Petition to Review the Singapore Education System
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NickleBee Tutors:
Ummmm... I think Pam wasn't digging at teachers so much as the system. She did escalate the matter all the way up to the NIE and the MOE, beyond even the Principal. So, it wasn't just blaming the hapless and mute teacher. This petition also acknowledges that teachers cannot cope, and asks for a system review.As a member of the \"shadow education industry\" as you put it, i am deep in with the kids as they go through the education system and i always find it strange that parents attribute to MOE teachers more powers than they actually have! My fiancée (who's a JC teacher and no she has no time to give tuition) and some of my friends who are MOE teachers are literally knee deep in paperwork, assorted committees and CCA obligations, not to mention having to match rising education standards in the national exams, increased disciplinary issues and pressure from parents who expect them to be superheros. And i have not even gone into stress and expectations piled onto teachers by the HODs, Principals and of course the policy makers up in the ivory tower that is MOE. So to think that you believe teachers to be all powerful god-like beings who have a hand in determining your child's fate, you're dead wrong. Teachers have superiors to answer to who in turn have their own bosses (all the way to the minister himself). So teachers are essentially mute instruments by which the state educates a future workforce which will quietly toil away at ensuring a continued GDP expansionary policy. If you have quibbles with teachers, take it out on their superiors and not them. They are just following orders as issued from up above. With the pressure from parents, who expect the sky, and the the assorted stuff they face in school, well i'm not surprised that many burn out and leave after the bond.
Overall, I don't see much substantive disagreement here. As a whole, in this thread, parents seem aware that Teachers are cogs in a system larger than they, and there has not been undue Teacher bashing here. Hopefully, that sets your heart at ease.NickleBee Tutors:
Hey... Not many people are in 99th percentile. I know my kids are not. They have to work very hard to get the results they want WITHOUT tuition but with well selected resources I provide. When even GEP students these days needs tuition, then could there be a case of OVER stimulation?Allow me to give my views on the current state of education. I think students nowadays are given a much more stimulating education environment as compared to my time. I would have loved to join NUS High if i had a chance (I was incredibly bored with the mundane stuff i was forced to learn in RI GEP). Too bad i went through what would be remembered now as they dying phase of the pre-IP education system. Its quite sad really.
NickleBee Tutors:
This is a lovely point.However, rather than observe a higher level of intelligence as expected from the Flynn effect, what i noticed is that children, with all the educational help they are getting (from schools, education centres, tutors, enrichment classes, books, education programmes etc), are much more well grounded in test taking techniques and sprouting random pieces of information. However what i did not notice in most students is the ability to critically analyse information (and they have so much at their fingertips!) and figure out how to apply them. Also, the tenacity at solving problems (whether in exams or life in general) and the ability to apply techniques and concepts to new conditions is generally lacking.
NickleBee Tutors:
Ummmm... This theme about highly demanding parents has surfaced before. You may wanna refer to the discussion on this page of this thread - http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=21969&start=230Also, there seems to be a much higher parental expectations of their children. Sometimes it gets a bit extreme and i have heard and borne witness to enough cases to wonder sometimes whether the problems with the education system is caused by the education policies themselves or is it due to the rising expectations and increased demands of parents who expect every child to be in the GEP, Olympaid medalist etc.
NickleBee Tutors:
It may be a right direction for the 1% of kids who crave the stimulation, and the more you stimulate, the more you will find that some children (and parents) want more stimulation. But then your system works only for that 1% and that 4% to 9% who are 1% wannabes. I am far less concerned about this 10% of very bright and rather bright kids who see more and more opportunities laid at their feet. Partly, they are very well served by the system. Partly, a country cannot thrive when only 10% of each cohort is well served.But still, although the education system can and must be improved, i think we are heading in the right direction.
Lastly, as you may have experienced yourself, when you grow up with the best and the brightest, these are the friendships and networks you carry into your adulthood. Thanks to the system as it is, which throws kids of \"similar abilities\" together, Singapore society is today stratified into Scholar VS Non-Scholar... top school vs non top school... and so on... Why is this necessary?
Are we not all Singaporeans regardless of race, language or religion? And we should also add \"INTELLECTUAL ABILITY\".
