All Schools are GOOD Schools
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limlim:
Maybe the banning of tuition advertisement will work. Tuition centres usually list down their top scocers in PSLE in their advertisement. This gives a wrong impression to some parents that in order to do well in PSLE, one has to go for tuition. One has to realise that by going to XXX tuition centre does not mean excellent results in the PSLE. There are pupils going to XXX tuition centre but score only so so results in the PSLE. Just that it is not reflected in the advertisement.
Can ban, ban..KSP:
But why not just ban it like firecracker or chewing gum? Short and sharp.
cannot ban.. ban advertisement.. :evil: -
Let's not cloud the issue with GEP and quality of its teachers blah blah blah... and how smart the kids are... blah blah blah.
As long as GEP parents know they are a privileged lot and at the top of the education pyramid, we should not begrudge their children the benefits of a good education. There are many children who love their time in GEP because the content is fun and challenging... and they can much more easily DSA into good schools. Hence, little PSLE stress.
Similarly, GEP parents should not begrudge to mainstream parents our rights to improve things for our kids. As active citizenry committed to Singapore, this is what we are doing. We have been patient. It's been close to a year? The tune is still that MOE has had no part to play in the growth of the tuition industry. MOE has not heard us, it would seem... so we try again.
I agree with Monica Lim, who wrote
\"The tuition industry did not just happen by accident. It is a direct result of an education system that obsesses over scores and systematically sieves children using this measure until only a few get the prize. Inevitably, there is a huge stampede for the prize. If you create a system that consistently rewards and hence, reinforces such behaviour, you cannot say you are not accountable for the backlash. I picture the MOE officials rolling their eyes and exclaiming, \"All these kiasu parents!\" and then washing their hands.
Newsflash: Pilate was culpable too.\" (http://hedgehogcomms.blogspot.com/2012/03/death-by-tuition.html)
I myself believe that if Teachers in mainstream education had
(1) better textbooks to teach with
(2) a database of resources to dig into
(3) fewer students in each class
... they would be able to do a better job no matter whether the Teacher is WEAK (like DS' teacher who can't spell and who has just lost 2 of my son's compos... one of which she had earlier returned unmarked) or STRONG (like DS' Science Teacher who clearly knows her work and was able to explain and model in class PSLE Science answering techniques).
Unfortunately, these same Science answering techniques have been required in exams since SA1 last year. My question to her was, why do you test before you teach? The answer given was \"The bright ones naturally know\". Naturally know? Without being taught? If my son were that bright, he would be in GEP and I would not be writing this. This brings me to the last suggestion
(4) Don't test what you have no means (time/resources) to teach.
Together, the above 4 recommendations should shore up Teacher Quality by a fair amount without having to sack and counsel teachers... and without having to tell teachers they are at fault. Just help them to help our kids. Everyone wins.
I am very hurt and shocked that a GEP parent like Firefly38 can be so uncaring that he/she would actually tell parents like us to migrate. It's a bit like a rich aristocrat who drinks Evian water by the bucket loads, telling the poor slum dweller, who drinks pond water... \"Please migrate if you don't like the quality of this nation's water, because I for one, think it is pure and clean.\" It is not the same water we are drinking.
And we have a right to make noise when our water (or English compositions) is contaminated (or is fraught with error). We also have a right to make noise when Teachers tell us to go get our water elsewhere (i.e., get tuition)... or when they raise their eyebrows when they learn that our kids have no alternative source of water (i.e., tuition). -
Piggylalala, I am pretty sure VKS2010’s child is from GEP. If not, it is certain that the school is NYPS, which produces 40% of a cohort with more than 25X. This says something. If the family has siblings of which one is in mainstream, they will both attend the same school… a school that houses the GEP. This makes a difference too.
Next, GEP is a privileged group. There is no doubt about that. Whether there is more or less Teach Less Learn More is beside the point. Or more or less PSLE prep is also beside the point. We are happy for you and grudge you nothing. Leave us parents in schools with weak Principals and weak Teachers to suggest improvements that will also benefit GEP. There is nothing wrong with
(1) better textbooks
(2) e-database to resource teachers
(3) testing appropriately
(4) having fewer students in each class
Teach Less Learn More in a class of 40 is less effective than Teach Less Learn More in a class of 25. Does it matter to us that GEP does more Teach Less Learn More? No. Does it matter that Teach Less Learn More is badly implemented in mainstream? Yes.
There really is no quarrel between GEP and non-GEP. They are different programs. I am focused on improving mainstream. What happens in GEP is irrelevant to people in mainstream. You drink fine water. That is good. I cannot drink your water. All I am asking is for the water in mainstream to be improved. -
PiggyLalala:
There are enough positive and glowing tributes to MOE in the Straits Times. Many silent parents have felt compelled to post in the last 2 days because Minister Heng says its our fault.
