Petition to Review the Singapore Education System
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2ppaaamm, it is good to see you here - very very good.
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janet_lee88:
Some top students attend enrichment/tuition to stay at the top in their classes, while some others need tuition to pass exams.
My son is at the top of the class for P5 SA1. Without enrichment/tuition (from me), he would have FAILED. He doesn't need enrichment/tuition to STAY at the top, even though he is at top. He needs enrichment/tuition to PASS. It just happens that he is a hardworking boy and if he has been adequately taught, he goes to the top. But if he has not been taught, he can't make it up and so he too fails. Something is wrong when an averagely intelligent child who is hardworking on his own, NEEDS enrichment to PASS exams.
Let me now provide evidence to show that enrichment is NEEDED to pass exams. In blue below, is text taken from Science Heuristics website here - http://www.scienceheuristics.com.sg/background.htm..
With the demands of the new economy, education has taken on a new role. It is no longer enough to know or memorise facts and accumulate knowledge. The purpose of education, now, is to equip the learner with a set of tools to be used together with the knowledge possessed to solve problems in new situations (Problem Comprehension, Knowledge Application and Heuristics)
As the testing (examinations) in schools gear towards such new education trend, stake holders perceive the difficulty level of examinations to be rising. Some stake holders resort to address this new testing trend by force feeding their children with more practices, not realising that 'one cannot land a big catch with a small rod'. Without the right tools (Process Skills), real learning becomes a herculean task.
QUESTIONS: If these process skills (tools) are part of what is tested in mainstream education...
(1) Why are they not mentioned on MOE's syllabus website?
(2) Why do they not appear (not even the labels appear) in official textbooks?
(3) Why are they not named and described in school handouts given to children?
(4) Why do I have to fork out $120/= to buy parent guidebooks that codify the tools/process skills my child NEEDS to PASS exams.
If you click on this link, you will see that the key Consultants from Science Heuristics were PSLE Presiding Examiner and Chief PSLE Presiding Examiner - http://www.scienceheuristics.com.sg/consultants.htm from MOE.
These people, previously Presiding Examiners clearly saw a gap in MOE's delivery of education, and were enterprising enough to leverage on it. There is something strange when those who know the PSLE testing methodology inside-out and know how to codify and teach these ESSENTIAL PROCESS SKILLS (I use the word from this link's bottom of page - http://www.scienceheuristics.com.sg/background.htm) QUIT FROM MOE, and then went one up on the MOE by developing high quality materials (charged at $40 per pop) that are far superior to school textbooks and school materials.
Indeed,
(1) school textbooks,
(2) syllabus write-ups that are publicly available
(3) school handouts
do not attempt to codify these ESSENTIAL PROCESS SKILLS at all in any coherent manner.
QUESTIONS:
If these are essential process skills,
(1) what'll happen to children whose parents CANNOT AFFORD to pay $120/= for 3 parent guidebooks.
(2) what'll happen to children whose parents DO NOT KNOW HOW to use these guidebooks
(3) what'll happen to children whose parents DO NOT KNOW ABOUT these guidebooks
For those parents with children in P1 and P2, and think all is well. Know that when your children come to P5 and P6, unless something is done now, you too will have to invest $120/= to buy materials that does not come through the school system in any codified form, and which your kids need to PASS.
Please Mr Heng Swee Keat, something is wrong. We are giving feedback because something is wrong. It doesn't matter who was wrong and who should be blamed. Everyone makes mistakes, and we can all forgive and forget... but please help us.
To all parents, we need more signatures http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?SgEd2011 -
Chenonceau:
2ppaaamm, it is good to see you here - very very good.
Haha... ditto to you. I was brought back here by my students to read your article. -
sall:
In primary schools, students in sports cca have training at least 2 times a wk. In secondary schools, it is 3 times a wk for students in sports cca. Students are given the chance to learn a sport, maybe a lot chose not to. Or maybe their parents forbid them to, due to the long hours of training.
Blind me, could you kindly provide me with the name of these schools that can churned out top 8 swimmers with 2 or 3 CCA sessions. Cos Singapore sports school is hiring such talented coaches. -
jenao:
Hi jenao, you have pointed out an interesting fact that I have been pondering after reading MOE reply about PSLE subject grading and the following thread in KSP about PSLE Grade Mark Range:-Hi,
Been silently reading this and I think the education system definitely need to change due to the need/necessity for tuition/enrichment as a result of :
1) teachers not teaching in schools, even top students need enrichment
If standards have been kept more or less the same (pt 5) and MOE does not grade according to bell curve (pt 3) as stated by MOE from the reply, why is it not possible for top students to ace the exam without enrichment ? In fact, we shld expect more A and A* now since kids are so prepared and have lots of tuition and enrichment?
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=22313&p=425342&hilit=Grade+Mark+Range#p425342
A* >91 Has very good understanding of the subject
A 75 – 90 Has good understanding of the subject
It is the first time I have come across that A* is >91 and A is 75 to 90 (in the past I have assumed it's based on bell curve and hence no actual mark range for A*, A, ...). Can MOE or any current/ex-educator confirm the PSLE grade mark range?
I think I have read somewhere (sorry cannot recall where) that the % of (A* and A) have been around 40+% for PSLE English, Maths and Science.
This makes me wonder why this % has not gone higher after reading what Chenonceau and other parents wrote here in conjunction with MOE reply to Chenonceau?
