Petition to Review the Singapore Education System
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Fairy:
Chenonceau:
[u]
At present, the larger proportion of PSC scholars come from HCI, RI, NYGH & RGS. Suppose that a quota were set to pick at least 2 scholars from each of the 11 IP schools, then what will happen is that competition into the top 4 schools will be less frenzied. The prospect of a scholarship spurs many to compete for places in the Top 4 schools.
Indeed, talent will be more evenly distributed across 11 IP schools as parents like me with children who have the potential to be in Top 4, choose to go elsewhere just to have a better work-life balance.
Pardon my ignorance. I do not understand the logic for setting a quota for the award of scholarships to any school. Shouldn't scholarship be awarded based on merit? The 3rd 'best' student from a top school-A may have done way better than the 'best' student from another top school-B. Shouldn't the 3rd 'best' student from school-A deserves the scholarship more than the 'best' student from school-B? I believe the scholarships were awarded based on the students' achievements rather than which school they were from. It just happened that most of the good ones were from those few schools.
I agree with Fairy. Assume that there 6 students, A B C D E F.
Students A B C are from RI, while D E F are from Victoria. Assuming that their academic rankings are as follows; D F A E B C. By current standards, A D F E will be awarded with a scholarship. By Chenonceau's suggestion of quota, only D F from Victoria will be awarded while A B from RI will be awarded as well. Why isn't E from Victoria not be awarded since he did better than B? -
Fairy:
Chenonceau:
[u]
At present, the larger proportion of PSC scholars come from HCI, RI, NYGH & RGS. Suppose that a quota were set to pick at least 2 scholars from each of the 11 IP schools, then what will happen is that competition into the top 4 schools will be less frenzied. The prospect of a scholarship spurs many to compete for places in the Top 4 schools.
Indeed, talent will be more evenly distributed across 11 IP schools as parents like me with children who have the potential to be in Top 4, choose to go elsewhere just to have a better work-life balance.
Pardon my ignorance. I do not understand the logic for setting a quota for the award of scholarships to any school. Shouldn't scholarship be awarded based on merit? The 3rd 'best' student from a top school-A may have done way better than the 'best' student from another top school-B. Shouldn't the 3rd 'best' student from school-A deserves the scholarship more than the 'best' student from school-B? I believe the scholarships were awarded based on the students' achievements rather than which school they were from. It just happened that most of the good ones were from those few schools.
Are scholars picked based on national ranked results? Not possible right? I thought it is based on application by the students to the organisations? For example, A(RI), B(VS), C(HCI), D(RI) , E(VS), F(HCI) results are ranked (A best to F)
2 organisations offer scholarship (X, Y)
A, B, C applies organisation X
D, E, F, applies organisation Y
If only one is awarded per organisation, then A and D will get it and it happens that both from RI...
So I think it is based on the merit of the applicants. So already there is certain sense of \"unfairness\" or we call it \"luck\". -
We now have 203 signatures here... http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?SgEd2011&1
And a response from MOE here...
http://www.facebook.com/moesingapore#!/moesingapore?sk=notes
The petition is still open for signature because I don't feel that the response has adequately addressed parental concerns on exam difficulty, and small class sizes. And I rather believe (pending confirmation) that if you plot the nation's t-scores on a frequency chart, the resultant curve would be pretty much a normal distribution curve. We now have 203 signatures... and signatories' comments can be found here...
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?SgEd2011&1
It is good to see robust debate in this thread. I encourage more participation. Agree or disagree... pro or con... please write your thoughts. -
ksi:
Say, the above scenario you mentioned, as parents, we opted out for the child...sometime down the road, the child felt that he/she was able to handle but was not given the chance to try, how? We cannot turn back the clock. I believe other than being kiasu, there is a group of parents who also fear making the wrong decisions for the child especially when the stakes are so HIGH![/quote]It's bcos the education system that we have to choose our children's sec school wisely. Supposing my child is of IP calibre, I would still not want him/her to take that route...if he is intelligent, he can still make it the normal route and excel.
A child who manages to gain high score for PSLE may not necessarily mean he/she is mature enough to take on IP workload & peer pressure. Being gifted doesn't apply to all subjects, but the child is able to cope with weaker ones with more ease.janet_lee88:
[quote=\"meinteel\"]Parents should first consider how your child managed to get the high score for PSLE. Is he capable of handling much more work load on his own? If not, take the normal route. The number of years taken till A levels would still be the same, the only difference is that he will be provided with the additional O level certificate.
One should be mindful that an IP student who fails his A levels only has PSLE qualifications. That itself would not even be sufficient for him to become a management TRAINEE in a fastfood outlet.
Do weigh the pro and cons of any programs carefully before throwing your kid in it. -
Fairy:
Chenonceau:
[u]
At present, the larger proportion of PSC scholars come from HCI, RI, NYGH & RGS. Suppose that a quota were set to pick at least 2 scholars from each of the 11 IP schools, then what will happen is that competition into the top 4 schools will be less frenzied. The prospect of a scholarship spurs many to compete for places in the Top 4 schools.
Indeed, talent will be more evenly distributed across 11 IP schools as parents like me with children who have the potential to be in Top 4, choose to go elsewhere just to have a better work-life balance.
Pardon my ignorance. I do not understand the logic for setting a quota for the award of scholarships to any school. Shouldn't scholarship be awarded based on merit? The 3rd 'best' student from a top school-A may have done way better than the 'best' student from another top school-B. Shouldn't the 3rd 'best' student from school-A deserves the scholarship more than the 'best' student from school-B? I believe the scholarships were awarded based on the students' achievements rather than which school they were from. It just happened that most of the good ones were from those few schools.
