Primary school maths: A vicious circle (from TODAY May 8)
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Our education system is more like social engineering.
My kids are of average abilities and I am very worried where they will be stream into. -
beanbear:
Many of my close friends share your fears. We have been talking about related issues for awhile.oxyleo:
What good would there be to have a country that continues to forge ahead for the next 20 years if we have few citizens who are deeply rooted to their country? If those who make it to the top in our society see those that don't as being lazy or losers, or slowing them down? We need pragmatism combined with a soul, otherwise we have a nation that is just really pretty to look at from the outside but severely broken on the inside.
My greatest fear now is our top 5% is really riding the thru-train towards being the next Minister and their only experience of different people of society is only 6 years of primary school, thereafter, they are in an environment surrounded by similar high-flying peers and never get a chance to appreciate the struggles of people who disadvantaged, with learning difficulties, etc.
Our system is only further creating the next generation of policy-makers & ministers who will further removed from the people they are supposed to serve and they only have a memory of 6 years of being with people of mixed intelligences & abilities. How could they learn what inclusiveness means? I already hear of parents with high-flying kids who only want to send their kids to \"pure\" express schools. Schools with normal streams are seen as having undesirable influences.
The brokenness has already begun. We are breeding more arrogance & discrimination rather than inclusiveness. -
Hi 3boys,
Your opinion counts too. And I do not deny that there are probably many who think like you.
I was too. I am a product of the system, and the system worked well for me and my hubby. We are first generation graduates. Although our parents were not graduates, we worked hard and eventually had the opportunity to pursue our undergraduate and graduate education overseas. How can I complain about the system? It will be ungrateful for me to do so. I have always taken pride in the solid technical grounding I received in Math and Science, and have always attributed it to the Singapore education system. I may not speak as well as my Western counterparts, but I'm competent in English writing, and can hold my ground. It was a meritocratic, and it is an education philosophy my husband and I cherish and hold dear to.
But, I now have children. And things are no longer the same. I am not too worried for my children. If need be, we are resourceful enough to beg, borrow or steal the resources for them to do well, whether it be sending them off to the Learning Lab, obtaining premier school notes or whatever.
There are unhealthy trends, that while they are economically sustainable (i.e. good for the Finance Ministry's budget), they may cause greater social fractures within society. These are much harder to repair further on, when the have-nots LOSE hope in social mobility, when they feel that however hard they work, they can never catch up.
We can see this happening in schools. My children are not in in a brand-name primary school. The socioeconomic profile of the students in the school is varied. A sizable group of them do not have tuition, because their parents either do not have the means to, or do not bother do send them off for tuition. Some of them are extremely diligent - they study whatever resources the school gives them, and they know the textbook cover to cover. However, they are not able to do well. (There are pockets of primary schools around with teachers that provide very good study materials, as well as that of the leading tuition agencies, but this is the teachers' prerogative and initiative, and such teachers/schools are the minority.)
Life is never fair, and we are not a communist society. Kids from wealthy families have the means to pursue other enrichment activities, from horse-riding to music to whatever. They are blessed, and I have no problems with that. However, I think the tuition phenomenon is almost encroaching on the idea of meritocracy, and this may not be healthy.
Tuition centres are a ubiquitous sight in Singapore, almost akin to a national landmark to me. Is there anywhere else where tuition centres abound everywhere, from shopping centres to the heartlands to the void decks of residential flats?
I'm not saying that our children have the worst childhoods - perhaps the Korean kids, and some of the Chinese city kids have it worse - but do we want to benchmark against them? Should we be learning from them?3Boys:
I believe there is nothing majorly wrong with our education system at all.oxyleo:
Hi 3 boys, I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It would be nice to hear your views.
Can it be improved? Obviously, as with all things in life, yes.
But I would think that whatever proposed solution will need to be resource neutral compared to the present. No point saying we double the number of teachers just like that, its a no-brainer that that will help in an improvement. But we already spent close to $10 billion overall on education in 2011, that's the second highest item after defence, and well ahead of health and transport. Would you sell away your car and give up your wife's medications to send your child for an extra enrichment class? Not me.
Please don't say 'MOE must invest more resources'.....I disagree.
Does it need major surgery? Not till I see that the alternative is sustainable, or for that matter, proven to be better. -
phtthp:
Hi Chenonceau, appreciate if can KIV me for workshop, if others happen to withdraw last minute, or I can wait next round (if arise). I'm keen to join. You've a big heart to initiate and organize this meaningful workshop to help parents. A big Thank you for taking time off your busy schedule, to share with parents your valuable experience you'd gone through. :salute:
I'm sure it will be a very fruitful and enjoyable session for the participating parents. Yes, Chenonceau has been very generous with her tips and advice. No need to consult with motivational gurus or whatever; after a half hour casual chat with her, I certainly felt and was empowered with the know-hows to engage and handle the kiddies.
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doodbug:
Hey... gee... it was just a friendly chat... no big deal. I am glad it helped though!! :snuggles:phtthp:
Hi Chenonceau, appreciate if can KIV me for workshop, if others happen to withdraw last minute, or I can wait next round (if arise). I'm keen to join. You've a big heart to initiate and organize this meaningful workshop to help parents. A big Thank you for taking time off your busy schedule, to share with parents your valuable experience you'd gone through. :salute:
I'm sure it will be a very fruitful and enjoyable session for the participating parents. Yes, Chenonceau has been very generous with her tips and advice. No need to consult with motivational gurus or whatever; after a half hour casual chat with her, I certainly felt and was empowered with the know-hows to engage and handle the kiddies.
