PSLE leave: For or Against?

[mamemo]

Chenonceau:

Yes... I agree. This is unfairly stressful to OCBC management. This was their company business. OCBC has no role to play in the educational system and now the Minister has gone and whacked them... and they now have to scramble and respond.

Waste of OCBC management time.

Agree.

However, why does OCBC wants to announce this internal HR policy in the first place? They could have just kept quiet and roll it out. Anyway, the policies are not much different from MNCs, where sabbaticals, family leave etc is the norm.

Its a case of PR got backfired.

[3Boys]

Chenonceau:

3Boys:

If I were OCBC management this would be a 10 minute discussion with HR VP and corporate comms. There is nothing fair or unfair on OCBC, they are doing something unique and different, just be prepared to defend it. No biggie. I don't see what MOE got to do with this. Many US companies provide assistance for child care, should the state then be blamed for lack of child care facilities? It's a staff benefit, that's all.

Minister has a right to state her views. If she felt something strongly about something and held her tongue, I'd be much more worried about having some one like that in parliament.

Diss her view if you like, but don't diss her for speaking up.

Did I diss her for speaking up? No. I dissed her for her flaw in logic and her failure to account for the role of the WHOLE system. If you wanna speak up, make sure you get the full context and then weigh in. Especially if you're a Minister.

Time is time. 10 minutes X 5 people = 50 minutes of corporate time that need not be spent if the Minister were more sensible.

Sorry Chen, you always find a way to connect every dot back to 'The System'

That's the flaw in your logic.

She feels we should not obsess about PSLE. Her logic is not flawed.

I agree. I know you don't.

[3Boys]

mamemo:

Chenonceau:

Yes... I agree. This is unfairly stressful to OCBC management. This was their company business. OCBC has no role to play in the educational system and now the Minister has gone and whacked them... and they now have to scramble and respond.

Waste of OCBC management time.

Agree.

However, why does OCBC wants to announce this internal HR policy in the first place? They could have just kept quiet and roll it out. Anyway, the policies are not much different from MNCs, where sabbaticals, family leave etc is the norm.

Its a case of PR got backfired.

If I were OCBC, I just received a PR windfall. Free publicity touting a family friendly practice.

Hard to see how this ends badly for OCBC. Its just packaging anyway. It's not as if Josephine Teo objects to companies giving time to staff to be with their kids during exams, she objects to people objectifying it. Which is her point, which is valid.

[SAHM_TAN]

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 dunno... the word \"curriculum\" means 4 core subjects to me. The rest are all optional. You can take your child out of sexuality education... but not out of Math class. For me, that is curriculum... everything else is enrichment.

I read it as sexual education curriculum. My school's PSG will be organising more tea sessions with the P. I shall clarify with the P during the session.

[Chenonceau]

3Boys:

mamemo:

[quote=\"Chenonceau\"]

Yes... I agree. This is unfairly stressful to OCBC management. This was their company business. OCBC has no role to play in the educational system and now the Minister has gone and whacked them... and they now have to scramble and respond.

Waste of OCBC management time.

Agree.

However, why does OCBC wants to announce this internal HR policy in the first place? They could have just kept quiet and roll it out. Anyway, the policies are not much different from MNCs, where sabbaticals, family leave etc is the norm.

Its a case of PR got backfired.

If I were OCBC, I just received a PR windfall. Free publicity touting a family friendly practice.

Hard to see how this ends badly for OCBC.[/quote]This is funny! You would condone a Minister's careless words by saying that they had unintended benefits for OCBC?

[Chenonceau]

SAHM_TAN:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"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 dunno... the word \"curriculum\" means 4 core subjects to me. The rest are all optional. You can take your child out of sexuality education... but not out of Math class. For me, that is curriculum... everything else is enrichment.

I read it as sexual education curriculum.[/quote]I suppose you could... but do you know that sex education takes place OUTSIDE curriculum time and schools have to ask parent permission to allow the kids to stay back for this. For me, that's not curriculum. But hey... your definition works as well.

[Chenonceau]

3Boys:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"3Boys\"]

If I were OCBC management this would be a 10 minute discussion with HR VP and corporate comms. There is nothing fair or unfair on OCBC, they are doing something unique and different, just be prepared to defend it. No biggie. I don't see what MOE got to do with this. Many US companies provide assistance for child care, should the state then be blamed for lack of child care facilities? It's a staff benefit, that's all.

Minister has a right to state her views. If she felt something strongly about something and held her tongue, I'd be much more worried about having some one like that in parliament.

Diss her view if you like, but don't diss her for speaking up.

Did I diss her for speaking up? No. I dissed her for her flaw in logic and her failure to account for the role of the WHOLE system. If you wanna speak up, make sure you get the full context and then weigh in. Especially if you're a Minister.

Time is time. 10 minutes X 5 people = 50 minutes of corporate time that need not be spent if the Minister were more sensible.

