MOE to scrap Banding for Secondary Schools

[Daddy D]

Chenonceau:

vlim:

No la Chen ... We will Sayang you after we humtum you .... :rotflmao: :siam:

As long as got sayang I dun mind... otherwise, it's same thing I have been feeling my whole life. I THINK strange... and people don't always take kindly to that.

U think 2 much lah... :siam:

[nms1]

looking4Tutor:

ksi:

Then stop asking MOE to do any more policy changes to make life less stressful for the children if parents' mindset is not going to change in tandem. This is a very good example of stress not coming from MOE but from parents. It takes 2 to clap, if MOE has done its part, we gotta do ours.


MOE is doing this to make schools de-focus on inter-school competition but build their own unique niche so this will benefit the children in terms of academic pressure. The idea now is to choose schools based on the merits of its curriculum niche that it can offer or match to your child, not on its band ranking when stack against other schools. Can this be understood? New policies can come in but if old brains or behaviour stay on, nothing is gonna work. Then the complain cycle starts again...never ending story... :slapshead:

My prediction is that it will not work for the fact that which schools are the top is well established.
Unless, he removes COP for secondary school selection. All secondary schools should have a fair distribution of strong and weak PSLE students.
Or a more drastic move, ask the so called top secondary schools to take in the weakest PSLE students and turn them into stellar cum holistic O level students.

Removing banding is just like removing stars (6 stars, 5 stars) from hotel rating.

I think a decision has to be made on what kind of system we want to have. I went to school in the UK and was in a private school but my brothers both went to government schools. When my elder brother was in secondary school we lived in an area where there was no banding so your school was determined by where you lived. What happened? All the pupils were dragged down to the lowest common denominator rather than being pulled up. We moved house when he was going into the equivalent of JC and moved to an area where schools were streamed. He was put into one of the better schools and had a rude awakening as the standards were so much higher. He found it very hard to adjust and I still feel, many years later, that his years in the other school really prevented him from reaching his full potential academically.

Maybe the solution is not to band the schools but to band the children within them. Some schools can create a niche in certain areas but we could have children of all levels in all schools but streamed within their cohort. This may help to take off some of the PSLE pressure as we could then look at providing the opportunity to move between streams. Of course those \"brand name\" schools will still retain their prestige in the short term but maybe over the course of time the playing field can be levelled and pupils may choose a school because of the sports or CCAs offered, because of a strength in art, music or maths. There are numerous possibilities.

[corneyAmber]

Chenonceau:

Getting Rid of Banning is NOT an Initiative Targeted at Parents
I thought HSK's positioning was masterful. He got rid of banding and took that opportunity to signal to parents that academics isn't everything. That's so smart because parents DO have a role to play. However, I don't think anyone in MOE is dumb enough to BELIEVE that by taking away banding, they'll change parents' mindsets. What is obvious to us is probably obvious to MOE too. I think. Not sure.

I am guessing that... maybe this banding business is being used as a convenient SIGNAL to parents that academics are not everything BUT what it does really do is it prevents schools from competing with each other.

I have to check my diabetes level after this Simply sweet!! :love:
Firstly, HSK does not control parents so there is no way he can be targeting them nor does he believe he can change the mindsets if he has no control. Hence mindset change, we can only urge ourselves as parents amongst ourselves, even that is only a nudge, change comes from within you know. Secondly, schools are totally under his charge so certainly the objective to get rid of banding is to stop promoting competition amongst the school. I thought that was very clear in his statements, anyone misinterpreted? :?

[corneyAmber]

Chenonceau:

vlim:

No la Chen ... We will Sayang you after we humtum you .... :rotflmao: :siam:

As long as got sayang I dun mind... otherwise, it's same thing I have been feeling my whole life. I THINK strange... and people don't always take kindly to that.

On the contrary, I don't think you think strange at all. It is pretty common to think like this, so you are fine. *sayang*

[Chenonceau]

ksi:

Chenonceau:

Getting Rid of Banning is NOT an Initiative Targeted at Parents
I thought HSK's positioning was masterful. He got rid of banding and took that opportunity to signal to parents that academics isn't everything. That's so smart because parents DO have a role to play. However, I don't think anyone in MOE is dumb enough to BELIEVE that by taking away banding, they'll change parents' mindsets. What is obvious to us is probably obvious to MOE too. I think. Not sure.

I am guessing that... maybe this banding business is being used as a convenient SIGNAL to parents that academics are not everything BUT what it does really do is it prevents schools from competing with each other.

I have to check my diabetes level after this Simply sweet!! :love:
Firstly, HSK does not control parents so there is no way he can be targeting them nor does he believe he can change the mindsets if he has no control. Hence mindset change, we can only urge ourselves as parents amongst ourselves, even that is only a nudge, change comes from within you know. Secondly, schools are totally under his charge so certainly the objective to get rid of banding is to stop promoting competition amongst the school. I thought that was very clear in his statements, anyone misinterpreted? :?

:celebrate: Ok... so I am not weird then. You think same too? I saw a lot of discussion on how this won't help parents change mindset so I thought I was being nutsy again.

