Petition to Review the Singapore Education System

[Chenonceau]

I have moved the petition to here - http://www.petitiononline.com/SgEd2011/petition.html


I need to SHEEPISHLY request that those who have voted here, please go and vote in the proper petition. I apologise that I didn't do this earlier and make everything inconvenient for everyone. Please go and support the petition at petitiononline and email the link to all your friends. Put on Facebook too.

Thanks very much to Faun, Cimman, Ksi, deminc, Chiefkiasu and QuiteKSMum for encouraging me time and again to do this properly. I have now done it properly. Please support.

[camomile tan]

Thank you Chenonceau, for starting this Petition.

[HaleyCopterz]

I think this petition is a good one and a lot of parents make perfect sense. I am a primary school teacher and a parent as well. I agree that schools are not getting the students ready for the exams. However the suggestions about having a smaller class size might not be able to come true for several reasons:


1) Not enough teachers
Now, they are trying to get more teachers from overseas to teach MT. For the other subjects, there are not enough teachers because not many people want to teach. If there aren’t many teachers, then our dream of having a smaller teacher to student ratio cannot be materialized.

2) Retention of good teachers a problem
Existing teachers are not very happy so some of them will quit, the retention rate of teachers especially good ones may not be high. The better ones want to do a lot for the children. They are more idealistic. This is true esp when they just join teaching. However, many times, they are thrown into the ocean and expected to keep up. NIE does not really train the teacher to teach well- how to tackle some of the challenging math qns, how to ans sci using key words, how to teach compo, compre etc. So when faced with these challenges and also with having to discipline and reign in 40 kids, the teachers feel bewildered and tired and some of them either give up after a while and just teach from the textbook or worksheets or some of them leave.

I think the issue is also how the schools and HODs manage the teachers. In corporate companies, company culture and all that is very important. However, for schools, not much thought is given to build up culture in the teachers. The teachers are also not given much guidance. The principals are also rotated every 5 years so not many would give the school their all. It is not like a running a company where the director would give their all as it is a make it break it situation. For principals, if they do not make it, they can still make it in another school.

In the US, schools have more autonomy so the teachers decide which school they want to join, in that sense good schools will attract good teachers and students. I am not saying that is the right way but that makes the principals take more ownership.

3) Having students do well is not a criteria for teachers to do well
The third issue I feel is in order for teachers to move up the ranks, their hods would look at how well they perform at ‘external’ events or activities like CCAs or maybe they did a research paper or represented the school at a zonal level and brought ‘fame’ to the school. Their teaching in class could be average but that does not matter if they can represent the school well at a zone level. Hence, teachers who want to climb up focus on that, they do not focus on honing their teaching skills. Teachers who are not as driven do not bother about such zonal activities but they are also bo chap about their classes. So very few teachers would bother to go the extra mile to really teach well. That is why children are being taught 20% and not 80%. (that is one of the main reasons)

Anyway, I think there is no short term solution. In order for schools to be changed, it must come for the minister and he is often advised by scholars who have not been on the ground to really know the root of the problem. But hopefully with more petitions like these highlighting the issues, they will do something about it.

[Chenonceau]

HaleyCopterz:

I think this petition is a good one and a lot of parents make perfect sense. I am a primary school teacher and a parent as well. I agree that schools are not getting the students ready for the exams. However the suggestions about having a smaller class size might not be able to come true for several reasons:


1) Not enough teachers
Now, they are trying to get more teachers from overseas to teach MT. For the other subjects, there are not enough teachers because not many people want to teach. If there aren't many teachers, then our dream of having a smaller teacher to student ratio cannot be materialized.

2) Retention of good teachers a problem
Existing teachers are not very happy so some of them will quit, the retention rate of teachers especially good ones may not be high. The better ones want to do a lot for the children. They are more idealistic. This is true esp when they just join teaching. However, many times, they are thrown into the ocean and expected to keep up. NIE does not really train the teacher to teach well- how to tackle some of the challenging math qns, how to ans sci using key words, how to teach compo, compre etc. So when faced with these challenges and also with having to discipline and reign in 40 kids, the teachers feel bewildered and tired and some of them either give up after a while and just teach from the textbook or worksheets or some of them leave.

