GCE O-Levels 2009
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atutor2001:
The top 5% are in Integrated Programs, making O levels less competitive than before. PSLE is the \"new O levels\", where the best of crop is talent-spotted in the annual PSLE exams. I coach both IP and O levels classes, I can tell the marked difference between the two programs.James Ang:
hi Chief, PSLE is the \"new O levels\", the competition is stiff in the PSLE arena. Nobody talks about O levels anymore. In fact the newspapers give more coverage to PSLE than O levels now, compared to some 10-15 years ago.
Hi James
I think there is not much talk about O level because the \"top\" students are not taking it. Usually parents of these students are more vocal and concerned.
The amount of activities in the thread on GEP also highlight that this forum has lived up to its name - KiauParents.com. Maybe parents with kids taking O level are not as Kiasu which is why they are not \"here\". -
Hi James,
What is the "marked difference" between the O-level and IP Program that you have observed ?
If a child cannot make it to an IP school after PSLE, do you think it’s worthwhile for him / her to try admission to IP school again at Sec 2, assuming his /her school results is good. -
lizawa:
marked difference as below;Hi James,
What is the \"marked difference\" between the O-level and IP Program that you have observed ?
If a child cannot make it to an IP school after PSLE, do you think it's worthwhile for him / her to try admission to IP school again at Sec 2, assuming his /her school results is good.
Let's discuss a bit about O levels, the exam taken by Special/Express stream to get into JC using a criteria called L1R5. In L1R5, the student must include a first language (English or HMT) and a Humanity subject. If an O levels student chooses triple pure science, he/she will have only 1 humanity subject normally the combined humanities. The sole humanity subject will thus become the weakest link in the L1R5 score because it is compulsory to include the first language and humanity, no matter how good the triple science and double maths are (only 1 maths or science is compulsory for L1R5). Naturally, to mitigate the risk of getting a poor L1R5, the ideal O levels subject combination is double pure science, double maths (to learn as much maths and science as possible), double humanities (to mitigate poor humanity outcome) and double first language (to mitigate poor first language)
In the Integrated Program there is no such risk. I suggest that IP students learn triple pure science to gain more knowledge and build a strong foundation in science as well as increase future career options involving science including medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, life science, even engineering! (many O levels students are actually avoiding Physics by choosing Pure Chem and Pure Bio double science combination, so how can they become an engineer if without a basic grasp of Physics? ). -
lizawa:
it is worthwhile to keep trying until the student gets into at least a local University, don't you think so? A degree is a \"basic necessity\" now not a luxury anymore. Even poly grads try to secure private degrees part-time while working full time, so how can a non-degree holder not be worried of the competition to stay ahead?Hi James,
What is the \"marked difference\" between the O-level and IP Program that you have observed ?
If a child cannot make it to an IP school after PSLE, do you think it's worthwhile for him / her to try admission to IP school again at Sec 2, assuming his /her school results is good. -
Hi,
Is anyone able to verify this??
With the new format in place for the EL paper 2 ie Passage A and B and questions from each paragraph, is it true that pupils are being trained to just read each paragraph, then answer the questions as opposed to reading the whole passage then attempting the questions paragraph by paragraph?? TIA -
autumnbronze:
I've never heard of any teacher doing that. Students are still expected to read through the entire passage at least twice before attempting any questions.Hi,
Is anyone able to verify this??
With the new format in place for the EL paper 2 ie Passage A and B and questions from each paragraph, is it true that pupils are being trained to just read each paragraph, then answer the questions as opposed to reading the whole passage then attempting the questions paragraph by paragraph?? TIA -
autumnbronze:
My sis is taking her O Levels this year.Hi,
Is anyone able to verify this??
With the new format in place for the EL paper 2 ie Passage A and B and questions from each paragraph, is it true that pupils are being trained to just read each paragraph, then answer the questions as opposed to reading the whole passage then attempting the questions paragraph by paragraph?? TIA
I told her to read the whole passage twice. Then read the questions and identify which questions 'belong' to which paragraph, or rather, which paragraph contains the answer/clue for the question. From there, pick out the key points related to the question and rephrase the answer according to the question.
When I went through the TYS with my sis, I find this method effective as my sis was able to answer most of the questions on her own without help (my sis usually gets Cs in school). After I taught her this method, she's been getting Bs.
Summary writing is another important skill. I made her write summaries for newspaper articles, magazine articles, etc as practise. -
Hi Philosophical_Anarchist and mrswongtuition,
Thx much for clarifying.
The reason why I asked is because I was giving tuition to someone taking her O levels this yr. Sometime b4 her paper, I was really puzzled to see why she wasn’t scoring v high for her Compre. And her low marks were quite consistent. When I questioned her methods, she mentioned that her sch had engaged a trainer to teach them how to ans Compre quests and this was how the trainer had taught them to attempt their paper (see my entry above). The rationale the trainer provided was that pupils would get side-tracked if they read the whole psg and not be able to ans the quest accurately.
I was really shocked and adamantly told her to revert back to my method(I didn’t care if that was going against the teacher’s method) of skimming the psg twice, then going thru the quest and finally doing a thorough reading, picking out key points, clues etc… in the psg b4 attempting the quest. As it is, her EL was not fantastic to start with, I had to undo what the silly trainer had done. Needless to say, her marks improved again once she went back to the old method. And she also agreed that my method was working and it was a more sensible one.
As a former Lit/EL teacher (now a SAHM), I had never encountered such an episode. We always repeatedly drill the pupils to follow the above method, knowing that pupils can get lazy and try to use the short-cut method. Its like doing cloze psg, many pupils don’t realize that the reason why they get low marks (and they blame it on the psg being difficult) is because they don’t read the psg b4 attemting to fill in the blanks. How do they expect to score when they don’t try to understand the context of the psg first.
Really, in focusing on the skills, skills and skills of how to do well in EL, the essence of understanding and appreciating the language is being lost. And to think that we are constantly lamenting on the dearth of good standard of English. -
I always tell my sis to read the passage as it helps to know what’s happening before you give answers. The questions now are not ‘direct’ anymore. Sometimes the answers for 1 question can be spread all over the passage!
I don’t think the external trainer is ‘trained’. By right, the schools should not be getting external trainers to do the teacher’s job. It’s like the teachers are taking pay for doing nothing?
External trainers should be engaged for enrichment (things OUTSIDE the curriculum). Not to teach the kids the basics! -
O levels is completed, all sec 4/5 O levels students can go and play, results out in January 2010.
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