Education as an equalising instrument for society

[3Boys]

toddles:

well i guess my beef is not so much with streaming but with the waste of time on wayang activities.

Well, chill I guess, and take a cold hard look. Yes, there will be some wayang, but is it out of proportion and does it detract from the teaching in any meaningful way? When you were dating your husband-to-be, did you not pause to put on some make up now and then?

[3Boys]

Alright, here goes…


There is a difference when we say "Education should be an Equalising Instrument in Society," vs saying, "There should be Equality in Education." The first, I agree with, a laudable aim, the second…meh…it depends, and in many circumstances I don’t even think "Equality in Education" is a good thing.

When I first read the title and the first few posts in this thread, I somehow could not summon up in me any feeling that the education system in Singapore was terribly broken and in need of major fixing. It is an honest view, and when I mulled about why I felt this way, instead of perhaps taking the more intuitive position that there was IN FACT something badly broken AND needed fixing, a few things came to light.

‘Equality’ (presumably of opportunity) exists at many levels. For instance, whether you were born in Holland or born in Ghana makes a big difference in terms of your opportunity to access good education. If you were a girl born in Pakistan, your opportunity is markedly lesser than a boy’s.

Even within countries, if you were a Turk born in Istanbul or Ankara, your opportunity to access top class education is markedly different than if you were born just 200 miles away to the east in the countryside.

In these countries, socio-economic standards play a far more important role in determining educational standards than anything the education ministry can throw at them. So personally, I think it is impossible to talk about opportunity in education without talking about the socio-economic system that the education system exists in, be that Singapore, Finland, or Ghana. Trying to fix the former without paying attention to the latter is akin to fiddling on the Titanic, i.e futile.

How does Singapore fare? We have good basics, our base socio-economic level is reasonable, most of our children are well (or over-) nourished, the vast majority have electricity and running water at home. I think girls and boys generally have equal opportunity, and whether you live in Toa Payoh, Tampines or Toh Tuck makes no real difference in your opportunity to access good schools. So check-box ticked, but lets do better…

The harder question, does socio-economic status in Singapore affect access to the FINER differentiations in the education system. I think it does, but in a manner that tweaking the education system can fix? I have doubts.

My personal belief is that the school system teaches relatively well for the bottom 1/3rd, and rightfully so. One of the KPIs for teachers is definitely the pass-rate, and a key priority for many teachers (at least those I know) is to make sure the weak students in class get to pass. So then, having delivered on this, what next? Depends on which school of thought you subscribe to, should we differentiate, or should we flatten?

Flattening is easy, teach everyone the same thing, examine only what you teach (or don’t exam at all). This is an okay system in my book and maybe even gives the facade of equality. But at the end of the day, it may meet the aim of "Equality in Education", but does it meet the aim of "Education as an Equalising Instrument"? I don’t think so, in fact, I think its counter-productive to that aim. If you cannot differentiate in school, the high-achievers from the mediocre ones, then on what grounds would new graduates depend on to get a leg up in the work place? Well, those that are able, will depend on Daddy’s and Mummy’s connections yes? I don’t see this as being ‘equalising’.

And the unintended consequence? There may be bona-fide bright kids who fail to get the coaching or motivation to excel and shine, and we would have lost them to society forever, in the name of ‘fairness’. Those with means will always find a way out, via various external avenues.

So, I can accept, but don’t subscribe to ‘Flattening’ as a way to social equalisation.

How about the opposite, we stretch, we stream, we differentiate. I think most parents agree this is where the present school system is. There are definitely supporters of this system amongst parents, that we are where we are now is NOT entirely the fault of MOE! And personally, I find this preferable, as it takes a little of the pressure off the parents for them to have to find their child’s ‘level’, as the school is doing it for them. The drawback is that a child with strong home support will likely be further ahead, than one who does not.

So, my view is…help the one who does not have the means to access extramural help. My church, for instance, has an after-school care organisation that provides quite effective academic assistance. More can be done for poor families to aid their children by providing financial assistance and coaching. In other words, level up through supplementary socio-economic means, help them find their real level, not tweak the education system per se.

To that I will add 2 further thoughts.

At the end of the day, I think it really does not matter too much how well a child does in school. In modern society, generally a bright and intelligent child, will find some way to make it in life. Someone who is less bright, but hot-housed to good grades, may find life a whole lot tougher in adulthood.

Last, I do plead that we do not go changing things ever so frequently. There is enough to-and-fro in the education system and everyone wants to have a say, my head is spinning from all the chatter. Like good wine, once you’ve bottled it, you lay it down and wait 5-20 years before you open it and savour the results. You don’t pick it up every month, shake it about, open it after a year and then criticise its lack of maturity. We have a reasonable system in place, let it run its course for a while. We are not perfect, but I sincerely don’t see that we are so broken as to need major surgery, or raise great hackles amongst parents.

[Suz855]

Dumb down exam, ha my dd happen to be in such a pri school that exam is a piece of cake as the principal believes that exam should be as easy as a piece of cake ....so guess what when all the kids scoring near perfect score n your kid score 91% do you think it will be good enough. So you think that tuition become unnecessary since now most of the children get almost perfect score (the school doing everything right by teaching less n test dumb) but the fact is majority still goes for tuition n to the premium one since most premium centres love to teach high ability kids n these kids would continue to maintain the near perfect scores .......


Just sharing my 2 cent and I for one do not believe in dumbing the exam as they make our kids seem like super kids or on another hand, 'sxxxxx' kids but they are just typical kids, all capable to learn when they are motivated and given the right input from the school.