I think the issue is also how the schools and HODs manage the teachers. In corporate companies, company culture and all that is very important. However, for schools, not much thought is given to build up culture in the teachers. The teachers are also not given much guidance. The principals are also rotated every 5 years so not many would give the school their all. It is not like a running a company where the director would give their all as it is a make it break it situation. For principals, if they do not make it, they can still make it in another school.

In the US, schools have more autonomy so the teachers decide which school they want to join, in that sense good schools will attract good teachers and students. I am not saying that is the right way but that makes the principals take more ownership.

3) Having students do well is not a criteria for teachers to do well
The third issue I feel is in order for teachers to move up the ranks, their hods would look at how well they perform at 'external' events or activities like CCAs or maybe they did a research paper or represented the school at a zonal level and brought 'fame' to the school. Their teaching in class could be average but that does not matter if they can represent the school well at a zone level. Hence, teachers who want to climb up focus on that, they do not focus on honing their teaching skills. Teachers who are not as driven do not bother about such zonal activities but they are also bo chap about their classes. So very few teachers would bother to go the extra mile to really teach well. That is why children are being taught 20% and not 80%. (that is one of the main reasons)

Anyway, I think there is no short term solution. In order for schools to be changed, it must come for the minister and he is often advised by scholars who have not been on the ground to really know the root of the problem. But hopefully with more petitions like these highlighting the issues, they will do something about it.

Thank you!

Thank you!

:thankyou:

Your perspective has very much enriched the discussion!! Thank you so much for taking time. Please encourage more of your teacher friends on the ground to write their thoughts too.

[HaleyCopterz]

Hi Chenonceau,


I think you have brought much needed insight esp the one about the bell-curve. I think teachers just keep setting harder and harder papers. A more difficult paper is not a better paper. Anyway, I think this issue is one where it is not just an education one but it is the way the civil service is run.

Anyway, I will also circulate this around to my other teacher friends. Some of them know about it and whole-heartedly agree but do not have the time to come here and contribute. Some are cynical, they feel nothing we say can change the way things are being run. But I feel we must always have hope and try in whatever way we can to make known the problems faced on the ground.

[cimman]

HaleyCopterz:

I think this petition is a good one and a lot of parents make perfect sense. I am a primary school teacher and a parent as well. I agree that schools are not getting the students ready for the exams. However the suggestions about having a smaller class size might not be able to come true for several reasons:


1) Not enough teachers
Now, they are trying to get more teachers from overseas to teach MT. For the other subjects, there are not enough teachers because not many people want to teach. If there aren't many teachers, then our dream of having a smaller teacher to student ratio cannot be materialized.

2) Retention of good teachers a problem
Existing teachers are not very happy so some of them will quit, the retention rate of teachers especially good ones may not be high. The better ones want to do a lot for the children. They are more idealistic. This is true esp when they just join teaching. However, many times, they are thrown into the ocean and expected to keep up. NIE does not really train the teacher to teach well- how to tackle some of the challenging math qns, how to ans sci using key words, how to teach compo, compre etc. So when faced with these challenges and also with having to discipline and reign in 40 kids, the teachers feel bewildered and tired and some of them either give up after a while and just teach from the textbook or worksheets or some of them leave.

I think the issue is also how the schools and HODs manage the teachers. In corporate companies, company culture and all that is very important. However, for schools, not much thought is given to build up culture in the teachers. The teachers are also not given much guidance. The principals are also rotated every 5 years so not many would give the school their all. It is not like a running a company where the director would give their all as it is a make it break it situation. For principals, if they do not make it, they can still make it in another school.

In the US, schools have more autonomy so the teachers decide which school they want to join, in that sense good schools will attract good teachers and students. I am not saying that is the right way but that makes the principals take more ownership.