In recent years, the system has reached a state of DIS-equilibrium where we aren't really putting similar ability children together... but children with equal (or less equal access) to Tutors/Resources of varying quality.
What many Scholar Families don't realise is what Marie-Antoinette herself failed to realize when she supposedly uttered the words \"Let them eat cake.\". When push comes to shove, the masses ALWAYS win. When social inequity becomes salient enough, and social unrest happens, the 10% at the top will be forcibly relieved of all the rights and privileges they thought they had right to because they were the top 10%. In the short-term, the system serves these top brains well... in the long term, it serves no one well. I have 3 children that the system considers high potential. One already has a scholarship. I am grateful for the opportunities MOE has given them but I fear for their well-being 50 years from today if no one has the foresight to nip these issues in the bud.
Education is THE tool (par excellence) for moulding a society. Let's sit back and observe what kind of society our system is moulding when it
(1) divides and stratifies
(2) over empasizes intellect over character.
Note also that your discussion has focussed mostly on intellectual ability. What of heart ability? Has the system good answers today? If not, does it mean heart development is not important? -
2ppaamm:
Oi! Oi! There already is a Facebook page... and no, I dun particularly wanna administer it (heeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I am inherently lazy and hate responsibility) - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Review-Singapore-Education-2011/131186106955434?sk=infomoomooko:
I support this!...anyone can start using facebook for this petition cos it's easier to manage i guess.
Do you mean like this? http://www.facebook.com/pages/Suggestions-for-the-Ministry-of-Education-and-the-Education-Minister/205948446110566?sk=wall
I just created this based upon your suggestion. Chen, if you want to administer the Facebook page, let me know. I think I can put you or anyone who is interested to be the admin.
You have to 'like' the page to post suggestions or grievances.
PamPam can you delete your creation so people aren't confused? Thanks!!
Moomooko, did you sign the petition here hah? - http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?SgEd2011&1 -
ksi:
All these sound very familiar. I think many schools have got very poor management control. For instance, in my kids' school, they have no Science HOD since 2 years ago. There were a couple of instances when my son challenged the answers to some questions set in his science exams and they just shrugged him off. Obviously my son was unhappy because none of his teachers were able to explain to him why his answers were wrong (or simply because they were not in the answer keys?). In some instances, I think the teachers simply refused to admit that the questions were badly set and other teachers did not want to \"challenge\" the teacher who set the questions.At times, I feel that the issue is not at MOE level, it is the school itself but MOE has to be vigilant to monitor and set the school to handle matters properly instead of going round agonizing both children and parents. Actually all these issues can be resolved easily if we have strong leadership who knows how to manage these issues and make the changes in the school. For example in chenon's case, if the tr is willing to partner with the parents to uncover interesting questions which the children could be taught, does it not benefit all children? and in 2ppaamm's case, it does not take much to look into a special solution especially from a precocious child who has consistently demonstrated performance. this, to me is real talent management, you don't need a formal programme to do talent management. Everyone stands to benefit from a new solution, that is how things are invented!!!!
Sometimes I am so appalled at the answers given to parents to brush aside
a rejected answer that is not in the answer key. It insults intelligence. To add further insult to injury they start to ostracise the child in school, exactly
what 2ppaamm has detailed in her writeup. I think MOE should put a stop
to such adult bully tactics on the children. The child gets block from
opportunities in the school even if they qualify or given the cold shoulder or
they can be designed not to qualify with strict marking and the child is defenseless. Can MOE look into such unhealthy practices and put a stop to
this? I can understand why 2ppaamm chooses to uproot themselves from
the education system here. Parents should not suffer in silence.
I don't think my children are gifted but they are probably high ability learners who are bored in class because the teachers have to teach a class of mixed ability learners. In fact, one of my son's teachers commented that \" your son is basically ok in class except that he likes to ask a lot of questions\"... Ummmm..... is s asking questions a bad thing? -
Good posts, NickleBee and Chen. I have another point. I don’t think our system caters to the top end. I’m not talking about the top 1%, but the tail end of the cohort, meaning the highly gifted (top 0.001%).
My children fall in that category and based upon your assessment, my children would have the best education possible in this education system. Not true. And, I’m not one of those gifted-child-wannabe-parents. I have IQ tests and ability tests done by professionals.