:oops:

[3Boys]

Suz855:

Dumb down exam, ha my dd happen to be in such a pri school that exam is a piece of cake as the principal believes that exam should be as easy as a piece of cake ....so guess what when all the kids scoring near perfect score n your kid score 91% do you think it will be good enough. So you think that tuition become unnecessary since now most of the children get almost perfect score (the school doing everything right by teaching less n test dumb) but the fact is majority still goes for tuition n to the premium one since most premium centres love to teach high ability kids n these kids would continue to maintain the near perfect scores .......

So, whose fault is that? The school or the parents?

[kaka]

Nothing will be equal in this world, definitely not education, kids are born with different abilities to start with.


Our system is not bad and everything needs a balance. Where is the balance when kids are all sent to tuitions centres, where parents needs to be almost full scale teachers? Why is outside school help become a norm? Is it the fault of parents or school or the system? I think the system is the current and the rest are following the current. One school, some parents etc cannot change the current.

[Suz855]

Honestly, the fault lies w the one calling the shot … Have learnt after the past 4 yrs to look beyond her report book…just happen to experience 1st hand the pro n cons of dd going throu years n years of dumb exams n sharing it so that people can get another perspective…


Anyway, have enjoyed reading your posts, thks n have a great nite.

[toddles]

3Boys:

toddles:

well i guess my beef is not so much with streaming but with the waste of time on wayang activities.

Well, chill I guess, and take a cold hard look. Yes, there will be some wayang, but is it out of proportion and does it detract from the teaching in any meaningful way? When you were dating your husband-to-be, did you not pause to put on some make up now and then?

Yes if you talk to teachers. They tell me that they waste an inordinate amount of time on these non-teaching activities. MOE is particularly crazy about putting up a whole song and dance. In fact, all the banners outside schools trumpeting their 'achievements' is quite nauseating. It's a SCHOOL not some slimming centre!

Nah, I'm not a make-up person. 自然就是美。:)

[toddles]

kaka:

Nothing will be equal in this world, definitely not education, kids are born with different abilities to start with.


Our system is not bad and everything needs a balance. Where is the balance when kids are all sent to tuitions centres, where parents needs to be almost full scale teachers? Why is outside school help become a norm? Is it the fault of parents or school or the system? I think the system is the current and the rest are following the current. One school, some parents etc cannot change the current.

Agree! Both the school system and parents are responsible for the sorry state of affairs.

[3Boys]

kaka:

Nothing will be equal in this world, definitely not education, kids are born with different abilities to start with.


Our system is not bad and everything needs a balance. Where is the balance when kids are all sent to tuitions centres, where parents needs to be almost full scale teachers? Why is outside school help become a norm? Is it the fault of parents or school or the system? I think the system is the current and the rest are following the current. One school, some parents etc cannot change the current.

That's the biggest misconception, that we have 'no choice' but to send our kids to tuition.

We have a choice. My kids get 2hr/wk enrichment in MT due to their Dad's poor linguistic abilities, they will not get any other tuition. IMO, whilst it may cause them to be a little behind their peers in exam scores, I have every confidence that if they are good all-rounders, they will have no problem in later life. If they are not that good, no amount of tuition is going to change that, and we adapt a different life plan.

So, my question to you, what tweaks in the education system would cause you to stop sending your kids for tuition?

[toddles]

3Boys:

There is a difference when we say \"Education should be an Equalising Instrument in Society,\" vs saying, \"There should be Equality in Education.\" The first, I agree with, a laudable aim, the second....meh....it depends, and in many circumstances I don't even think \"Equality in Education\" is a good thing.

Hmm... I didn't pay that much attention to the title. It's a semantics issue. Don't think the parents here meant that education should be the great leveller. death and traffic lights do that quite well already.

Guess the title was meant to suggest that through our largely meritocratic education system, those who start life with fewer opportunities have a chance to get as good an education as someone born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Which is mostly possible, as you mentioned. Maybe not with all the frills, but for my generation at least, good enough to gain access to similar universities. For this generation, it seems to get harder, as access to good tuition seems to have become a necessity.

It's not just kiasu parents. There are so many people who have shared that teachers came to them and said 'please give your kid tuition in this subject. she is passing but not doing well enough as the rest of the kids in my class, who all have tuition. i can't afford to slow down for her'. One of those who shared this was an ex-teacher herself and was dumbstruck! Her kid was doing okay enough for her, but the teacher demanded that she give her kid tuition!

And in some schools, the standard of mandarin etc is so outta the world that even just to pass the kid has to get tuition. I think I'm pretty ok with pri sch subjects but when my kids' turns come, I have a feeling I won't be able to coach them, even if I'm willing to take the time myself and not throw money at the problem (aka hire tuition teachers cos I'm too busy earning money, which is the stance most parents take), cos it'll be beyond me, simply because the school system has morphed to this highly technical and exclusive system where you have to be a tuition professional to know how to teach basics to a child such that he is seen to be coping and not drowning in school.

3Boys:

At the end of the day, I think it really does not matter too much how well a child does in school. In modern society, generally a bright and intelligent child, will find some way to make it in life. Someone who is less bright, but hot-housed to good grades, may find life a whole lot tougher in adulthood.

That's true. we're going to see a lot of hot-housed kids in the workforce soon. The challenge for us parents is to be keenly aware of the fine line between genuine help to the child, and needless counter-productive hot-housing.