But anyway, I'm only guessing 'cos... he did say that it was to tackle parents... so... donno lah... I just wanna give MOE the benefit of the doubt and support it for simply TRYING and DARING to go places it has never been... putting their pride on the line. It takes a fair amount of courage. After all, we are Singaporean mah... We dun like to take risks. Going forwards, there will be potholes and hiccups 'cos MOE is moving into areas never before explored.

I don't expect perfection from MOE. I expect continuing dialogue. Frank, straightforward, loving dialogue. I love it that they did not go and get a foreign expert to come tell them what to do but they went back to first principles and tweaked the system for us... and us only. I love it that they cited neither Finland nor USA nor anywhere else.

This is Singapore's 家事. Our MOE has the brains to figure out what works for us. I am so happy I actually am crying with gratitude. But hor... I am a hum bao.

[Chenonceau]

ksi:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"vlim\"]
No la Chen ... We will Sayang you after we humtum you .... :rotflmao: :siam:

As long as got sayang I dun mind... otherwise, it's same thing I have been feeling my whole life. I THINK strange... and people don't always take kindly to that.

On the contrary, I don't think you think strange at all. It is pretty common to think like this, so you are fine. *sayang*[/quote]That's good to know . I value your opinion. This is not lightly said. I don't at all care what some other forummers think of me. I do care what you think.

[mamago]

ksi:

Melodies:

I was :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: when I first heard that! Whether u Like it or not, the unofficially banding will take place by itself without u officially band it :evil:

[quote=\"looking4Tutor\"]No more banding for secondary schools hence all schools are good school. Just a joke shared this morning.

Then stop asking MOE to do any more policy changes to make life less stressful for the children if parents' mindset is not going to change in tandem. This is a very good example of stress not coming from MOE but from parents. It takes 2 to clap, if MOE has done its part, we gotta do ours.

MOE is doing this to make schools de-focus on inter-school competition but build their own unique niche so this will benefit the children in terms of academic pressure. The idea now is to choose schools based on the merits of its curriculum niche that it can offer or match to your child, not on its band ranking when stack against other schools. Can this be understood? New policies can come in but if old brains or behaviour stay on, nothing is gonna work. Then the complain cycle starts again...never ending story... :slapshead:[/quote]
:goodpost:

[corneyAmber]

Chenonceau:

:celebrate: Ok... so I am not weird then. You think same too? I saw a lot of discussion on how this won't help parents change mindset so I thought I was being nutsy again.

Not weird, just interpret this part off a bit. What people are saying is that for policy changes to be effective, some amount of mindset change from parents is also required. Now whether parents want to complement it or not, MOE has no control right? So if this change fail....we cannot simply just say...wrong change so fail.... we are also part of the change.

[Chenonceau]

slmkhoo:

Chenonceau:

MOE's Work Plan Focuses on Looking After SCHOOLS, not Slapping Parents

His entire slew of measures this year is focused on helping schools. A website with parenting tips goes up too but really, the biggest thing that he is doing by removing banding is to tell all schools that they no longer need to outdo each other. They need to do the best they can... with the students they have, and grow their niches. Schools and teachers within can be proud of what they do because no one is gonna rank them and make them compete like gladiators.

Finally, he is moving to SAYANG his schools... he is moving to RESOURCE his teachers with good teaching materials in Stellar Upper Primary... I like that. SAYANG the schools without favor... just as if they are precious children of Singapore. Schools will naturally be able to help each other look after Teachers. Teachers will help each other look after our kids. In the end, by sayanging his schools... our kids benefit.

I like. Very much.

My mother was a sec school principal in the 80s and 90s when the rankings and other competitive measures were being put into place. She was always very fed up by being put under pressure by those above, and even by her teachers and students' parents, to focus on improving the school's ranking. She would promote as many Normal stream students to Yr 5 to do 'O' levels as she could, even though that would pull down the school's ranking, because she knew that some of them would then be able to go on to Poly or get better jobs. She sometimes even recommended her best students to transfer to more challenging schools so that they had a chance to do even better. She never worried much about the ranking, but because of that wasn't regarded as a high-achieving principal. Luckily, she wasn't career-minded and didn't seek promotion, so she just did what she felt was best for her students. But she sometimes lost good teachers who transferred out because they felt that the school's ranking was low and wasn't going to get better, and that they didn't want to be there. She often compared what was done in her school (a lowly-ranked one) with what was done in the schools my brother and I attended (highly-ranked ones), and really, her school did much more for the weak students with none of the glory. So I'm glad to see the banding go as well. There is a lot more that should be done, but it's one step in the right direction.

Wow! What fortitude of character to stand firm against system incentives. Not everyone has that strength of character. No wonder she groomed a daughter like you.

She needs to COME BACK and share her wisdom.

[Chenonceau]

ksi:

Chenonceau:

:celebrate: Ok... so I am not weird then. You think same too? I saw a lot of discussion on how this won't help parents change mindset so I thought I was being nutsy again.

Not weird, just interpret this part off a bit. What people are saying is that for policy changes to be effective, some amount of mindset change from parents is also required. Now whether parents want to complement it or not, MOE has no control right? So if this change fail....we cannot simply just say...wrong change so fail.... we are also part of the change.

Dear... I don't understand. Can you explain your thought process a bit more step by step without skipping steps? I am rather intelligent but not THAT intelligent. I think I better ask before I misinterpret.