GEP is no longer GEP as we knew it used to be. I don’t really want to go into details here, but I have come to the conclusion that even GEP is meant for High achievers and not the gifted. There is a vast difference between the two, and MOE cannot even differentiate that nowadays. There is no concept of LOG (level of giftedness) in GEP, and therefore, even in a gifted classroom, bored and under challenged children were ostracized and bullied, by teachers and students. I’m not speaking in general, I’m speaking from experience as a mother.
I have taught students as a product of our pre-university education system, GEP and non. And to sum up, it is disheartening to inform parents that despite the extra effort and tuition our children get, our students DO NOT perform better in tertiary institutions. Those who top our ‘A’ levels, and IB programs do not necessarily top our universities. Why? I’ll explain when have time. Most importantly, our children do not shine vis-a-vis other more hungry, more passionate foreign students, and students with better interpersonal skills and students who are more confident. These qualities were traded in for more and more 'A’s in our system.
Do you see the problem now? In the pursuit of ‘A’s and trying to step over one another to land further and further to the right to of the bell curve, we have brought up a society of non-questioning, non-thinking workforce. Now, this is the biggest concern I have. I know from experience and not from hearsay, because I used to be in the think tank with ministers for foreign talents. There is an outcry from employers for foreign workers not because we are lack of people. We are lack of the RIGHT people, despite having more and more straight As student every year. I know what our Singaporean workers are like. Give it another 10 years, we will see our children working for foreigners as their superiors, simply because we have taught our children not to think, but to find the right answers and reproduce these answers in their jobs. When asked to jump, our kids ask "How high?"
Do we not know the problem? Of course we do! I had a visiting Emeritus professor from an Ivy league university who told me he just couldn’t understand our students and our workforce. Our students and young working adults, though smart and articulate, have a missing X-factor. I believe that X-factor was removed from our children through this sad kiasu, obey-only education process. He gave me a challenge to change that, telling me that I am a smart woman. I told him I could not even fight for a decent ordinary public education for my profoundly gifted child. Though cleared of all special needs diagnosis, he was asked to go to a special needs school together with autistic children simply because our educators could not and would not handle his different thinking style.
I have a different problem from many others, but I believe there are many like me who suffer in silence. Every child, gifted or not, special needs or not deserve a SUITABLE education. Not any education the ministry or many uninformed educators dump at our children.
It is MORALLY WRONG for teachers to complain that class sizes are too big and therefore they cannot give individualized attention to each student. As far as I know, I grew up having 42-44 students in my class every year. I have never had tuition, but I managed to understand my teachers and I performed decently well throughout my education. During our time, only 5% of the cohort made it to the university. 80% of my classmates made it, mostly without tuition.
Even in the GEP classes, the GEP branch director complained to me that a class of 25 gifted kids is hard to handle. My son’s P2 teacher complained that her class of 30 is hard to handle. Bottomline is, no matter how big the class is and how we reduce the class size, there is always room for complains. Have educators forgotten why they teach? Is this education system made to educate our young, or to freshen the pockets of educators month after month with tax payers’ money?
There is an inherent problem with the culture in our education system. Educators like to complain and whine: the class size is too big, the children are spoilt, the students interrupt, the parents are too demanding. Hey, this is an educator’s job. We have to manage, to handle parents, to moderate the class, to teach children the right behavior, to make exceptions, to cater to the different learning styles of each child, to listen to their nonsense and put them right. It is not the duty of the child to make sure they know what to say or how to behave in class, we teach them in school. Not the parents. I know not from guessing but from experience. I am a bona fide educator. I left my lucrative job to teach with a pay cut.
I don’t have a solution, and I’m trying hard to think of something that can be ideal. But I think to start, the mindset of educators, MOE and the whole culture of what education is must change.
While driving my daughter to school this morning, she asked me why ‘O’ levels and ‘A’ levels is so important that the school forces each student to come back 2.5 hours each day just to prepare for the Chinese exam. I asked her if she thought it was important. She shook her head. It is just another exam to get us to the next phase in education. She replied. And I agree. We should put in our best effort, to study hard. But to be driven by teachers who have their KPI at stake, is to remove the passion for learning and the ownership of good results from them. Conserve some energy, there’s still much more ahead of us. I hate to see the walking deads at the work place day after day, as if something zapped the daylights out of them. -
Chenonceau:
Alamak, I didn't know. I will delete mine.
