PSLE leave: For or Against?

[kwcllf]

Chenonceau:

Funz:

Even 10 yrs ago, I have colleagues who take leave for their children's exams. Not PSLE mind you, but SA1 and SA2. So, OCBC is just repackaging their HR benefits and in the process appear to be pro family. How in the world will that lead to feeding parents fear?

Poor OCBC got slammed by flawed logic in Josephine Teo's attempt to make the govt/MOE look good.

I agree it is stupid logic!

[nms1]

Chenonceau:

Funz:

Even 10 yrs ago, I have colleagues who take leave for their children's exams. Not PSLE mind you, but SA1 and SA2. So, OCBC is just repackaging their HR benefits and in the process appear to be pro family. How in the world will that lead to feeding parents fear?

Poor OCBC got slammed by flawed logic in Josephine Teo's attempt to make the govt/MOE look good.

I'm not sure that Josephine Teo's motive was to make the government look good; I will give her the benefit of the doubt here.

The fact is that some people will look at the fact that OCBC is offering PSLE leave and think \"OMG, does that mean I should be taking leave? Is that what I need to do to be the best mother/father to my child?\" Most of us will make our own decision but this will influence some people and cause them to worry if they are doing enough for their children. And so the pressure will mount further.

Ultimately it is the whole system that is at fault here not OCBC. They are just the scapegoats. As it has promised, MOE needs to review PSLE but parents also need to play their part. When I see mothers in other parts of this forum talking about using flashcards with babies and sending 1 year old's to Shichida, I don't envy the government's challenge in changing the situation.

We can be \"kiasu\" parents but we need to keep it in perspective.

[SAHM_TAN]

Chen,


Regards to the letter by Liew Wei Li. I thought the context was abt life skills and not abt subject content.

This is the infor on the portal helping to learn mother tongue.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2012/08/new-imtl-portal-to-help-students.php

There's nothing abt parent's involvement specifically though.

[lapapillion]

Chicken and egg issue. PSLE hard –> parents kiasu OR Parents kiasu —> PSLE hard. I think it’s the former that is the game changer. If the PSLE is not that challenging and intimidating, then parents would not have to take leave. If anything, it’s the scope of the PSLE that is feeding the fears of parents.

[3Boys]

It’s all a matter of labels. No-pay-leave, child-care, annual leave…who cares what you do with it right? It’s understood that if you have staff with P6 kids, you better prepare for them to disappear during the exam period. Completely understood and completely acceptable, and we are not the only society with such a phenomenon. So OCBC is just re-packaging the deal, interesting, but its still just packaging. So I don’t know why either OCBC or MOE gets dragged into this.


Josephine basically stating her view that its unhealthy to label, to focus so much on a single exam, which is her view and which a valid view point, though perhaps different from others. But it is perfectly valid also and she has the right to state her opinion, does she not?

[3Boys]

nms1:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"Funz\"]Even 10 yrs ago, I have colleagues who take leave for their children's exams. Not PSLE mind you, but SA1 and SA2. So, OCBC is just repackaging their HR benefits and in the process appear to be pro family. How in the world will that lead to feeding parents fear?

Poor OCBC got slammed by flawed logic in Josephine Teo's attempt to make the govt/MOE look good.

I'm not sure that Josephine Teo's motive was to make the government look good; I will give her the benefit of the doubt here.

The fact is that some people will look at the fact that OCBC is offering PSLE leave and think \"OMG, does that mean I should be taking leave? Is that what I need to do to be the best mother/father to my child?\" Most of us will make our own decision but this will influence some people and cause them to worry if they are doing enough for their children. And so the pressure will mount further.

Ultimately it is the whole system that is at fault here not OCBC. They are just the scapegoats. As it has promised, MOE needs to review PSLE but parents also need to play their part. When I see mothers in other parts of this forum talking about using flashcards with babies and sending 1 year old's to Shichida, I don't envy the government's challenge in changing the situation.

We can be \"kiasu\" parents but we need to keep it in perspective.[/quote]I agree completely. And in that article, Dr Carol Balhetchet seems to support that view.

[Chenonceau]

nms1:

I think that is very different from tuition or the like. Childrens' learning in this day & age cannot be limited to what they learn in the classroom. They should be reading other books and expanding their horizons. That is very different from going to tuition or being coached by their parents.

Parents should have a role in their childrens' education but they shouldn't be teaching them what the school should be teaching them. I won't be in a position to teach my daughter maths in upper primary because what they learn is not what I learnt.

I agree with you. However, the school tests what it has no time to teach. I couldn't teach my son Math either. I didn't even bother to learn. Nonetheless, he was still tested on stuff that he learnt outside of class from books. PSLE also tests stuff that his school did not teach but that he learnt outside of class.

If you can't teach or unlike me, you don't have a strong mastery of learning psychology to facilitate transfer of knowledge from external material to school exams... then well... I guess you just have to comfort yourself that PSLE is not everything.

We did very little exploration in Chinese. In lower primary, we played a lot with English and Science. At PSLE, no need to practise much in English and Science can score top of class. In P5 and P6 80% of time on Chinese ... studied textbooks from P1 to P4 diligently - can only manage to be average.

All the external exposure is tested at PSLE. It is therefore part of curriculum, but not taught in class.

[Chenonceau]

SAHM_TAN:

Chen,


Regards to the letter by Liew Wei Li. I thought the context was abt life skills and not abt subject content.

This is the infor on the portal helping to learn mother tongue.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2012/08/new-imtl-portal-to-help-students.php

There's nothing abt parent's involvement specifically though.

I couldn't find it either but I remember reading it in a press article. Sorry I can't be much help in substantiating my claim here.

[Chenonceau]

nms1:

I'm not sure that Josephine Teo's motive was to make the government look good; I will give her the benefit of the doubt here.

The fact is that some people will look at the fact that OCBC is offering PSLE leave and think \"OMG, does that mean I should be taking leave? Is that what I need to do to be the best mother/father to my child?\" Most of us will make our own decision but this will influence some people and cause them to worry if they are doing enough for their children. And so the pressure will mount further.

Ultimately it is the whole system that is at fault here not OCBC. They are just the scapegoats. As it has promised, MOE needs to review PSLE but parents also need to play their part. When I see mothers in other parts of this forum talking about using flashcards with babies and sending 1 year old's to Shichida, I don't envy the government's challenge in changing the situation.

We can be \"kiasu\" parents but we need to keep it in perspective.

Yes... why not? Let's give her the benefit of the doubt. As long as the assertion is that the whole system is at fault and everyone has a part to play, I completely agree. That the govt has pulled back from making its schools compete with each other is great .. is really good. Do that first and then tell me that the govt has a challenging job.

Which govt has an easy job?

The whole system is at fault... so why slam OCBC? We can own the problem together and not point at one party. That is what I am responding to. I have no illusions about the role parents play in kiasu-ism. I wrote a book to help parents calm down. I have no illusions about the role MOE plays in kiasu-ism. I have been spending time with MOE for 2 years now.

I just feel bad for OCBC.

[matrix0405]

3Boys:

It's


Josephine basically stating her view that its unhealthy to label, to focus so much on a single exam, which is her view and which a valid view point, though perhaps different from others. But it is perfectly valid also and she has the right to state her opinion, does she not?

If from P6 students its ok. If ministar, u need to be careful. I bet u my lunch, now CEO & EVP (HR) & EVP (PR) of OCBC now having emergency lunch meeting to discuss a response.