Real reason behind Singapore’s obsession with tuition
-
verykiasu2010:
so it does not end there. engage the school and the MOE simultaneously lor....this is such a critical issue it should not be allowed to rest and die of natural death without a solution[/quote]That is what I am doing, as is cherryc... Ian Tan... oxyleo plus others who write into forum pages. Cherryc is not following the herd instinct. She has her own story of pain... far more painful than mine.
Ummmm... I have given specific details and evidence. In good faith, I have. The evidence I provided was clear. The proposals and suggestions for solutions were also clear. The answer was - it's the school's problem.Chenonceau:
[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]I think there is a lot of bullshit in saying 90% of kids having tuition is due to school teaching less and testing beyond scope.
The writer whose article was quoted in this thread concluded that the high % (without evidence, just personal \"observation\", which means your word against my word) of kids having tuition is mainly due to kiasuparents mind set.
It is 'wonderful' to see the herd instinct to straight away pin point it to teachers not teaching.
If it is really just teachers not teaching, or testing beyond scope, it is a very simple issue. Bring it up to MOE. Document it and submit it to Mr Heng Swee Kiat and c.c. it to PM Lee, I am sure they will attend to it.
As a start, please name the school, subject, level, class, teacher name, topic not taught but tested in school and examined in PSLE. Be not afraid to reveal your identity, if the school and teacher dare to victimise you / your child as a result of this feedback / complaint, lagi best -- another documentation of evidence to submit to Heng Swee Kiat and PM Lee.
C'mon, for the sake of the country, let's do it
I did propose to MOE to gather quantitative data on this issue. Statistical methods exist to determine how much tuition accounts for school results... and how much is due to Teacher's teaching. I'm not great at stats but I do know how it can be done. It's not rocket science. There are people in MOE familiar with Structural Equation Modelling. If MOE took us at all seriously, they would collect the numbers so that we need not get mad at conjectured numbers.
I did show to MOE a causal model built from a sample set of data. -
why write to Forum pages ? please don’t expect them to wash too much dirty linen in public. they have million and one reasons to justify not publishing your letter, and there is a 400 words cap.
document your cases and send it straight to those email list in the earlier post, and please, c.c. to the principal of the school concerned.
if want to act, must make sure they will act too. -
verykiasu2010:
I don't understand. They did publish the letters. I also don't understand why you think that emails to relevant people have not been written? I believe people gave private feedback first and only started to speak up publicly (and write in) when they could not get a satisfactory response.why write to Forum pages ? please don't expect them to wash too much dirty linen in public. they have million and one reasons to justify not publishing your letter, and there is a 400 words cap.
document your cases and send it straight to those email list in the earlier post, and please, c.c. to the principal of the school concerned.
if want to act, must make sure they will act too.
I am not sure how I can arm twist anyone into acting... when public letters to the forum pages don't work... or even when parents meet up directly with Curriculum Specialists a few years back to discuss, nothing has been done for the past few years...
I too want action... but words are all I have to make things happen. -
Chenonceau:
my bad, the way this issue being aired here sound as if nothing else is done
I don't understand. They did publish the letters. I also don't understand why you think that emails to relevant people have not been written?verykiasu2010:
why write to Forum pages ? please don't expect them to wash too much dirty linen in public. they have million and one reasons to justify not publishing your letter, and there is a 400 words cap.
document your cases and send it straight to those email list in the earlier post, and please, c.c. to the principal of the school concerned.
if want to act, must make sure they will act too.
obviously the recipients of those emails have not been convinced yet
or you have the documented evidence of 90% ? -
verykiasu2010:
I don't understand. They did publish the letters. I also don't understand why you think that emails to relevant people have not been written?Chenonceau:
[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]why write to Forum pages ? please don't expect them to wash too much dirty linen in public. they have million and one reasons to justify not publishing your letter, and there is a 400 words cap.
document your cases and send it straight to those email list in the earlier post, and please, c.c. to the principal of the school concerned.
if want to act, must make sure they will act too.
my bad, the way this issue being aired here sound as if nothing else is done
obviously the recipients of those emails have not been convinced yet
or you have the documented evidence of 90% ?[/quote]Ummm... to clarify, I never quoted 90% (though I am not surprised if that were the statistic). What I did do was to propose to MOE a method to capture that data... and make it speak. That way, things would be clear. And mind you... I did that PRIVATELY, POLITELY and with great trust. MOE would have nothing of it. MOE merely wants parents to deal direct with schools.