What about the current situation where a student from \"not premium\" school has a Perfect Score but is pipped for a scholarship by a student from a \"premium\" school with a less than perfect score? I have seen it happen.
Besides, don't we always say that scholars are all brain and no empathy... all intellect but no heart? That comes from a system that historically measured \"best\" by academic history alone. Remember the scholar who had a liking for child porn? He was stellar academically, but was he a \"best\" choice for an MOE scholar? If so, why isn't he still a scholar now?
What is \"best\"?
Not a few non-premium schools produce perfect scores too. How come they are not best compared to the perfect scores from premium schools? The scholar selection process has some degree of subjectivity, and when you come from a premium school and take part in the opportunities provided by the premium school, it plays in your favour.
Of course, I'm not hung up on this quota issue and am not about to defend it. What you said about the quota makes a lotta sense too, and is a perspective that should be written out and shared. So thanks for sharing. -
Fairy:
Sorry to say this...the GOVT is NOT in favour of women being SAHMs. They want babies but after giving birth and taking the 4 months, please go back to work. YET, they make the education system so damn tough :mad: Then couples are expected to work very hard to survive the high living standards now, also work very hard to pay enrichment centres/tutors. Why ? Bcos kids are not doing well in school and in some cases failing (like mine).partime-mum:
I think it is ridiculous to expect a P1 kid write a Journal during the 1st week of school. Does MOE expect that all P1 kids have been taught Grammar and Vocabulary prior to start of P1? Does our government expect all mothers to be SAHM and coach the kids personally before our kids start P1? Or does the government that all kids has been tuitioned before they start P1? I hope MOE can review the standard that it has set for the students, as well as for us, working parents.
A friend of mine has been writing the scripts for 'show-&-tell' for her son since last year when he joined MSH at P1! I understand many parents there did that for their child as the marks awarded count towards the overall results for the year.
BTW, I wrote scripts for Show & Tell when my son was in P1/2. -
Meinteel, have you check with IP schs to see how many students fail their A levels? In any JC, there will be students failing A level, these students will definitely retake their exams. They wouldn’t just give up and use their O level cert instead. In IP schs, the students are monitored very closely, those taking A levels are well-prepared. In dd’s sch, only 1 student didn’t clear his A level, I’m sure he/she is resitting for the exam this yr. We can’t blame the system just because 1 student failed, can we?
For parents who are extremely anxious, then it’s better to choose a non-IP sch for their children. -
pixiedust:
I am struggling to keep up with the discussions. Besides understanding the original petition, signing it and helping to publise it, we'll need to wait and see, is that right ?
Oh... I almost missed this post.
Yes, we will have to wait and see. The MOE's immediate response (understandably) will be to defend it's track record, as it already has here - http://www.facebook.com/moesingapore#!/moesingapore?sk=notes. Whether or not parents feel from the response that MOE hears our experiences, going forward, is another matter.
Many of the issues need time, I am happy enough that MOE is aware that there are these concerns. We need to give MOE time to digest and apply its considerable organisational knowledge/skills to our feedback.
We are like customers in a restaurant giving feedback to the chef. We can try to be helpful by suggesting how the chef can improve the dishes but the chef is at the end, the one who really is most able to develop solutions. We can suggest all we like, but we do not have the data to properly evaluate the suggestions nor resources to implement them. I doubt that MOE will make any public commitment to any changes until they've internally had a chance to discuss.
All this takes time and by then, your DD and my DS will not be around to experience the system. We can only see in 5 years time how the system evolves or is poised to evolve, because 2016 will be another election year.
The whole thing has now moved beyond the petition into this thread. The petition was a focal point of sorts... but this thread contains the spontaneous outpourings of parent after parent and were I MOE, I would study this thread and those relevant others to get a sense of how the average Singaporean experiences the educational system. It is important data for charting the future.. The petition was the work of one brain only (aimed at drawing attention to a malaise many parents feel). This thread and a few others in this forum sub-section, is collective wisdom, and deserves to be studied too. -
Reducing class size is possible. But it is impossible to lower the standard of psle and reduce homework, test or project. We need psle to sieve out the really good students. If the exam is so easy and all passed with flying colours, then it defeats the purpose of the exam.
Everything is progressing so fast in this modern world. How can schools slow down or lower the standard? We will be left behind.
There are a lot of super-ambitious parents who are really the cause of the students’ stress. On top of sch work, their children have to take music lessons, golf, ballet etc… -
sall:
A secret part of me fears too that diluting PSLE standards means that we will lose national competitiveness in the long run. This is a valid point indeed. Thanks very much for sharing it and articulating it clearly.Reducing class size is possible. But it is impossible to lower the standard of psle and reduce homework, test or project. We need psle to sieve out the really good students. If the exam is so easy and all passed with flying colours, then it defeats the purpose of the exam.
Everything is progressing so fast in this modern world. How can schools slow down or lower the standard? We will be left behind.
There are a lot of super-ambitious parents who are really the cause of the students' stress. On top of sch work, their children have to take music lessons, golf, ballet etc...
And I think that we agree (do we?) that if teachers' skills and available resources allowed them to adequately teach to the higher standards, then there is no issue. It's just that right now... teachers can't manage to teach all there is to teach adequately... and parents/tutors need to step in to pick up the slack. There is something wrong when almost everyone in the top classes have tuition.
Even I, who have stubbornly refused to give my son tuition, now have to because he is not taught what he needs to know to pass exams in school. Reduced class sizes would be really really good, though many think that this too is impossible to achieve.
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