juncture, many details are still lacking. For example, the cut-off for IP. Assume that top 10% of the cohort falls into the group of 6 pointers, does that mean that ALL 6pointers qualify for IP or will there be a dividing line within this group such that those who fall below the dividing line are not eligible for IP?

[lee_yl]

pirate:

lee_yl:

If there's only 1 or 2 parents who are highly stressed, then it is an individual parental issue. However, if the majority of the nation's school going children's parents feel stressed about the PSLE and its aftermath, then it is a systemic issue.

I don't think they feel stressed about PSLE and its aftermath. I think they feel stressed about their children's future life in Singapore as a whole. This one takes much more than making changes to PSLE or secondary school admission.

This is not an examination issue. This is an existential issue.

For most parents, the equation is simple.
Good examination result = good schools = good future.

[grimm]

Instead of just contributing on this thread, as some feel rather strongly about the new system, you might want to write to MOE on this (See link below)? I suspect that they will refine the scheme further between now and 2021.


https://www.moe.gov.sg/microsites/psle/Share%20Your%20Thoughts/share-your-thoughts.html

I am happy enough with the new scheme at the moment and have always believed that my wife and I are responsible for my son's stress so I probably won't bother (unless MOE mucks around the affiliation )

[ChiefKiasu]

lee_yl:

That doesn't quite matter. What I know is that every new minister will try to leave his mark and he won't gain much credit by implementing his predecessor's policies. So we have \"Every school is a good school\", \"AL banding\" and .....

The new motto is now... \"Every Subject must be a Good Subject\"... :evil:

My disappointment with the new scheme is how it comes across as a knee-jerk, half-hearted approach to addressing parents' and students' stress. Just because someone high up says that parental stress is caused by the very fine-grain measurement of students' achievements, MOE has to respond by making it more coarse, which, ostensibly, would reduce parental stress. It is too little, it addresses the symptoms and not the root causes, and it introduces new uncertainties which lead to new kinds of stress.

[janet88]

MOE has not done anything to improve the stress of parents but worsened it.


it has only changed the grading system but has not looked into the contents of the curriculum.

[mum_sugoku]

floppy:

lee_yl:

Horror of all horrors, what if after the next GE, there's a new Minister of Education who has other idea and decides to suspend the PSLE reforms before X takes her PSLE?

You think these are the ideas of the Minister?

:rotflmao:

I share the same suspicion as you :evil: . (Reminds me of that \"Emperor's new clothes\" story.. :siam: )