Petition to Review the Singapore Education System
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PiggyLalala:
I believe that those challenging questions in the PSLE, say in the year 2009, the questions on angles and 'sweets' questions are within the syllabus. They are challenging because they are not the usual sums that you can find in any assessment books or top school exam papers. Hence students have to think of the solution based on Maths concept that they have taught in school. Usually in these questions, the students must deduce some 'hidden' information from the questions and with this 'hidden' information, they can then solve the question easily.
You believe or you have had personal experience?
Because I have examined PSLE questions through and through... plus top school exams... plus assessment books. The new syllabus is a skills heavy syllabus.There are skills you need that are nowhere in the textbooks, but that you need to have been taught and practised.
I examined the homework sheets of my son, compared them with SA1 paper.... homework sheets don't give the skills practice the exam questions require. A couple of weeks before SA1, I even asked the teacher to help solve 2 problem sums, to which Teacher replied \"We have not covered that yet.\" and that same type appeared in SA 1.
Now, I am smart... I teach all myself. -
ksi:
Ummm... sorry, I may have miscommunicated or something was misunderstood... Teacher said that the class had not covered such techniques yet, and there was no time. I was silly enough to myself interpret that it would not come out.To me, out of scope means the concepts are not taught at all. If the concepts are taught, then it is not out of scope. It is application of concepts as there is no way to teach all questions.
In Chenon's case, they went to ask the teacher the question in Onsponge and the teacher explicitly said, this kind of question would not be tested, then that was not a fair representation of the exam design, in fact a misguidance.
Also, I do note that all the topics that come out were taught. What is missing is the Essential Process Skills. These appear neither in the textbooks nor are they required in homework sheets. These are harder to discern because they are hidden. You have to actually attempt to solve the questions and place the working side by side to identify the skills. -
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Chenonceau:
No miscommunication, I understand it is the process skills required because the teacher cannot test a \"Mass\" question if the topic is not taught at all, that I know. So process concept not taught is something acceptable? I don't think so. Science is even more process-skills based. If my child is tested on a process-skill not covered, I would speak to the teacher. In fact, both Math and Science have process-skills paper as part of the teaching syllabus bought together with textbooks, I assume it is the same in all schools?
Ummm... sorry, I may have miscommunicated or something was misunderstood... Teacher said that the class had not covered such techniques yet, and there was no time. I was silly enough to myself interpret that it would not come out.ksi:
To me, out of scope means the concepts are not taught at all. If the concepts are taught, then it is not out of scope. It is application of concepts as there is no way to teach all questions.
In Chenon's case, they went to ask the teacher the question in Onsponge and the teacher explicitly said, this kind of question would not be tested, then that was not a fair representation of the exam design, in fact a misguidance.
Also, I do note that all the topics that come out were taught. What is missing is the Essential Process Skills. These appear neither in the textbooks nor are they required in homework sheets. These are harder to discern because they are hidden. You have to actually attempt to solve the questions and place the working side by side to identify the skills. -
The sad thing is, those people who need help cannot speak up for themselves. Those who can speak up for themselves don’t need help.
I remember this duck rice stall just opposite Vivo City. His children are about as old as my children. I like to frequent the stall because I love the duck his wife makes. He is also very fun to have a conversation with, and he likes to ask my children to play basketball because he believes it makes them tall. He likes to laugh at me for being short. (yet I’m taller than him … :p)
I remember the day his daughter got her PSLE results. He was beaming and happy and told me that he was very happy with the results. He had gone to see the secondary school principal who had told him that her daughter would get a good education in the school. Her PSLE score was very good. He told me. She scored 190+.
He told me that both he and his wife had to work long hours daily. They had no time to teach or get tuition teacher for the two children. They were happy that the daughter made it to sec school. As for the boy who was one year younger, he was not sure. I remember visiting him after the boy took PSLE, but I couldn’t remember his result. His son was the same age as DS1. I vaguely remember him asking me how was my son’s result. I said, "ok". He said his son’s was ok, too. I didn’t want to ask him which school the boy was going to be posted to, because I didn’t want to have to tell him my son’s score or my son’s new school. I didn’t want him to think that we were elitist and not give us bigger bowls of duck rice from then.
What chance does someone like this stall owner have vis-a-vis those who know where and how to get help for his children. Even if he has the money, he would not have the time to spend with the kids or source out good tuition teachers for his children, who might just be as bright as another.
