Petition to Review the Singapore Education System
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Hello to all,
I am a bit late in joining this thread so am I too late to vote? I m now doing PV in a school and was assigned to help PSLE students in their homework. I feel so sorry for the children who seemed to have missed out a lot of their childhood because they are kept in school to finish their homework. That’s good intention of the school but the children are so bored and unmotivated.
I haven’t got time to read through all the 70+ pages of this thread (will pore through in due course) but being in school has given me the opportunity to be in the shoes of the students, feeling their angst, feeling their frustration. So much is expected of our kids. I personally know of 2 friends’ kids who were so cheerful and lively when they were young but after 8 years of school (they are i sec 1 & 2 now) they behaved more like angry zombies to me. They are in our top sec schools but at what price?
I totally support a review of the education system. -
I don’t think any of us here are trying to bash the system or the teachers. There are many dedicated teachers. Instead we are giving our feedback as parents with children going through the system.
Don’t think it’s fair to attribute the cause of the issues raised just to parents’ kiasuism. We are not talking about scoring the last 5 or 10 marks to hit 100. We actually have children failing exams.
Agree with Chenonceau 's points, especially about textbooks and workbooks being out of alignment with exam standards. My son’s Maths homework consists of pages of pages of very simple Maths sums from the workbook. But sums in the CA and SA are way way tougher. An average kid who faithfully does homework but have no exposure to such tough sums through tuition, Onsponge or parental help will definitely struggle a lot, possibly to the extent of failing. Hence kids without the resources are disadvantaged. Kids with the resources while being able to cope, have to sacrifice play time to work on both school work and the tuition/parental coaching sessions which leaves them with a stressful childhood. -
I agree that the science textbook is very very simple and not enough to prepare for psle. But I also note that a lot of schools have teachers who gave extra notes. Most schools also ordered good assessment books for students. For those good students who still go for tuition, then it’s the parents who don’t trust their kids. My sis sent her dd for tuition 7 days a week, and the girl is actually among the top. But the unreasonable mom does not care whether the girl is tired or burnt-out, she just wanted her dd to score 100 for every subject. In such a case, it’s not the system but the unreasonable expectations of the mom. A lot of parents are also like that.
Some of my dd’s classmates are also quite good in their studies, but they did not have any tuition, their parents are either working or they don’t speak much English. On their own, they all scored above 255 for psle. So we can’t generalise and declare that students must have tuition or they can’t do well for psle. -
sall:
I agree that the science textbook is very very simple and not enough to prepare for psle. But I also note that a lot of schools have teachers who gave extra notes.
Is there any reason why these extra notes cannot be included in the textbook, rather than left to the off chance that some teachers will give and some won't?
Is the system robust enough when children have to be LUCKY (like your child) to get good teachers who give notes? If you went to a hotel and met with a dirty room which smelled of stale sweat, would you say that it's fine, and you were just unlucky ... and meanwhile, other people are lucky so hey... no sweat. Me, I would expect that the hotel has a robust system and processes to clean and check rooms thoroughly. Is it too much to expect that every child be given all the resources to do well?
Why should good education depend on LUCK?sall:
This is also a generalization. If the MOE wished to, whether this is an accurate generalization can be easily established with a poll. Does your child's school include good assessment books in their book list? Mine doesn't. Janet, Pixie, Peony, Champion... do yours?Most schools also ordered good assessment books for students.
sall:
That is your sister's choice. In a system that teaches adequately, parents like me are free to choose to allow our children to evolve within the system without interference. For my DD, I did that. However, in a system that tests way beyond what is taught, then parents like me also have no choice but to enrich the child or see our children sink into despair, because having done all homework and read the textbook, they still fail.For those good students who still go for tuition, then it's the parents who don't trust their kids. My sis sent her dd for tuition 7 days a week, and the girl is actually among the top. But the unreasonable mom does not care whether the girl is tired or burnt-out, she just wanted her dd to score 100 for every subject.
It isn't because they weren't diligent. It's because they weren't taught enough.sall:
System mechanisms can be found to mould parent behavior and temper parent kiasu-ism. If system mechanisms cannot be found that we all just sit back and suffer... because there is no way out. I can't especially see that we can go around Singapore and evangelize to parents the message to NOT BE kiasu, when system incentives for kiasu-ism remains strong.In such a case, it's not the system but the unreasonable expectations of the mom. A lot of parents are also like that.
Let's imagine that you put up a prize of $100 billion for the person who kills the most cats.... But then, killing cats is very bad (like kiasu-ism is very bad), so we go around telling people not to kill cats. The message would fall on deaf ears because the system incentive of $100 billion is too strong.
Solutions can be found if we put our minds to it. It is not impossible to figure out the system incentives and dismantle the key ones so as to temper national kiasu-ism.sall:
7 years ago, my daughter had no tuition. She went to a top school. Her boyfriend's parents were not well off (and speak no English at all) but he did well. That was then. Now is different. This phenomenon has reared its head in the past 5 years... and has somehow taken on a frenzy in the last 3.Some of my dd's classmates are also quite good in their studies, but they did not have any tuition, their parents are either working or they don't speak much English.
