Why students study more during school holidays
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/why-some-kids-end-up-studying-more-during-the-school-holidays
Some tuition centres report an increase of 30% in business after MOE scrapes mid year exams. Especially for the June holiday lessons as well as paid mock exams. Will this further disadvantage the lower income group who can’t afford to send their kids to practise mock exams since mid year exams have been scrapped?
Another centre, Future Academy (which has 3 branches here) see a 20% year-on-year increase since 2022.
AL banding started around 2022? Was the AL banding reform not supposed to mitigate tuition/education stress in kids and their parents? Likewise for scrapping of mid year exams. Based on these metrics, the AL banding reform is not working as intended.
So my question is, is it parents who have issues or is it MOE’s reform cannot work (aka 换汤不换药)? In fact, the unintended consequences resulted in more children studying harder!!! -
Maybe before removal of AL banding and mid year exams, every June holiday parents were already sending their children to academic bootcamp? And students that attend these tuition centres may be the minority, and majority of students are still moderates?
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No point I make random guess whether students studied more before or after reforms.
If we look at published figures and statistics, ST reported tuition centres reporting an increase in business of around 20%-30% year on year since 2022.
Maybe MOE can fault parents being kiasu since they already removed mid year exams and replace Tscore with AL banding, but MOE failed to examine the deeper issues.
Cosmetic changes do not change the fact that these students need to take PSLE, O level and A level major exams to be streamed to schools with varying standards of teaching staff or get a place in Uni. As long as results are still being used to sort children into different schools, parents will continue to send kids to tuition to gain an edge over other competing kids -
I know that one cannot run away from streaming/sorting forever. There must be some way to determine who gets into university, and which course in university.
In most countries, major national sorting only occurs at the 16 year old or some, even the 18 year old stage.
I know that I am in the minority here, but I still do not support sorting at a national level, at 12 years old, which is what our PSLE does. I don’t see it as a necessary step. Worse still, unlike any other major exams which you can retake, you can’t retake PSLE. The problem is not with the PSLE, but what PSLE is used for and what it determines - I wonder if MOE is able to see this point. They cannot keep blaming parents for being kiasu. Society, including parents and children, are shaped by the structures and systems. The system rewards those who do well academically handsomely - hence the whole flurry anxiety over performing well academically. -
doodbug\" post_id=\"2135312\" time=\"1718869212\" user_id=\"13281:
I understand the frustration, but think of the PSLE as a precursor to the O-Levels or IP/IB. Personally, I think it is good for our kids to have more than 1 chance at proving themselves, rather than just a single attempt at 16/18 years old. If the kid didn't do well at PSLE, there's always the chance for him/her at the next milestone.
I know that one cannot run away from streaming/sorting forever. There must be some way to determine who gets into university, and which course in university.
In most countries, major national sorting only occurs at the 16 year old or some, even the 18 year old stage.
I know that I am in the minority here, but I still do not support sorting at a national level, at 12 years old, which is what our PSLE does. I don't see it as a necessary step. Worse still, unlike any other major exams which you can retake, you can't retake PSLE. The problem is not with the PSLE, but what PSLE is used for and what it determines - I wonder if MOE is able to see this point. They cannot keep blaming parents for being kiasu. Society, including parents and children, are shaped by the structures and systems. The system rewards those who do well academically handsomely - hence the whole flurry anxiety over performing well academically. -
What do you mean by a single attempt at 16/18? No exams at 16/18 are a single attempt. You can repeat the A levels, O levels or IB. (You can repeat the UK A levels, Chinese gaokao etc too.) The only exams you can’t repeat in the Singapore system are the PSLE unless you pass. I have nothing against the PSLE per se - it’s what we do with the PSLE. I do not like the stratification in society that PSLE brings. The streaming necessarily brings about school names, and labels. My whole family was streamed into good schools - but is this for the overall good of society? I am not too sure about it - there is some degree of narrowness and group think in IP schools and we can differ on our views as to how (un)healthy it is.
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doodbug\" post_id=\"2135338\" time=\"1718931808\" user_id=\"13281:
I feel repeating levels is extremely demoralizing for kids, despite its obvious forgiving nature. Even if you get good results at the repeat, I think employers would nitpick the fact.
What do you mean by a single attempt at 16/18? No exams at 16/18 are a single attempt. You can repeat the A levels, O levels or IB. (You can repeat the UK A levels, Chinese gaokao etc too.) The only exams you can't repeat in the Singapore system are the PSLE unless you pass. I have nothing against the PSLE per se - it's what we do with the PSLE. I do not like the stratification in society that PSLE brings. The streaming necessarily brings about school names, and labels. My whole family was streamed into good schools - but is this for the overall good of society? I am not too sure about it - there is some degree of narrowness and group think in IP schools and we can differ on our views as to how (un)healthy it is.
Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that students are being streamed too early into various categories. I think more should be done to expose kids to more possible routes earlier in Secondary school so that they can become more sure of what they want their career to be. -
Yes, i think this is the elephant in the room that no one (ahem, the ones in charge) seems to be addressing.
There is an unspoken pressure in society (and among parents) that if the child cannot get into IP schools, then they are second-rate. And they do not get a chance to retake psle to try again for IP.
Why is it that for O and A levels, MOE recognizes that people who failed at the first attempt may not have been ready enough, or mature enough to manage their studies, or undergoing some health/family issues that may have hindered their first try, and hence candidates are allowed to try again in subsequent years (up till a specified age cap); but for PSLE this logic does not apply? -
Handling disappointments at 18 is different from handling disappointments at 12. It is a different mental, emotional and physical capacity at 18 than 12.
Employers nitpick repeating A levels? I don’t think they care or know, especially for boys who had done so during NS. Our local universities do not care whether you had repeated A levels, or whether you were retained in JC, or whether you retook O levels previously. Once you graduate from university, that becomes your most relevant qualification signal in the job market (together with your portfolio in uni).
I am not frustrated at the system. I see the many implications and consequences and flaws of the current system - much as I also recognize the good parts of it. -
I think students are given further chances after PSLE to do better. Now with full subject base banding, students are only place into lower stream for the subject(s) didn’t perform well during PSLE. Other subjects are streamed into G3 level. And if students improve subsequently they can rejoin G3 band.
If the stress is due to not able to get into IP schools, I think we can see it in different light. Just like only the top income bracket can afford to purchase landed property. The majority of us (90%?) stay in public housing. Life still goes on for the 90% of us and it is commonly acceptable by us adult. Why not view our children not able to get into IP schools in the same light as most adult can’t afford landed property?
I think the issue lie in students at PSLE age are immature in handling being compared to those that have done relatively well. We adults can help them by not adding the pressure onto them
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