It's none of MOE's business you see.
So we are back to Square One. If you have direct access to the PM, then please help us. But even then, are you sure PM won't say \"I won't micro-manage my Ministries\"? -
retired people like me have no access to anyone high up dare
on municipal issues I email the MP and things get done within a few weeks, typically you see the MP replying (and c.c. to me) and directing the various departments to look into it and invariably, issues get resolved promptly.
for the education issues we talk about here, my guess i that they are not convinced. you got to strategise how to ensure your data and evidence are convincing proofs and make them uncomfortable not to do anything. -
Jennifer:
Self-study, self exploration is good. The idea is good.. But, can they execute it skillfully?
We are taking away the innate drive for knowledge via self-study, self exploration?
I think it is dangerous to think we can only learn in some institutions, be it govt or private.
If what happens now is, school takes away essential material and end up the student bought it back from private establishments, the system fails.
If the information that was taken away could be bought at a price \"outside\", it would be better if the information is provided in the schools in the first place, that is what I'm trying to say.
Below is an example of what I would regard as quality education..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANdt8LuPaEg][/youtube]
He didn't teach a lot.. but arouses the curiosity of his students to learn more..
probably a successful example of teach less, learn more.
To really benefit from \"Teach Less, Learn More\", the school must be able to execute skillfully, and not just \"take away\" part of the lesson content from class....... -
verykiasu2010:
Thanks for the advice. The proofs were convincing. I'm not sure how to make people UNCOMFORTABLE, apart from writing in here (which obviously cheeses you off). I would much rather sit down and discuss. Many others aren't sure either how to make people UNCOMFORTABLE apart from writing to the forum pages. If you have any ideas that will help... or any contacts...retired people like me have no access to anyone high up dare
on municipal issues I email the MP and things get done within a few weeks, typically you see the MP replying (and c.c. to me) and directing the various departments to look into it and invariably, issues get resolved promptly.
for the education issues we talk about here, my guess i that they are not convinced. you got to strategise how to ensure your data and evidence are convincing proofs and make them uncomfortable not to do anything.
Seriously, I admire your judgment and intellect... and don't wish to cheese you off, but you cannot take away our stories of pain so I only ask that you understand that there are people in Singapore who are suffering through this system... even if you and yours did not. I am happy that you are a good parent who knew what to do with your kids. I am happy that you have the money to enrich your kids. I am happy that you are happy with the schools your kids went to.
Your happiness does not help my pain... and that of cherryc's... and that of many parents who come by to get coached by me on ways to teach. -
Chenonceau:
agree there are pain, suffering, etc but at most they take these internet forum as ranting
Thanks for the advice. The proofs were convincing. I'm not sure how to make people UNCOMFORTABLE, apart from writing in here (which obviously cheeses you off). I would much rather sit down and discuss. Many others aren't sure either how to make people UNCOMFORTABLE apart from writing to the forum pages. If you have any ideas that will help... or any contacts...verykiasu2010:
retired people like me have no access to anyone high up dare
on municipal issues I email the MP and things get done within a few weeks, typically you see the MP replying (and c.c. to me) and directing the various departments to look into it and invariably, issues get resolved promptly.
for the education issues we talk about here, my guess i that they are not convinced. you got to strategise how to ensure your data and evidence are convincing proofs and make them uncomfortable not to do anything.
Seriously, I admire your judgment and intellect... and don't wish to cheese you off, but you cannot take away our stories of pain so I only ask that you understand that there are people in Singapore who are suffering through this system... even if you and yours did not.
what happen after the meeting with the curriculum people ?
reduce weightage ? :rotflmao:
-
"teach less, learn more"
I think most people have taken it too literally; and the implementor also failed miserably
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login