All About GEP
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INNOVATE:
Hi INNOVATE,Twa Tau
I wrote in on concern that parents send their kids for training with the objective of gaining admission to GEP. That's totally undesirable as gifted is innate and cannot be trained.
The other area is that many supporters of GEP thought that the programme provides rare opportunities to their kids otherwise not available to mainstreamers. That's correct but I feel that it is irrevelant in today's context given our IP which is well placed to cater to gifted and high ability students. My concern is why spend so much resources on this programme for only 3 yrs, the inordinate amount of which can be utilised on other areas. Mover, the no of top scholarship holders in recent years from the GEP was not overwhelming.
The point in this debate is the GEP which was beneficial in the past to provide special educational needs is no longer that valid given my reasons outlined above. On this occassion, there is therefore no need to specially segregate gifted from the very high ability pupils. My reply to your question is self-explanatory.
In conclusion, parents do not need to fret over the selection tests. Just leave it naturally to the kids to figure out whether they are really gifted.
I just wondering if you have children who are in the GEP for you to come to the conclusion that it is \"irrevelant in today's context because IP\"? IP is only offered from secondary level onwards, I fail to see in what ways will IP render GEP irrelevant. In fact, I should say that th GEP provides the child with a strong foundation (skills for research, presentation, etc) for IP.
If I do not understand you wrongly, you are saying that too much resources are spent on this group of children who eventually may not end upon winning scholarships. Going by this argument, does it mean that as long as a child is not of \"scholarship material\", he/she should be denied of any opportunity for special training,etc?
BTW, my child is in the GEP and she is enjoying every moment of it. Prior to this, shewas bored to death in class and had been day dreaming all the while even though her results did not suffer. Now, being challenged academically and intellectually most of the time, she is not bored any and has no time day dream in class.
There could be some parents who \"fret over the selection tests\" or who have spent tonnes of money on special training - this is just an overstatement. I do know of many friends who are not bothered about the selection tests. For me and kid (and I'm sure for many as well), there are no special training and no fretting about selection tests. The only time we have fretted was to select GEP or not to. But after discussing my child's needs and interests, we concluded that GEP is suitable for her. -
In recent years, students with PSLE T-score of only 250-269 were crowned as President Scholars and SAF Overseas Merit Scholars. They were not chosen for the GEP.
How on earth they managed to pawn many GEP students? An obvious answer must be their enlighted parents who doubled as motivators, councellors and above all, they always seek favors from above.
Wise parents do the above and not spend a small fortune on programmes to train their kids to be gifted. Gifted is a gift from GOD not thru any training programme. -
jtoh:
I, for one, will not be those that let them earn my money. If my dd makes it, I congragulate her on her efforts and also thank the Lord for his blessings and guidance.
I'm wondering how many parents are busy enquiring at those so-called GEP training centres now. :lol: :lol: :lol: Easy money.
If she cannot pass the next round, we are still happy and still congragulate her for coming so far. Cos, she suffers from attention deficit and requires us to constantly watch over her and guide her to be on task.
And also... she push away the misconception that children who suffers from AD or ADHD do not do well in academic... it depends a lot on the intervention methods. -
INNOVATE:
not sure why i feel a strong sense of unhappiness in you over GEP ? :?In recent years, students with PSLE T-score of only 250-269 were crowned as President Scholars and SAF Overseas Merit Scholars. They were not chosen for the GEP.
How on earth they managed to pawn many GEP students? An obvious answer must be their enlighted parents who doubled as motivators, councellors and above all, they always seek favors from above.
Wise parents do the above and not spend a small fortune on programmes to train their kids to be gifted. Gifted is a gift from GOD not thru any training programme. -
cluelessmama
Congrats for having a gifted kid.
I merely share my views on thats no need for GEP P4-P6 in view of various IPs. My messages in particular seek to address the issue of parents opting for special programmes for their kids who may not be really gifted after all.
Whether your argument about GEP providing a strong foundation for IP students has never been the focus of this debate at all. This debate is about providing a less stressful enviroment for bright kids who may or no be gifted. Whether a student is able to win top scholarships or not does not depend on any gifted programme. That’s the crux of my validity of arguments. -
fanren
That’s no unhappiness on my part. Reading btw the lines, one can sense the reasons why parents are so eager to send their kids to GEP. My messages are to counter the enthusiasm that one may have on going all out to send their kids to GEP even though theirs may not be gifted after all. -
INNOVATE
aiyah, cos most of the parents here don't know your background la. :nunchuk:
if they visit the 7 new IP schs thread, they will know you hv inside info and not anyhow \"harm tam\" in forum.
anyway, my boy is also selected for 2nd round. we never train him for anything. see if hv, hv, don't hv, don't hv. not the end of the world. -
zeemimi
Congratulations for having such a bright boy. Agreed with you that as far as GEP , it should be natural. -
INNOVATE:
In recent years, students with PSLE T-score of only 250-269 were crowned as President Scholars and SAF Overseas Merit Scholars. They were not chosen for the GEP.
Pls understand tt the President scholarship and the SAF overseas merit scholarship may not be a goal for many intellectually gifted people. These scholarships appeal to those who want to serve in govt. Many gifted scholars prefer a narrow path of research or a career in academia or a scholarship tt does not require a service bond so tt they can do further studies w/o having to seek the approval of the respective govt organisations. There are countless scholarships out there, offered by not only the s'pore govt, but also by big corps, esteemed universities, foundations...If a gifted individual has no interest in serving in govt, it is not right to apply for it just so tt people like urself can say tt 'oh, money is not wasted after all in the P4-P6 GEP'.
A close friend of mine who teaches in a top IP sch was informed by her principal tt through these yrs of GEP, the statistics hv shown tt GEP pupils perform v well in general at the 'a' levels.
My DS hv benefited alot in the past 3 yrs in this prog. It stretches his mind, he learns to qn psle std answers, he develops his own writing style but he switches to psle compo modes when required. it will be simply cruel to let gifted children remain being bored in the upper pri yrs when they hv had 3 torturous yrs in lower primary. so pl dont begrudge the amt spent on these group of kids. And stop mixing up the issue of IP n GEP for upper pri level. -
INNOVATE:
If you look at the stuff the GEP kids are learning compared to the mainstream kids, a lot of things may not come out in PSLE at all. Similarly they don't learn quite a lot of stuff learnt by their peers.In recent years, students with PSLE T-score of only 250-269 were crowned as President Scholars and SAF Overseas Merit Scholars. They were not chosen for the GEP.
How on earth they managed to pawn many GEP students? An obvious answer must be their enlighted parents who doubled as motivators, councellors and above all, they always seek favors from above.
Wise parents do the above and not spend a small fortune on programmes to train their kids to be gifted. Gifted is a gift from GOD not thru any training programme.
I'm comparing what my son who is in P5 now to the mainstream P5. Certainly they don't learn follow the same lesson progress in math and Science.
A lot of time is spend on social studies/project work/investigative work etc as well.
For Chinese basically there is no difference between GEP and non GEP.
Only subject GEP students should have an advangate in PSLE is English.
So not surprise at all if GEP kids don't do as well as mainstream kids.
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