Competition among primary schools

[cloudy]

I do agree that KS syndrome in parents are driven by "external forces".

With these changes and advancement in p-sch syllabus, what I’ve learnt many years ago may not be suitable for teaching now.

[tamarind]

It is true that schools set more and more difficult papers. But is it true that PSLE gets more and more difficult every year ? Parents do complain about 1 or 2 very difficult question in the PSLE paper, but does it mean that more than half of the students fail at PSLE ? I have certainly not heard of any year where half the students fail at PSLE. The difficult questions in PSLE is to distinguish the cream of the crop only. Parents are complaining because their kids cannot get full marks, not because their kids fail at PSLE.


School exams and PSLE are 2 different things. Schools set difficult papers so that they can drive parents to get tuition teachers for even the very good students, so that they have a chance to produce the top students and appear in the newspaper .

If we see that our kids are studying consistently, then there is no need to care what kind of papers the school sets.

I do not agree that Kiasu parents are driven by external forces. Kiasu parents are driven by their own desire to outshine other parents.

We must remember that not all children are born to be good at studying. Some children simply cannot make it. But that does not mean that they will be a failure in life. They may be extremely talented in something other than studying.

My girl said she wants to be an artist, or a fashion designer. My boy has a lovely voice and sings beautifully. My greatest wish is for them to do something they love and which they are good at, when they grow up.

[BlueBells]

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder mah .... :lol: I thought it was one of the cuter and nicer uniforms around the area, but the pleats are driving me nuts though ...

[corneyAmber]

tamarind:

It is true that schools set more and more difficult papers. But is it true that PSLE gets more and more difficult every year ? Parents do complain about 1 or 2 very difficult question in the PSLE paper, but does it mean that more than half of the students fail at PSLE ? I have certainly not heard of any year where half the students fail at PSLE. The difficult questions in PSLE is to distinguish the cream of the crop only. Parents are complaining because their kids cannot get full marks, not because their kids fail at PSLE..

You are right abt PSLE results but if the students in those schools cannot even be motivated by the poor scores in school, do you think the journey to PSLE is possible without doing anything? So I think these schools need to review their objective and stop being selfish in realising their own goals at the expense of the kids.

I do agree that there is a % of parents aiming for full marks. For this group, I hv no empathy if they drive their kids nuts and hv to see a shrink and I am inclined to think that this group shud not be more than 25% of population...otherwise there will not be enough sane kids to reach adulthood. LOL... Also for parents who has not tasted sweet success academically themselves, pls go easy on yr kids. I think it is ok to wish better for the kids but trying to get own kids to do what one cannot achieve in their own school life especially when there are signs of struggle...i think it's a pathetic dream.

tamarind:

School exams and PSLE are 2 different things. Schools set difficult papers so that they can drive parents to get tuition teachers for even the very good students, so that they have a chance to produce the top students and appear in the newspaper ...

Again a pathetic dream by schools but u hit the right chord.. maybe there is a conspiracy theory here??

tamarind:

If we see that our kids are studying consistently, then there is no need to care what kind of papers the school sets.
...

Cannot ignore cos ultimately these students are graded by the school they are in and how to know if study is consistent?? An alternative is they transfer to a school with different aim.

tamarind:

I do not agree that Kiasu parents are driven by external forces. Kiasu parents are driven by their own desire to outshine other parents.
...

I believe there are a few types of KS parents. The push-KS(reactive ks) and pull-KS(proactive ks) broadly speaking. Push are those driven by external forces.. Pull are those naturally set to be KS by internal pull/personality or character. Hence the complication of this KS issue....cos everyone just lumps everything into KS and make KS a taboo.

tamarind:

We must remember that not all children are born to be good at studying. Some children simply cannot make it. But that does not mean that they will be a failure in life. They may be extremely talented in something other than studying.

My girl said she wants to be an artist, or a fashion designer. My boy has a lovely voice and sings beautifully. My greatest wish is for them to do something they love and which they are good at, when they grow up.

