MP echoes calls for PSLE to be scrapped
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If taking baby steps to change, suggest that they start with testing Only what is being taught in ALL primary school. Then there is more level playing field. Do away with those unnecessary streaming which only sieves out the cream of crop. And PSLE will not be so stressful.
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cascada:
If taking baby steps to change, suggest that they start with testing Only what is being taught in ALL primary school. Then there is more level playing field. Do away with those unnecessary streaming which only sieves out the cream of crop. And PSLE will not be so stressful.
No, I think the 1st thing to do is the improve on the textbook. Without a ref, how do anyone know what they are supposed to be taught. -
Nebbermind:
Right, it's a chain effect.cascada:
If taking baby steps to change, suggest that they start with testing Only what is being taught in ALL primary school. Then there is more level playing field. Do away with those unnecessary streaming which only sieves out the cream of crop. And PSLE will not be so stressful.
No, I think the 1st thing to do is the improve on the textbook. Without a ref, how do anyone know what they are supposed to be taught. -
Nebbermind:
:goodpost:cascada:
If taking baby steps to change, suggest that they start with testing Only what is being taught in ALL primary school. Then there is more level playing field. Do away with those unnecessary streaming which only sieves out the cream of crop. And PSLE will not be so stressful.
No, I think the 1st thing to do is the improve on the textbook. Without a ref, how do anyone know what they are supposed to be taught. -
Nebbermind:
there should be ISO9000 for MOE - test what they teach and teach what they test.cascada:
If taking baby steps to change, suggest that they start with testing Only what is being taught in ALL primary school. Then there is more level playing field. Do away with those unnecessary streaming which only sieves out the cream of crop. And PSLE will not be so stressful.
No, I think the 1st thing to do is the improve on the textbook. Without a ref, how do anyone know what they are supposed to be taught.
not teach less test more and let tuition centres fill up the gap... -
Britain to overhaul secondary school exam system
Published on Sep 19, 2012
By Jonathan Eyal Europe Correspondent
LONDON - The British government has announced plans for the biggest shake-up of the country's school examinations system in decades, in an effort to raise standards.
Under measures before Parliament, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams which students sit at 16 will be replaced by a new qualification called the English Baccalaureate Certificate, nicknamed \"EBacc\". Existing school league tables will also be abolished.
Some of the measures may be adjusted as a result of a public consultation period which has now started. And the new EBacc exams will be introduced progressively from 2017. But Education Secretary Michael Gove made clear to lawmakers on Monday his determination to end \"grade inflation and dumbing down\". \"Our aim is to have truly rigorous exams, competitive with the best in the world,\" he said.
The new system will ditch the current \"module system\" of teaching that allows candidates to retake parts of their course again and again. It will also cut back on the use of classroom assessment in favour of the end- of-year exam. The EBacc will also be anchored on core subjects like mathematics, history, geography and the sciences.
The current GCSE exams, introduced in the 1980s, have been criticised for encouraging schools to go for soft option subjects and teaching to the test, with the result that many youngsters leave school with a certificate, but not necessarily real knowledge.
More importantly, GCSE papers are set by five different examination boards which are commercial enterprises; they make money from the marking and from the textbooks they endorse. Since schools are rated according to how well they do in these examinations, they tend to pick boards where pass rates are highest, so the result is \"a race to the bottom\" as Mr Gove puts it.
Statistics seem to support his criticism. Last year's GCSE passes rose for the 23rd year in a row, with three times as many pupils gaining the top grades compared to 1988, when the exams started. And yet, according to the International Student Assessment, a survey administered by the OECD, a club for wealthy nations, Britain ranks only 26th out of 34 top countries in educational terms.
As part of the planned overhaul, students who fail can retake the exam but, if they fail again, all they will have upon leaving school is a \"detailed transcript\" of the courses they attended. To ensure higher standards, exam boards will have to fight to win a five-year monopoly right to run each subject paper throughout England.
The British exam reforms are not expected to affect students in Singapore. Although Singapore's GCE O-level examination scripts are marked in Britain, a student's final grade is determined by the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board and the Education Ministry, in consultation with University of Cambridge International Examinations. The exams are also based on the Singapore curriculum and syllabus.
Many of the details on EBacc are yet to be worked out. Nobody knows, for instance, what performance criteria will be applied to grading schools' performance.
Nor is it clear what fate awaits the current examination boards, which supply GCE and a variety of other exam papers to many English-speaking countries. Technically, the boards can continue their overseas activities unhindered but, if they wish to retain their English business, they will have to show greater rigour.
Employers welcomed the changes. \"The government is right to focus on delivering rigorous assessment in our school system, which is part of raising overall achievement,\" said Mr Neil Carberry, director for employment and skills at the Confederation of British Industry.
But the opposition Labour Party castigated them as \"divisive\", a return to a period when some less-gifted youngsters left school with no certificates, and were rendered virtually unemployable.
[email protected]
Source: The Straits Times -
I do not think that PSLE needs to be scrapped.
PSLE is not new. It is an exam that has been around for a long time, many of us as parents had also taken it. But we do not remember it being such a stressful exam during our time, compared to what our DC are facing now. So, some things have changed in the interim. These are my thoughts:
1. In line with the "teach less, learn more" guideline, what more accurately describes our Primary School education is "teach less, test more". This is the root cause of the thriving tuition industry and hair-tearing parents, as we struggle to fill in the teaching gaps in order that our DC can be ready for the PSLE.
To take away the stress of parents and children leading up to PSLE, as many have already mentioned, is for MOE to ensure that schools teach adequately for examinations. All schools to teach the same thing, which means a comprehensive and accurate syllabus must be provided by the MOE. Do not test outside the syllabus, under the disguise of creativity. Thus, parents have no more incentive for sending their children for additional classes to ace the examinations. Any enrichment should remain as enrichment, for the purpose of enjoyment.
This will also allow for better social mobility, as the children from families who cannot afford tuition will not be at a disadvantage.
2. Re-introduce compulsory "O" levels. Before the era of the IP schools, the stakes of PSLE are not as high. If one fails to excel during the PSLE and thus fails to enter one of the "top" secondary schools, he still has a good chance during the "O" levels to try to get in the "top"JCs. This is as compared to now, the non-IP students have much lower chances to gain entry to the "top" JCs even with sterling "O"level results, as the vacancies are very limited. This raises the stakes of the PSLE for them to get into the IP schools (those banded with "top" JCs especially) of their choice.
An education route with many such U-turns for students who failed to excel in their early years, will benefit late bloomers and bring less stress to the students during their early school years (read: Primary school).
3. In line with this, the secondary school admissions should also be simplified and unified. Back to the good old days of S1 posting exercise. Scrap DSA and any form of discretionary admissions. This brings the goal post to the clear view of all, and we do not thus need to be concerned about many possible other goaldposts on the side-roads, which put more stress on us.
I believe these strategies will bring the stress of parents and children down to manageable levels. -
verykiasu2010:
congrats!
my children are sensible -
Lilac66:
Kekeke
congrats!verykiasu2010:
my children are sensible
I think you miss the pun by vks..... you know he is a notti boy......
I swung high and this is what I saw hanging in the someone's kitchen.
![](\"http://i47.tinypic.com/tarpti.jpg\")
http://i47.tinypic.com/tarpti.jpg\">
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MR06:
Kekeke
congrats!Lilac66:
[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]
my children are sensible
I think you miss the pun by vks..... you know he is a notti boy......
I swung high and this is what I saw hanging in the someone's kitchen.[/quote]
haha, I've been here long enough to know his pattern... just playing along. I not stupid you know?
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