Oi! Oi! There already is a Facebook page... and no, I dun particularly wanna administer it (heeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I am inherently lazy and hate responsibility) - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Review-Singapore-Education-2011/131186106955434?sk=info
PamPam can you delete your creation so people aren't confused? Thanks!!
Moomooko, did you sign the petition here hah? - http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?SgEd2011&1 -
jesschan:
All these sound very familiar. I think many schools have got very poor management control. For instance, in my kids' school, they have no Science HOD since 2 years ago. There were a couple of instances when my son challenged the answers to some questions set in his science exams and they just shrugged him off. Obviously my son was unhappy because none of his teachers were able to explain to him why his answers were wrong (or simply because they were not in the answer keys?). In some instances, I think the teachers simply refused to admit that the questions were badly set and other teachers did not want to \"challenge\" the teacher who set the questions.
I meet this situation at EVERY exam. I NEVER challenge the Teacher. When PSLE standards have risen to a point where it is hard to discern right and wrong... I won't risk offending the personalities involved. Nope... not even the school guard. The school guard can make life difficult for you.
The most I ever did was to call up the Teacher and pretend ignorance, and ask about this question in the exam and that my poor boy cried and cried his eyes out, and would the Teacher please help? In that situation, the Teacher took me apart and whispered that the question was badly set, and that she wouldn't count it against my son... nor any of the children in the class, but everything must be quiet and discreet. -
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Chenonceau:
I don't disagree that this is the right way to handle. But do you see a problem with this? Teachers cannot be challenged. I think if educators can come to realize (just like the PAP government), that our students are now a well informed lot, and can learn from many other sources besides the teachers, then they can be more relaxed to make, admit and work in a more amicable environment with the children.
I meet this situation at EVERY exam. I NEVER challenge the Teacher. When PSLE standards have risen to a point where it is hard to discern right and wrong... I won't risk offending the personalities involved. Nope... not even the school guard. The school guard can make life difficult for you.
The most I ever did was to call up the Teacher and pretend ignorance, and ask about this question in the exam and that my poor boy cried and cried his eyes out, and would the Teacher please help? In that situation, the Teacher took me apart and whispered that the question was badly set, and that she wouldn't count it against my son... nor any of the children in the class, but everything must be quiet and discreet.
Pride of teachers over learning opportunities for children? Where is the priority? -
2ppaamm:
I do... Pam. I do see a problem with this. But what choice do I have to protect my son except to create a web of goodwill that will cocoon him from undue stress?
I don't disagree that this is the right way to handle. But do you see a problem with this? Teachers cannot be challenged. I think if educators can come to realize (just like the PAP government), that our students are now a well informed lot, and can learn from many other sources besides the teachers, then they can be more relaxed to make, admit and work in a more amicable environment with the children.Chenonceau:
I meet this situation at EVERY exam. I NEVER challenge the Teacher. When PSLE standards have risen to a point where it is hard to discern right and wrong... I won't risk offending the personalities involved. Nope... not even the school guard. The school guard can make life difficult for you.
The most I ever did was to call up the Teacher and pretend ignorance, and ask about this question in the exam and that my poor boy cried and cried his eyes out, and would the Teacher please help? In that situation, the Teacher took me apart and whispered that the question was badly set, and that she wouldn't count it against my son... nor any of the children in the class, but everything must be quiet and discreet.
Pride of teachers over learning opportunities for children? Where is the priority?
What choice but that and push for change with this Petition of course?
Here is the petition for those who wanna sign and haven't - http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?SgEd2011&1
Here is the Facebook page for people wanna spread the word but haven't - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Review-Singapore-Education-2011/131186106955434?sk=info -
Chenonceau:
the Teacher took me apart and whispered that the question was badly set, and that she wouldn't count it against my son... nor any of the children in the class, but everything must be quiet and discreet.
Yes! There was once that I asked the Science teacher why my son's answer was marked wrong when he wrote an answer that was more refined than the one given in the answer key, the teacher told me discreetly that he would have got it right in PSLE!!!!
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