So happy for your kids that they have you as their parent. Some parents end up super KS becos they think no other alternative other than studying to achieve success or not willing to accept alternatives deemed as less attractive. But ultimately who needs to be happy? the kid or the parent??

[deardear07]

BlueBells:

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder mah .... :lol: I thought it was one of the cuter and nicer uniforms around the area, but the pleats are driving me nuts though ...

y! true...maybe i havent gotten time to really take a look at the uniforms. my niece would be there nxt yr though,so i'd have alot of chance to see. :lol:

[tamarind]

ks2me,

I think it is the school principals that are Kiasu. I believe that the amount of salary increments that principals get, or their chances of promotion, depends on the academic results of their students. That is why they use such tactics to drive parents to get tuition teachers for their kids.

Personally if I know that my kids have studied hard, even if they fail the exams due to very difficult exam papers, I will not scold my kids at all. I will tell them that they have tried their best, and that is good enough for me.

I do not understand why parents punish their kids for failing an exam paper that is too difficult ? The problem lies with the school, not with the kids.

For example, my girl’s K1 class has Chinese tests that require them to write words that are very difficult for any 5 year old kids. I think it is perfectly OK if some kids cannot write those words. There is nothing wrong with those kids. But I think there is something wrong with the teacher setting those tests !

Sadly, the fact is, like you said, there are many parents who are driven by these external forces.

As for my kids, I should have enough savings to support myself at old age, so I don’t need to depend on them in the future. But I guess many parents wish that their kids can become CEOs, ministers, private bankers, etc so that they can enjoy the benefits. However, these parents should know that getting perfect academic scores, do not guarantee that the child will earn a lot of money in the future.

[sleepy]

oops, perhaps I can be classified as KS parent then?


I like to prepare my kids for primary school. Be as well prepared as possible. Isn't it even more stressful if the child cannot cope in school? definitely going to affect self-esteem

Besides enrichment classes, assessment books for my girl, I also did my part by doing PV in the primary school nearest to my house so that she doesn't need to travel far & both of us can have more sleep

But frankly speaking, no matter how KS the parent, I don't think it's possible to force the child to do anything she doesn't want.

I mean how to force the kid to do homework or attend enrichment classes? I can't possibly be holding a cane next to her, right? nah, that's my mom's era.

What I can do is encourage my girl & be supportive. I also explain to her the cause & consequence.

I believe in providing her early exposure to all areas (languages, exercise, arts, mathematics, puzzles, IQ toys) & teach advanced topics if she can absorb. I hope to discover her interests along the way so that I can nurture her in that particular area

[aggellim]

hi all parents ;


Just to share a true story. i've knew one of school principal who was
mother of 3kids . last yrs , when O level around the corner she hired a tutor to coach her son ( son an importunate request , one subj three month that she had paid $$ 3000 ), bcos she too Bz with her
work . Children today r vy competitive , they tend to stress and pressure
from their peers if they do not do well in the calss . Tuition it is really
necessary for children sometime ( not all ). WE As parents have open a
good path for them .

Sometime children MORE KIASU than Parents . hee ..... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[BlueBells]

Sometimes, I would like to be KS too, but other times, I feel that kids should have time to just play and have fun.


My hubby always says that if a child enjoys learning, he will be learning his whole life, but if we kill his joy for learning, God knows when he will stop learning, so grades aren’t extremely important as long as he does reasonably well in school.

While I agree with him, I still feel pretty uptight about my girl’s grades, especially if she lost marks due to carelessness.

[SmartParent]

I think that if a child can learn more advanced techniques or knowledge in a good school, then he should be given the chance. But if he/she is already struggling in K1/K2, he should learn learn at a moderate pace, and thus not advisable to go to a "high pressure" school.


My personal observation is that Primary School education is all about foundation, going into a good school does not mean success and to a neighbourhood school does not mean lower chance of success. The crunch time will come when it is in A levels where rote learning and hard work may not gurantee success. My take is that success via the academic route is 50% nurture (school teachers, hard work…) and 50% talent (intelligence, good memory).

The only caveat is that it is critical that the child does not mix with bad company along the way and be influenced. It is important to give them a good role model and make sure that they mix with good company.