MOE to scrap Banding for Secondary Schools
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MMM:
It is no longer just about academic results to get into uni or land a job. The emphasis here is not to do away entirely with academic but to place more emphasis on non academic skills or soft skills.
Precisely. It's a chicken and egg story. Unless it's no longer about academic for sec school, JC, uni and even landing a job then people will start to look beyond academic. But in the meantime, if academic is still the main criteria, it's difficult to change that mindset.looking4Tutor:
If all secondary schools are good, do away with cut off point.
At the end of PSLE, it is about academic to get to an IP or better secondary school. At the end of O level it is about academic to get into a good JC.
At the end of A level, it is about academic to get scholarship and a good uni.
At the end of uni, it is about academic to land a good job.
I know for a fact that local Uni admissions had and are increasingly looking beyond the academics and there are many examples of students with less stellar results than the straight As students who were admitted into highly sought after courses in Uni but not the straight As students.
But this is not to say academic results are not a useful indicator of the students' potential success. For uni admissions, it is critical that the student had demonstrated a certain competence in a subject (say through their A level grades) otherwise they will fail the course even if they get admitted. -
slmkhoo:
Actually, if we open our eyes and look, the reality is that a good academic qualification may help in landing the first 'good' job, but doesn't necessarily mean that the person will do well in that job, or that a person who starts out more humbly will not out-strip the early high-achiever in the end. Once this is realised, it should feed into the ealier stages too.
I personally felt it is a well known fact that good results will be a stepping stone. However, it doesn't guarantee your continued success in your career life. That's when the EQ and passion needs to come in. Chanced upon a separate thread on school dropouts such as Bill Gate, Micheal Dell, etc... who made it big despite not being top students....
Probably a culture thing. When I look at my US colleagues, most if not all are well articulated and confident. They are ever ready to present their case and keen to do so. But when I look at some of our young local talents, the same cannot be said about them even with the bright ones.... yes i know it's a culture thing but... I thought our education system should encourage more of such behavior (whether you are a a star or c student..) So yes, they are not as obsessed as us over results/ academic performance but they still grow up as confident individuals who can always present themselves well in the business world. -
I have one thing to add. Schools should set tests and school exams according to the national exam level/standards. Don’t over set and make tests/exams that it demoralise students. Educators and system should give encouragement and hope to students and not demoralise them.
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Do u think it works? What happen to primary streaming? Schools still hv their own streaming and stressing the kids. I heard the brief of the news juz now - mentioned moe is concern over parent sending kids for tuition and giving too much hw. Look at the questions set during PSLE. The kids are not taught in school but tested during exam. Teachers start calling parent when kids are not performing. How!!! Poor kids - they are the one who really suffer. No childhood.
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daisyt:
I have one thing to add. Schools should set tests and school exams according to the national exam level/standards. Don't over set and make tests/exams that it demoralise students. Educators and system should give encouragement and hope to students and not demoralise them.
you've got same thoughts as the minister, he did mention this too -
Pinky, where did he mention that?
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slmkhoo:
thanks slmkhoo
As far as I understand, COP is entirely based on demand-supply. If very few choose a particular school that year so students with poorer results are posted there, the COP will fall. The school has no control over the COP. Banding will cause more students to select schools in the higher bands, so no banding will mean that students select schools for other reasons?
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Daddy
Kind of hoping that it starts with us instead of waiting for a few generations
MOE can change the system n encourage non-academics achievements...
But can the mindsets of educators and parents be changed to embrace these non-academics areas?
I think it will take a few generations...
example, sports, was weighing the option to allow badminton on the side for DD1 and watching the olympics just made me realise, time isn't the BFF for sports.
You can always study regardless your age but you can't compete to achieve regardless of age. DD1 is looking forward when she can play in competitions (long way :rotflmao: ) but I am also thrilled as such learning experiences can teach her the determination, the acceptance of failure and improving from criticism which I find will help her thrive in the future. -
My suggestion is that MOE sets all exam papers for all levels for all schools to ensure uniformity. Schools can still have their topical tests etc but children have to sit for same final year exams, for example.
This may somehow ease the pressure to get children into branded schools as all children will sit for the same exams throughout their school lives, not just the PSLE. Of course if schools want to outdo each other, they can do so by all means but this will only results in comparing how many more children getting full marks in one school from another. :evil:
In this way, no parent can complain that their children lose out cos they didn't manage to get into branded schools. We can then safely say that all schools are the same.
As for whether teachers are effective in their teaching, maybe their increment and promotion should be pegged on how well their students do in their final year exams without private tuition. MOE can gather data on the number of students taking private tuition and penalise teachers whose students fall into this category. There are students who really need help and MOE can make allowance for such cases. MOE can say, make known the number and percentage of students taking private tuition in a particular school. Parents will then know whether that school depends and/or encourage private tuition and shun it.
I am sure MOE is aware of such a situation all along but choose to keep mum. When DS3 was in P3, he told me a survey was done by his teacher (maybe on the instructions of MOE) on how many of them had private tuition. He also remarked that his teacher seemed surprised when he said that he had no tuition though his mother is a private tutor.
As for non academic achievements, points can be awarded for CCA and competition participation, CIP, special achievements etc - similar to the present secondary school system. Students can use such additional points on top of their PSLE scores to get into secondary schools of their choice. This will encourage students to be actively involved in school programs and have a holistic education. -
When u start on other niche areas... E.g. Competitive sports or performance groups... You still only cater to a niche group of students... And parents will again seek external enrichments to give their kids a headstart...
A vicious cycle again?
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