2012 PSLE Discussions and Strategy

[Chenonceau]

mummy so kiasu:

MapleSyrup:

Why teachers leave for tuition centres

3 Aug 2012
http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/why-teachers-leave-tuition-centres

AS A parent and former teacher who is still involved in the education field, I wish to make some observations.

Since I started teaching in 1995, I have seen teachers who love and excel in the profession leave the service. Many do so because they cannot concentrate on what they love, that is, teaching and interacting with children.

Today, many such former teachers are anchors in successful tuition centres,
doing superb jobs without the distraction of administrative duties, projects and committees.

Have our mainstream schools become distracted from the main goal of education? In the drive to provide more than an education, have we
perhaps failed to deliver on good old education?

Teachers have too many things to do and cannot focus on teaching. That could be why the tuition industry is thriving - because schools fall short.

I can also understand why some teachers request that parents let their
children have tuition.

They have to teach according to the level of the majority, so if most students have tuition, the teachers cannot slow down for the few that don't.

Thus, a vicious circle ensues: Good teachers leave to teach at centres while parents lose faith in the schools' ability to deliver good education, and turn
to tuition.

There is a way out of this quandary - smaller class size.
A small class size is touted as a carrot in the gifted programme.

Herein lies a serious irony: Children who are innately blessed to achieve and
are self-motivated learn well even in big groups, but those who are unable to motivate themselves due to low self-esteem are the ones who will really
benefit from small class sizes.

This unfortunate reversal will surely hinder social mobility.
I am not calling for the opposite, but for equal treatment - small class sizes for all.

This investment can improve the quality of teaching, keep good teachers - managing 25 students is vastly different from managing 40 - and produce
better adjusted children. It is not the only way, but I would argue that it is a truly important way forward for a developed country.

Recognising teachers who work with difficult students - academically or
- will also go a long way towards encouraging them. Calculating workload by the number of periods ignores the challenges of teaching difficult classes.

A more equitable method can be devised.
Leong Sun Yee (Madam)

:goodpost:

:goodpost:

[ASLMUM]

My dd had been sick the last 3 days and missed 2 of her prelim papers. She’ll need to retake both on Monday. Not sure if she will get well by then. Does anyone know if there’s any repercussion for not taking the prelims?

Thanks

[Michaelia0816]

i got some challenging questions, which given by my school,>.<

[janet88]

There is an article about a new batch of teachers-to-be. I wonder how long these new teachers will stay in MOE.


The article mentioned in ST forum is an indication of what students and parents are presently facing. It’s very true.
Of course, it’s not possible for a teacher to teach every child to the same standard. He/she has so much work to be done. A teacher friend of mine told me she has to stay back everyday after school as her students want 1-1 attention for oral preparation.

[mummy so kiasu]

ASLMUM:

My dd had been sick the last 3 days and missed 2 of her prelim papers. She'll need to retake both on Monday. Not sure if she will get well by then. Does anyone know if there's any repercussion for not taking the prelims?

Thanks

My boy was sick during SA1. He was having fever when he told his Maths & Science papers. However, he missed his Chinese paper & was not in to retake it. His report book only reflected 3 subjects excluding the Chinese.

If she is unable to retake 2 of her papers, then only the other 2 subjects will be reflected on her report book. My boy's Prelim papers only starts on 20th Aug. Since your dd's prelim starts so early, the school should be able to arrange for her to retake. Her health still come first.

PSLE is more important than Prelim. It will determine which sec school she will go. Whereas for Prelim, she will be qualified for Edusave scholarship if her result is among the top 10% of her cohort. Hope your dd recovers soon.

[mummy so kiasu]

janet_lee88:

There is an article about a new batch of teachers-to-be. I wonder how long these new teachers will stay in MOE.


The article mentioned in ST forum is an indication of what students and parents are presently facing. It's very true.
Of course, it's not possible for a teacher to teach every child to the same standard. He/she has so much work to be done. A teacher friend of mine told me she has to stay back everyday after school as her students want 1-1 attention for oral preparation.

Wow.. your teacher friend is a responsible teacher. Not all teachers go until that extend. My boy's teacher only do that with the weaker ones & not everyone in the class.

[alng]

Pen88n:

Sorry to disappoint your kids, but I was informed no gel pen as the ink will smudge esp. when come in contact with liquid (like sweat) accidentally. Bring your kids to popular and choose the ball point pens they like. Buy some to try out for prelims.

I remembered DS went to popular to try some ball point pens. Being choosy, he dismissed all those with caps as he found that troublesome and might lost it. He insisted must be blue in colour. Ended up choosing this brand Stabilo. I bought 3 for him to try out for prelims and ended up going back before PSLE to buy half a dozen. Well, those landed up at my study table cos he went back to gel pen after PSLE!

The exact wordings from the PSLE instructions to candidates: Write your answers legibly in blue/black ink or ball pens. If you need to change your answers, cross them out and rewrite the answers.

[janet88]

I was quite pissed when son insisted on gel pens…alamak, I lost touch with working world and why he must be so choosy over a writing instrument.

He and his Pilot G2 pen. I told him he isn’t allowed to use gel pens for PSLE.
Fine, he ‘surrended’ those gel pens for now.

As for my teacher friend, she is not young. But she couldn’t bring herself to say no when her students requested 1-1. Of late, she has been sleeping close to 1130 after she is done marking.

[alng]

Aren’t ink pens same as gel pens? So gel pens are allowed in PSLE.

[mummy so kiasu]

alng:

Aren't ink pens same as gel pens? So gel pens are allowed in PSLE.

My boy's teacher only mentioned about correction tape & nothing about gel pen. It is true that kids are very picky when come to pen. Not like our times, we just used any pen.