3) Having students do well is not a criteria for teachers to do well
The third issue I feel is in order for teachers to move up the ranks, their hods would look at how well they perform at 'external' events or activities like CCAs or maybe they did a research paper or represented the school at a zonal level and brought 'fame' to the school. Their teaching in class could be average but that does not matter if they can represent the school well at a zone level. Hence, teachers who want to climb up focus on that, they do not focus on honing their teaching skills. Teachers who are not as driven do not bother about such zonal activities but they are also bo chap about their classes. So very few teachers would bother to go the extra mile to really teach well. That is why children are being taught 20% and not 80%. (that is one of the main reasons)

Anyway, I think there is no short term solution. In order for schools to be changed, it must come for the minister and he is often advised by scholars who have not been on the ground to really know the root of the problem. But hopefully with more petitions like these highlighting the issues, they will do something about it.

I believe that it is possible to change the system. If Singapore can avert the global financial crisis through pro active actions, an educational policy change should not be a challenge.

However, the issue is whether the powers that be, recognize that there is a need for change. The tack that our Education Minister takes is that the system needs refining to bring our students to the next level. He is saying that fundamentally there is nothing wrong with the system and all it needs is a few tweaks here and there, ie. teaching methods, while we are saying that it needs a major overhaul.

As for not enough teachers, it is a common problem in the corporate world as well to attract talent. The key is better renumeration for top performers. Relevant performance metrics that is tied to students performance must be in place to evaluate the teacher's performance. One need not be HOD to get better pay, as there is only one HOD.

KPIs drives behaviour. If the KPIs do not reflect the school's core objectives, (which is to educate, and not popularity), then teacher's behaviour will be skewed.

Anyway, these are all execution issues, the bottom line is to first acknowledge that there is a major problem.

If education continues on the way it is, in the next generation, I will have to buy assessment books and seek online help for maths/science problems at the Kindergarten level. Language preparation will have to start in the womb, at the 2nd trimester period. This forum will have sections for \"Preparation for K1\" and \"Womb education\"

[QuiteKSMum]

Chenonceau:

I have moved the petition to here - http://www.petitiononline.com/SgEd2011/petition.html


I need to SHEEPISHLY request that those who have voted here, please go and vote in the proper petition. I apologise that I didn't do this earlier and make everything inconvenient for everyone. Please go and support the petition at petitiononline and email the link to all your friends. Put on Facebook too.

Thanks very much to Faun, Cimman, Ksi, deminc, Chiefkiasu and QuiteKSMum for encouraging me time and again to do this properly. I have now done it properly. Please support.

Thank you, Chenonceau, for the efforts & hardwork you've put into this petition.
:thankyou: :celebrate:

[Chenonceau]

QuiteKSMum:

Chenonceau:

I have moved the petition to here - http://www.petitiononline.com/SgEd2011/petition.html


I need to SHEEPISHLY request that those who have voted here, please go and vote in the proper petition. I apologise that I didn't do this earlier and make everything inconvenient for everyone. Please go and support the petition at petitiononline and email the link to all your friends. Put on Facebook too.

Thanks very much to Faun, Cimman, Ksi, deminc, Chiefkiasu and QuiteKSMum for encouraging me time and again to do this properly. I have now done it properly. Please support.

Thank you, Chenonceau, for the efforts & hardwork you've put into this petition.
:thankyou: :celebrate:

If you hadn't encouraged me, I wouldn't have come so far.

[Sun_2010]

Chenonceau,

Offensive  a post from you??!? :yikes:
Gasp- blasphemy!!

Considering that you are in the top .... U know 2.. How can I even,
Can see you turning red. Lol just kidding!


I genuinely admire your pov. They are from a well analyzed perspective. You can so well articulate your personal experience in context of the issue being discussed and intuitively your tone is not argumentative but instead invites an exchange of honest opinions. The goal is always clear - a solution , a way forward, an action that can help . And it's not just me who thinks so.

And the pains you have taken to set this up is admirable. :salute:
 

[Chenonceau]

Sun_2010:

Can see you turning red.

 

Wah lau you... dun liddat leh... :oops: But I am glad you're not offended. Phew! :please:

Ummm... can I ask all those who already voted in the poll here to go to the petition and vote again? Sorry for the trouble!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/SgEd2011/petition.html