At the present time, P5 and P6 parents are finding that
(1) the skills heavy syllabus is not matched with adequate skills practice (not because teachers are lazy, but because they have no time to mark)
(2) written resources given out are hugely insufficient because they don't document the full domain tested (and specifically, not the process skills). This means that the child needs to be LUCKY enough to have good teachers that give adequate extra notes.
Why should LUCK figure in a system meant to educate all? Education should not be run along the same principles as a casino? Certain things documented in this thread are not generalizations. They are observable fact. The textbooks do not document what kids need to learn to do well in exams.
Then of course, one can say that teachers give notes. Some do. Some don't. Is that good enough in a system? A hotel that cleans some rooms and doesn't clean others is well run? -
Why good notes are not included in the textbooks? You have to ask the joker who wrote the book. I can’t answer this question.
It’s not a generalisation to say that most sch ordered assessment books, I haven’t come across a sch that doesn’t do that. So far, when I ask friends who are tr or students from diff sch, they all have copies ordered by sch. As to why not included in booklist, well, got to ask the sch. I think some assessment are more suitable for the top 3 classes, so the end classes may get to try another bk. As we all know, the exam paper needs to have a few difficult qn, so they can sieve out the good students, so the top classes may be more suitable to do the more challenging bk.
Talking about luck, in life, we really need luck. Some children are lucky to be academically inclined, they don’t need to put in much effort to do well, others have to work v v hard to do well. It is not possible to have all good trs in sch, likewise we don’t have all good workers in any industry. That’s why we need luck to get good tr. Most tr are good, so it’s really unlucky for students if they get to be taught by one who is not so passionate about her job. -
sall:
Why good notes are not included in the textbooks? You have to ask the joker who wrote the book. I can't answer this question.
The answer does not matter. What matters is that MOE should rewrite the textbooks.sall:
My son's school doesn't. So that's one for you that you now come across.It's not a generalisation to say that most sch ordered assessment books, I haven't come across a sch that doesn't do that.
sall:
Sure, in life we need luck. But a well run system tries to reduce the incidences of random undesirable events. Imagine a cheque clearing house that randomly clears 1 of 2 cheques accurately. We can get good or bad teachers, but if textbooks document enough, then the child can still have a fighting chance.Talking about luck, in life, we really need luck. Some children are lucky to be academically inclined, they don't need to put in much effort to do well, others have to work v v hard to do well. It is not possible to have all good trs in sch, likewise we don't have all good workers in any industry. That's why we need luck to get good tr. Most tr are good, so it's really unlucky for students if they get to be taught by one who is not so passionate about her job.
Again, there are systemic solutions to teacher training and retention so that quality of teachers are raised.
I don't understand your objections to reviewing the system. First you say we blame teachers. But we don't. Then you talk about the joker who wrote the textbook. In effect, do we not agree that one systemic solution is to write more comprehensive textbooks? What is wrong with seeking to suggest systemic solutions to make life better for our children? -
Agree with linden2000 and Chenonceau. Agree too, it takes (lots) of extra work at home either by parents or tutors to do reasonably well in school exams - not talking about 100 or A*, or to tackle the few difficult questions.The system is just :siao:, I can't articulate well but what we are going through and what I see among my friends and neighbours are consistent with the case put up by Chenonceau.
No, our school DO NOT order assessment books, whether banded class or non banded class - all do not order assessment books. We use some myPals homework, tests series which are listed in the schooltext book list. The school provides (lots of) worksheets and practise booklets - school collects photocopying cost from parents.
As for science notes given by school - yes there are but in brief summarised form. Just depending on school texbooks, few science lessons in school per week and the few pages of science notes, I don't know how many kids can work out the specifics required to answer those section B questions.
Among good friends we've compared the science notes given by the schools - no surprise the quantity and content are quite different. A particular very popular primary school gives out really GOOD science notes but the teacher specifically told the class the notes are NOT to be distributed to anyone else - so what does this say ? -
I strongly agree that the textbook should be rewritten. Actually I don’t have much objections to reviewing the system. But if the syllabus is reduced, how are the students going to cope in sec sch? Talking about the class size, there is no way we can reduce it. We have limited land and teachers, how to built so many more sch and get so many more tr.
When I read through the posts, I can’t help feeling that some were blaming the teachers.
I’m surprised your son’s sch did not order assessment bks for the students. Does his sch give them a lot of past yr papers to practise on? Perhaps you can feedback to the HOD. -
I think it is not that we cannot get enough trs - attrition rate is higher and higher becoz many trs burn out and give up…
land - how about building upwards. -
janet_lee88:
Looks Like your Boy Need More Practice in Maths, then ....
For Math...he passed Section A Math 20/40 but still flunk Section B horribly. His Science is so far the 'best' among the 4...above average for standard but below his class average.Funx3:
Janet, Has your boy improve in SA1 this year?
Have not Follow the thread for some time ....
I Believe with More PRactice, more Familiarity, He'll b Able to Do Above Avg ....
:celebrate: :celebrate:
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