Petition to Review the Singapore Education System

[2ppaamm]

Chenonceau:

jesschan:

[quote=\"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!!!!

Oooooh! Oooooh! Ooooooooooh! Oh dear! Oh dear! I can't help myself! This presents an opportunity too good to pass up to say....

This goes to show that the PSLE standards have risen so high that they surpass the average Teacher's ability to teach to it. Poor teachers. Poor students. Poor parents.[/quote]C'mon, don't we already know this? It is just so sad that educators and legislators fail to see that the education scene has to change. The education culture has to change. The mindset has to change. We are in 2011. Our education culture (not syllabus) is still in the 1970s. Fear me... or ELSE... Get 'A's or else... I am RIGHT... or else!

It is our RIGHT to get a SUITABLE education. Not a privilege. Are we talking about a first world country here?

[janet88]

I met my daughter's P1 form teacher yesterday.

She did not have a single complaint about class size. I did mention the tougher Maths standards like 'more than' and 'less than'. She personally agreed to this issue. Daughter has a prob understanding the concepts...when to add/subtract. Math has become a 'play of words'. What's the point ? Personally I cannot figure out what is 10 more than xx either
Policy makers should take a serious view about the present education system...review it if necessary.

Even if policy makers have children in primary or secondary school...I doubt they will truly understand the education system happening in schools now.

[Chenonceau]

2ppaamm:

C'mon, don't we already know this? It is just so sad that educators and legislators fail to see that the education scene has to change. The education culture has to change. The mindset has to change. We are in 2011. Our education culture (not syllabus) is still in the 1970s. Fear me... or ELSE... Get 'A's or else... I am RIGHT... or else!

Sorta like the culture of Singapore education does not support the content of Singapore education eh?

The content of education has moved beyond the right and wrong that has always characterized primary education from the 1970s... to the realm where there is some subjectivity. The culture brooks no dissent and insists that Teachers and marking guides are right.

Traditionally, I have always associated multiple right answers to the same question, with university education. In universities, we teach people to think independently, and the learning is in the process of searching out info, synthesizing and sense-making. The current primary syllabus attempts to teach these skills but the potential of this syllabus is severely limited by a corps of teaching professionals who only feel secure if they have a definition of right and wrong.

In effect, we should now have PhDs to teach primary school because only at the level of PhD do people deal with the ambiguity of knowledge (and TRUTH) on a daily basis, and where different and even contradictory answers can both be right. Only at the frontiers of research is knowledge ambiguous and people have to accept contradictions as acceptable answers without experiencing cognitive dissonance. PhDs are used to this. Pam, few will understand where you are coming from. For the majority of the world, including our teachers, the world must be right or it is wrong.

I had not thought of this perspective but what you wrote helped me flesh out the reasoning.

We are still back at the key statement...
PSLE standards have risen so high that they surpass the average Teacher's ability to teach to it. Poor teachers. Poor students. Poor parents.

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

[buds]

Chenonceau:

buds:

Heyya Chenonceau, i meant additional constructive ideas when i asked if changes were

allowed for the petition webbie.. and not change the petition in general. In any case, u
already answered my question which is that this thread stands as a reference to many
discussions and ideas thrown in by other parents as well that if this goes further; they
can be used to gather more data and dig into more research on a wider scale of
participants which can then in turn weigh enuf for them to look into the matter
more seriously.

I hope so... I hope so... I hope so...

Heh! Looks like baby keeping late nights huh?

No lar. Baby guai. Sleep liao. It's just me and my owl syndrome.. as usual.

[2ppaamm]

buds:

No lar. Baby guai. Sleep liao. It's just me and my owl syndrome.. as usual.

Buds, did you just have a baby #3? :?

[buds]

Yes darling.. a baby boy this time.. :please: .. gave birth last Dec.

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=370852#p370852

That's why i asked you to recommend the cd you bought for your australian shape-up;
once it works you to a wonder woman figure.. :drool:
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=419212#p419212

Cos you see after 3 kids i kinda feel that this tum is like a rubber band..
Can lose can gain.. very flexible. :politebleah:

:offtopic: hor..

Back to topic, i agree with jesschan, 2ppaamm & Chenonceau..
I had similar experiences with my DDs Ts as well when it came to ambiguous
questions. A couple of times i wasn't satisfied with the reply given cos it doesn't
make sense.. Then DD2 just said, teacher didn't reply to your note. She just said
this is how the teachers do it. That's it. So it's still wrong lar. Then she continued
that in future no need to ask anymore.. i'm guessing i know why she told me not to..

And yes, Chenonceau... the school guard is very important person... help guard the fort and our children.

So..... :scared:

[Chenonceau]

buds:

And yes, Chenonceau... the school guard is very important person... help guard the fort and our children.

Yeah babe! I \"sarkar\" the school guard more than I \"sarkar\" my boss!!

[buds]

Yes.. treat them right and they'll :salute: on your way in.

[janet88]

buds:

Yes.. treat them right and they'll :salute: on your way in.

School guards are humans and should be treated with respect. They protect our precious children.

[2ppaamm]

The school guard also reflects the school culture. There are nice school guards and nasty ones. By the school guard, we know how the school runs. Seriously!


This morning, the school guard told me not to drive in because the school was too crowded. I looked inside: only 1 car. I smiled at him, pretending didn’t hear, blur blur drive in. He also smiled and just waved. Funny guy.