:goodpost: We need more positive posts about schools and teachers.
Surely if you say that the tuition phenomenon is our fault, then we will defend ourselves. Don't point fingers at parents, and parents won't point fingers back with even more negative posts. -
Chenonceau:
In this forum, it seems that there are more negative experiences than the positive ones. I think it is not healthy. If we paint a picture that schools are doing a lousy job, then it would encourage more parents to send their children to tuition centre. I think parents should first access whether there is a genuine need.
There are enough positive and glowing tributes to MOE in the Straits Times. Many silent parents have felt compelled to post in the last 2 days because Minister Heng says its our fault.PiggyLalala:
:goodpost: We need more positive posts about schools and teachers.
Surely if you say that the tuition phenomenon is our fault, then we will defend ourselves. Don't point fingers at parents, and parents won't point fingers back with even more negative posts. -
PiggyLalala:
In this forum, it seems that there are more negative experiences than the positive ones. I think it is not healthy. If we paint a picture that schools are doing a lousy job, then it would encourage more parents to send their children to tuition centre. I think parents should first access whether there is a genuine need.[/quote]You are free to post your own glowing experiences too as long as you too acknowledge that your child is from GEP. I would have stopped posting a long time ago and waited patiently if there was at all ANY indication in the Straits Times that there ARE concerns. Instead Straits Times reports evoke an educational paradise.
There are enough positive and glowing tributes to MOE in the Straits Times. Many silent parents have felt compelled to post in the last 2 days because Minister Heng says its our fault.Chenonceau:
[quote=\"PiggyLalala\"]
:goodpost: We need more positive posts about schools and teachers.
Surely if you say that the tuition phenomenon is our fault, then we will defend ourselves. Don't point fingers at parents, and parents won't point fingers back with even more negative posts.
In response to Straits Times' idyllic reports which has wider reach, the impact of the posts here is hardly enough to balance out the incomplete picture posted by ST of a world class education system that can do no wrong. Surely the ST reports are sufficient to lull parents into believing that tuition is unnecessary because
(1) textbooks are sufficient
(2) teachers share freely
(3) we have enough teachers to effectuate Teach Less Learn More
Believe me... the posts in KSP have much smaller readership than ST. It isn't negative posts that push parents to tuition. Parents scramble for tuition when half the class fails CA1... or in some cases the whole class fails. -
Perhaps, ban current school teachers from giving tuition too. Since we all agree that teachers have heavy workload, they should not have the time to give tuition. If no current teachers are tutors, then the best teachers will be the school teachers who know of the lastest syllabus and marking requirements. Maybe less parents will send their kids to tuition centres then.
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PiggyLalala:
It is a misconception that school teachers make the best tutors. I always tell my friends never to engage a current teacher to be a tutor. The reason is simple and self-explanatory by logical deduction.... If no current teachers are tutors, then the best teachers will be the school teachers who know of the lastest syllabus and marking requirements. Maybe less parents will send their kids to tuition centres then.
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atutor2001:
It is a misconception that school teachers make the best tutors. I always tell my friends never to engage a current teacher to be a tutor. The reason is simple and self-explanatory by logical deduction.PiggyLalala:
... If no current teachers are tutors, then the best teachers will be the school teachers who know of the lastest syllabus and marking requirements. Maybe less parents will send their kids to tuition centres then.
But at least they know of the latest marking scheme, especially for PSLE which is marked locally. -
PiggyLalala:
It is a misconception that school teachers make the best tutors. I always tell my friends never to engage a current teacher to be a tutor. The reason is simple and self-explanatory by logical deduction.atutor2001:
[quote=\"PiggyLalala\"]... If no current teachers are tutors, then the best teachers will be the school teachers who know of the lastest syllabus and marking requirements. Maybe less parents will send their kids to tuition centres then.
But at least they know of the latest marking scheme, especially for PSLE which is marked locally.[/quote]Misconception again. Being exposed to the answer keys does not imply knowing the marking scheme. Many teachers are so sotong and just follow the marks indicated in the answer keys blindly. The answer keys state the various possible answers and their corresponding marks. If a particular way of answering is given zero, this teacher will go back to the class and tell their students - \"Cannot answer this way ok, no mark you know!\" And that is good only for that particular question. Ask them why (i.e. the concept) is it that no mark should be awarded if answered this way, the same teacher has nothing to offer. Yes lots of silly parents are wasting their money engaging so called teachers as \"tutors\".
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