May I request that the first 15 people who signed up for the workshop, please check their PMs. Thanks! -
3Boys:
Nothing wrong, I agreed. Let set this year PSLE maths paper as easy as 1 + 1. The rich and famous will tell you it is majorly wrong as the poor man child can get A* without paying super tuition fee.
I believe there is nothing majorly wrong with our education system at all. -
Chenonceau:
Yes, parents who have kids in the lower primary are unlikely to understand what it's like in P5 and P6. Some of these parents have been quick to dismiss the concerns as kiasuism and advise others to temper their expectations of their kids.
I have noticed that parents who maintain that there is absolutely nothing wrong with our system are usually (not always) highly intelligent parents with kids in lower primary, with time to spare coaching. I wonder what these parents will say when come end P4 and P5... and even P6, their kids fail for no reason other than that tests examine what was never taught because of some theoretical principle that states \"A test where students score 100 is a too easy test. Of course, these parents may teach ahead. They may find it normal to do the school's job... but some will realize that as much as they teach ahead, the school will then test further ahead.
But come P5, P6, what if their kids are in one of those schools that set \"killer papers\" and they discover that their own kids fail their exams together with more than half the class? What if on further analysis of the exam paper, they discover that the kids would not have been prepared for the difficulty level of the exam paper even if they have diligently done school homework and revised school materials? What if this trend of many kids failing continues from term to term? Would these parents be singing the same tune? Would they be tempering their expectations and telling themselves that their kids are destined to fail? -
Are our primary math requirements the "difficultest" among Asian countries? No.
Are our children more stupid than other countries? No
Are our parents the most kiasu? No
So why all the complaints?
Let’s look at how a normal kids will perform with out extra coaching (tuition) and especially without extra materials.
If a child relies solely on works given by school and confine his/her knowledge to the prescribed text books, the child will be lucky to get around an average of 65 marks for the 4 subjects. Translated to T-score, that is about 190 plus for T-score. The child can still opt for express in sec school.
If the teachers are hardworking and provide extra materials, the child will be lucky to get around an average of 75 marks which is a T-score of about 220. He/she can find a more comfortable sec school and will have more well-behaving classmates.
Yes, above are my guesses. However, I can assure you that they are pretty accurate. The question is, why can’t the system provide equal opportunity for all to attain a T-score of above 250 if a child rely purely just on what was covered by the school curriculum. Some will rebut that there are records showing top scorers from poor families with no access to the extras. My answer is "don’t be bullshitted". They may be poor. But they have great parents who sourced for free assessment books and past year papers for their children. Most importantly these few special children are self-motivated and above average in intelligence to do self-study. However, without those extra materials, they will not be able to achieve that score. Therefore, is there something wrong between the amount covered during lessons and that being tested in exams? I think that is what most parents here are upset with. -
atutor2001:
I found the above to be true - without my intervention, my DDs would have been labelled \" mixed ability\" and pulling in 70+ in an easy school. I felt the inequity of the whole scenario - why should my kids be made to feel that they aren't that good? They already have attributes going for them ie obedient, diligent, attentive in class, willing to put in the effort...so I stepped in.Let's look at how a normal kids will perform with out extra coaching (tuition) and especially without extra materials.
If a child relies solely on works given by school and confine his/her knowledge to the prescribed text books, the child will be lucky to get around an average of 65 marks for the 4 subjects. Translated to T-score, that is about 190 plus for T-score. The child can still opt for express in sec school.
If the teachers are hardworking and provide extra materials, the child will be lucky to get around an average of 75 marks which is a T-score of about 220. He/she can find a more comfortable sec school and will have more well-behaving classmates.
Yes, above are my guesses. However, I can assure you that they are pretty accurate. [b]The question is, why can't the system provide equal opportunity for all to attain a T-score of above 250 if a child rely purely just on what was covered by the school curriculum.[/b] Some will rebut that there are records showing top scorers from poor families with no access to the extras. My answer is \"don't be bullshitted\". They may be poor. But they have great parents who sourced for free assessment books and past year papers for their children. Most importantly these few special children are self-motivated and above average in intelligence to do self-study. However, without those extra materials, they will not be able to achieve that score. Therefore, is there something wrong between the amount covered during lessons and that being tested in exams? I think that is what most parents here are upset with.
I've asked the question in Bold before too - but the feedback I gave to the powers that be didn't seem to result in any changes that would be in time for my DDs so I moved on, stepped in and true enough, the DDs were labelled \"HA\" based on their PSLE results.
I now share to spread this message -- the system is one of labels, but you know your child best. Don't let the system label your child and give up on them.
Remember --
\"Labels are for cans - not people.\" - Anthony Rapp -
Some of my P6 students from the same school came back with their Maths results. From what they told me, there's a class with only 1 passed i.e. all failed while another class only 14 passed. The saddest thing to hear was from one of my students: \"Teacher, I give up!\". I looked straight at his eyes and replied, \"I am not giving up on you yet so don't give up on yourself.\" I just took over the class last month from another teacher but I can tell that these students are not dumb. By any standard they are at least of Middle Ability but looking at their Maths results you would really think that they are of Low Ability. They are not slow or dumb for that matter cos they understand what I taught and could follow my lessons very well. I guess they may have a poor foundation and my heart goes out to them. You should see the dejection in their attitude. :sad: :sad:
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