I did not have a privileged background either. But because we did not need tutors or expensive enrichment, I was given equal opportunity in education and sports. Education leveled the playing field for my friends and I in Singapore. In fact, I am no inferior as I conduct businesses and negotiate with business and academic luminaries from any part of the world.
The stall holder’s children reminded me of myself, running around in the market helping my mother. They will never be given the same opportunities as I did. Simply because the education back drop has changed so much. The duck rice seller will never be able to speak up for his children because he wouldn’t even know what opportunities his children missed. -
ksi:
So process concept not taught is something acceptable? I don't think so.
Not acceptable. I agree. Textbooks dun have. Worksheets dun have. -
My child sat for the PSLE last year. I have gone through with him questions from top sch papers and examined the PSLE questions too. The Maths questions in section C from some of the top sch prelim or P5 SA2 papers can be very challenging. If these are the common questions found in the exam or PSLE, how can then the school not teach the pupils the skills. Schools also aim to do well in the PSLE. I may be wrong because my experience is only based on my child’s school.
I strongly believe that schools have to teach all the skills and concept needed in the exam. However, that does not mean all pupils know how to apply the relevant skills or concept to solve the questions. Also not all teachers are competent in teaching such skills. That’s why i always pray for good teachers for my child at the beginning of each year.
In your child’s case, could the teacher be intentionally not teach the skills before the exam. They may want to assess how many students know how to solve the ‘unseen’ sums in the exam and that they will be teaching the skills only in term 3. Of course I maybe wrong. -
PiggyLalala:
My child sat for the PSLE last year. I have gone through with him questions from top sch papers and examined the PSLE questions too.
If the school were doing its job well enough, you would not have to go through with him questions from Top School papers. My daughter went through PSLE 7 years ago and I did not have to look at a single top school paper. I left it entirely to the school and her. No tuition also. She wasn't failing so I didn't worry. In fact, all by herself, she was doing quite well.
What about the kid without a mother to go through the top school papers?
My son however, failed in 1st quarter this year. This year, I have had to analyze all the papers, know the syllabus and teach my child. Result - 2nd in class for SA1.
Yes... I get your point about not all Teachers can teach the new skills. Then don't rev up the syllabus so fast that it's beyond the teachers' capability. Poor teachers. Actually, it would already help if textbooks documented process skills in the same way that Onsponge or Mathe Heuristics does.
Once I got hold of these books, I passed to my son. He managed. Result - 2nd place in SA1. Some solutions are simple and easy to implement, and can help a lot already. -
Chenonceau:
Just sharing this from another perspective. I remember when my son was in P1. There was a simultaneous equation question in the maths paper. For some reason, he managed to solve it without help from teachers or parents, and I don't even know what method he used. He just knew the answers. My friends asked me why I taught and hot housed my son this way. Well, I didn't.ksi:
So process concept not taught is something acceptable? I don't think so.
Not acceptable. I agree. Textbooks dun have. Worksheets dun have.
It is true that some kids can solve some problems without the correct concepts and methods, and derive answers through simple first principles only, and using only addition and subtraction. But I believe it is not very meaningful to test these capabilities in an exam like PSLE, even if such questions are put there to stretch the examinees. For those one or two questions, many tutors and teachers would have pumped in so much time and work on the children. While it is easy for some children to solve using their own invented methods, majority would have to study the steps and methodologies that take too much time.
My kids are not gifted in Chinese. I shudder to think how it is like if they want to stretch the children in Chinese exams. They'll probably spend years and still not get anywhere near understanding these concepts. Then get demoralized and give up completely. Or psyched themselves into believing they are stupid. They are just not gifted in that area. And it is perfectly fine.
At PSLE, we should test what we teach. And if we want to go beyond that, make it known that we are testing their capabilities in a separate test, like HAST. Otherwise, parents and teachers will be trying to catch up forever. This target will be shifting forever, in the name of trying to stretch just that small population. -
2ppaamm:
At PSLE, we should test what we teach. And if we want to go beyond that, make it known that we are testing their capabilities in a separate test, like HAST. Otherwise, parents and teachers will be trying to catch up forever. This target will be shifting forever, in the name of trying to stretch just that small population.
Yes... I agree. Ksi suggested this too. Our family is nowhere near Gifted. This gives us a choice.
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