Parents, not enrichment centres, are key to result

[wonderm]

HAPPYH:

Just test what you teach. That is what we all want. If MOE/School do that (teach less AND test what you taught), I am sure the number of KSP members, the number of tuition/enrichment centres, the number of assessment books will drop dramaaaatically. Then the main focus will be chanelled thro' other extra curricular activities and life skills.

That's not enough, MOE still needs to do at least 2 more things:
1. Rename all Sec school to Rxxxxx and allocate students randomly
2. Drastically increase university intake so all who want to go in can gain admission

Otherwise, parents and students will be even more stressed as a single careless mistake in PSLE paper will make the difference which school he/she goes to. Or the schools may conduct their own admission exercises since they can't tell the difference from PSLE score. Then there will be different kinds of \"tuition centres\", e.g. for interview skills or for all kinds of \"extra curricular activities\".

Of course, I am not saying we should do the 2 things that I mentoned above, that would create many more bigger problems.

[zeemimi]

Chenonceau:

What I really really wanna know is if HSK REALLY said that the education system can't deliver, and therefore parents/tutors/enrichment (i.e., broader society) needs to help.


The solution is easy... stop testing beyond what the system can comfortably teach. Let crazy parents hothouse their kids into Cambridge at age 15, but don't let the whole system chase after the crazies. Test less, and we will expect less of the system. Expect less of our flesh and blood and we will expect less of the system.

Not only stop testing beyond what the system can comfortably teach, but also to teach sufficiently of what the system has to test.
I find the schools sore lacking in teaching creative writing (aka \"composition\") to our kids, whether in English or in Mother tongue. How do kids improve their writing when they only write 1 or 2 compos per term? And teachers just give some phrases for them to use in the compo ....

[Chenonceau]

Chenonceau:

toddles:

It's in this morning's papers. He was speaking at an SMU event.

Alright then people... you heard it from the boss. He has sanctioned tuition/enrichment/homsechooling because his system can't deliver the results he expects from our kids.

I read the SMU article from end to end. I saw nothing about the broader society and parents having too high expectations of the system. Am I missing something?

[jesschan]

Chenonceau:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"toddles\"]
It's in this morning's papers. He was speaking at an SMU event.

Alright then people... you heard it from the boss. He has sanctioned tuition/enrichment/homsechooling because his system can't deliver the results he expects from our kids.

I read the SMU article from end to end. I saw nothing about the broader society and parents having too high expectations of the system. Am I missing something?[/quote]Read the one in TODAY newspaper, not ST.

[toddles]

Chenonceau:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"toddles\"]
It's in this morning's papers. He was speaking at an SMU event.

Alright then people... you heard it from the boss. He has sanctioned tuition/enrichment/homsechooling because his system can't deliver the results he expects from our kids.

I read the SMU article from end to end. I saw nothing about the broader society and parents having too high expectations of the system. Am I missing something?[/quote]broader society is in the last line of the Today article, whose pdf link someone posted in the previous page. \"we expect much more of the education system than it can deliver\" is also in that last para.

I think he was referring to things like values and sex education, which has been in the forum page a lot, and which I indeed believe parents and church etc should be more responsible for.

[Chenonceau]

jesschan:

Read the one in TODAY newspaper, not ST.

http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120201-0000075/Build-deep-skills-to-attract-employers--Education-Minister

[toddles]

sweetie, last para…

[Chenonceau]

toddles:

I think he was referring to things like values and sex education, which has been in the forum page a lot, and which I indeed believe parents and church etc should be more responsible for.

I hope so... but then he did start up the Character Education Unit, indicating that he was taking this on (i.e., values and sex education). So... what exactly broader society is supposed to do is anyone's guess. The way things are now, broader society seems positioned to TEACH content and SOURCE materials, whilst the MOE takes on values and sex education.

[Chenonceau]

toddles:

sweetie, last para...

Yup... found it in Today Online. Thanks.

[Edureach]

We just hve to submit to authorities. Of course we can suggest areas that need improvement.


We can motivate our kids to always put their best feet forward.

If having tried all out and still remains mediocre, just migrate if possible.

No need to worry so much!