Hi Chenonceau,
I would like to thank you for your commendable efforts in writing the article and many other postings here. Well done! What do you think about the above after reading MOE reply? -
coast:
Hi Chenonceau,
I would like to thank you for your commendable efforts in writing the article and many other postings here. Well done! What do you think about the above after reading MOE reply?
I had a few questions, which I emailed MOE already...
(1) If you plot the nation's t-scores on a frequency chart for any one year, what shape would the resultant curve be?
(2) If the exam difficulty is not pegged to bell curve, then what is it pegged to? Syllabus? Textbooks?
(3) Does OECD have our challenging exams? If our exams are much more difficult, perhaps we need a better Teacher-Student ratio than OECD?
(4) Would the MOE be able to at least acknowledge that in spite of improved Teacher-Student ratios, many many students are STILL in classes that are 40 strong?
We should be patient, yes. Some things take time, yes.
But in the short term, it would be good to acknowledge the problems parents and children face instead of merely using pretty numbers and vague references to statistical procedures to defend the track record. At the end of the day, whatever the defense, parents KNOW the pudding for having eaten it. KPIs alone will not be able to persuade us that our tastebuds are wrong.
And what of aspects of education that escape quantification? That whilst we have stretched our best minds academically, there is still some question whether we have stretched their hearts sufficiently. Is there a measure for Kindness, Collaboration, Love?
I visited one top school's Open House yesterday. The Student Tour Guide looked us in the eye and said \"We are TOP school. You know that right?\" I witnessed a conversation between 2 friends where one asked a question of another \"Why does this chemical reaction give of heat?\" The response from one friend to another friend was given with a scathing arrogance that made my stomach clench - \"It's basic. Don't you know? When something freezes, it gives off heat.\"
I was disturbed and had a chat with my foster daughter. She said that in that school, people compete against each other viciously. Every student for himself/herself... and much politicking happens in CCAs too. Whether or not this reputation is deserved, this IS the school's reputation amongst students.
We have put our \"best\" in a sort of intellectual Gladiators' Arena where you win or you lose so you fight and you fight to be the best. Sure! Our top schools have the best brains because we can measure brain output. Singapore produces legions that make it into Ivy League. Our MOE can be proud of having made such numbers happen.
But not everything in life that we should be proud of, and should be done, can be MEASURED.
MOE has given an intelligent and well-composed defence of its track record and what it has achieved - which truly is a lot. But we are still unsure if its strategic direction is to continue to pit students against each other... in a ceaseless pursuit of setting apart the \"best\".
As Mothers and Fathers of this nation, how we bring up our children today will define the world we live in when we are old. Do you really want a world run by future leaders who have grown up spending every waking hour individually trying to be \"the best\"? We put our best through 12 years of education where we teach them to COMPETE, and when they grow up we expect them to LOVE and CARE for weaker ones, the elderly (which will be us, you know), the poor? -
looking4Tutor:
Er... talk about swimming. If a child swims 2 or 3 times a week and hopes to get into a sec school through DSA swimming. Not quite possible. Others are putting in 5 to 11 times (am + pm). School training is not enough. Parents have to sign kids up for club training. Reality in Singapore. We are burning our children from both ends. :sad:sall:
In primary schools, students in sports cca have training at least 2 times a wk. In secondary schools, it is 3 times a wk for students in sports cca. Students are given the chance to learn a sport, maybe a lot chose not to. Or maybe their parents forbid them to, due to the long hours of training.
Blind me, could you kindly provide me with the name of these schools that can churned out top 8 swimmers with 2 or 3 CCA sessions. Cos Singapore sports school is hiring such talented coaches. -
My Humble And Workable Solution
I have a solution, keep the current educational system as it is.
But inorder to see a lighting fast transformation of our heartland schools, all the ministers, ruling party MPs, and top civil servants must registered their children in the these schools.
Their children should have no tuition of any kind. In their preparation for the exams they should only solely rely on the school text books and whatever their teachers taught.
This solution will bring miracle in the heartland schools.
But I still wish to get a job as the chief examiner. I promise that I will open tuition centres at every single available HDB void deck. :please: -
looking4Tutor:
Now, this sounds really sarcastic. I'm just stating the students get a chance to learn a sport in sch. I'm not saying these students are going to represent the country with 3 times a wk of training. Please read carefully.sall:
In primary schools, students in sports cca have training at least 2 times a wk. In secondary schools, it is 3 times a wk for students in sports cca. Students are given the chance to learn a sport, maybe a lot chose not to. Or maybe their parents forbid them to, due to the long hours of training.
Blind me, could you kindly provide me with the name of these schools that can churned out top 8 swimmers with 2 or 3 CCA sessions. Cos Singapore sports school is hiring such talented coaches. -
Ummm… Yes… Looking4Tutor, the sarcasm is disturbing. I was really hoping that we would debate on the level of logic and reason… leaving emotions out of this. I can’t stop you, but I do politely ask it of you. I know this is an issue that is highly charged with emotion but if we want to have productive dialogue, then we mustn’t get angry and make others angry too. Sarcasm has that effect, unfortunately, of stoking another’s anger.
My 2 cents… even though I appreciate your passion in this.
Parents, even if we disagree, all of us have our children in the system. Parents have different perspectives, and disagree. In the process of disagreeing, I teach you and you teach me. I will admit that as I read the various dissenting postings here, I have evolved my thinking and at times, even had to change my position. At other times, I am more convinced of my position. So, let’s just continue to respect and honour the contributions of every parent because we are all in this together.
Sall, I apologize. Do stick around.
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