Sorry Chen, you always find a way to connect every dot back to 'The System'

That's the flaw in your logic.

She feels we should not obsess about PSLE. Her logic is not flawed.

I agree. I know you don't.[/quote]I also agree that that we should not obsess about PSLE. THAT logic is not flawed. Are you attributing to me that I think we SHOULD obsess about PSLE? The flaw in her logic is not here.

Again, you are attributing to me thoughts I do not think.

[3Boys]

This is a follow up post from Josephine Teo's FB -->


Thank you all for sharing your views.

We should take time out for any occasions we feel are significant in our families e.g. wife dealing with difficult pregnancy, husband on overseas course, grandparents on pilgrimage, kids preparing for major role in school play. And great if an employer supports such time-out.

Why single out PSLE though? The bank providing such leave suggests it should be the norm for parents to take leave for their children's PSLE. That is what I'm uncomfortable with. The bank’s other initiative e.g. sabbatical leave etc are very welcome as we all could use some regular time-out to re-charge.

Speaking as a parent, I can understand that many parents feel anxious. However, by focusing an inordinate amount of attention on PSLE (or any other exam), we stress ourselves and the kids excessively. Why do we do that? A rough count will tell us that the kids will sit for 200+ papers if they go the whole hog, and the PSLE accounts for fewer than five. Yes, it does determine the secondary school they go to but that itself is not the only thing that determines their future.

We have to be there for the children when they need us, and that may not be during PSLE at all. Don't miss out on all the other times when our presence matters.

I really find it hard to see any serious 'flaw' in her reasoning. She rejects the idea of objectifying 'PSLE' leave, ergo, don't obsess about it. Even if you don't personally subscribe to this philosophy, its still a fai view, is it not?

[Chenonceau]

3Boys:

This is a follow up post from Josephine Teo's FB -->


Thank you all for sharing your views.

We should take time out for any occasions we feel are significant in our families e.g. wife dealing with difficult pregnancy, husband on overseas course, grandparents on pilgrimage, kids preparing for major role in school play. And great if an employer supports such time-out.

Why single out PSLE though? The bank providing such leave suggests it should be the norm for parents to take leave for their children's PSLE. That is what I'm uncomfortable with. The bank’s other initiative e.g. sabbatical leave etc are very welcome as we all could use some regular time-out to re-charge.

Speaking as a parent, I can understand that many parents feel anxious. However, by focusing an inordinate amount of attention on PSLE (or any other exam), we stress ourselves and the kids excessively. Why do we do that? A rough count will tell us that the kids will sit for 200+ papers if they go the whole hog, and the PSLE accounts for fewer than five. Yes, it does determine the secondary school they go to but that itself is not the only thing that determines their future.

We have to be there for the children when they need us, and that may not be during PSLE at all. Don't miss out on all the other times when our presence matters.

I really find it hard to see any serious 'flaw' in her reasoning.

There is no flaw here either... in this follow up post. Are you saying that the flaw in logic I pointed out is here? That is not so. Again.

This is, I point out, the follow up post.... and it is MUCH more nuanced... and more wise.

[3Boys]

The first post, I surmise -->


A few people have asked me what I thought of the PSLE Leave, a new scheme which a major bank in Singapore has introduced for its staff.

Actually, when I first heard of it on the radio (Capital 958 to be exact) on Monday, my immediate reaction was “over-the-top”.

Some of you know we’ve just had a pair of twins go through PSLE. What did we do? Not much actually. It has been very clear to us that this is their exam and only they can influence the outcome. My role as mum is to be supportive, encouraging and help them if they ask for it. My husband, who happens to be a good coach for Math, chipped in as well. Both of us made it a point to cut down on overseas travel nearer the exam dates to be physically present to give moral support (and a shoulder to cry on if needed). But it was otherwise work-as-usual and life-as-normal.

There are many occasions in our children’s lives when they need us to “be there” which we must make time for. It could be a bout of illness, a rough patch in school or a particularly exciting project that they help to carry out.

It might even be the PSLE for some. But I don’t think the default assumption should be that working parents need to take significant time off to help their children prepare for PSLE. We are quite mistaken to behave as if PSLE is THE defining moment in a child’s development. It does not warrant such special attention compared to other significant moments we parents ought to watch out for.

The bank may have been well-intentioned when introducing such leave. But they may not have realized that this feeds into fears of parents, and that they are somehow unusual if they don’t take leave during their children’s PSLE.

There are many things we hope to see employers doing for their staff. PSLE Leave should NOT be one.


Perhaps I am blinkered today. Yeah, the last 2 paragraphs, some people will take offence, but hard to see how they can be considered ill-thought. It's objectification of the PSLE exams. Suddenly, there's PSLE leave, oh my!

Leave is leave, people are free to move it around and use as they see fit. Many people take leave during exams, that's fine too. So OCBC decide to make a bit of a meal and score some HR points, and in lieu of actually increasing leave quantum for staff, actually seems to me now a bit of a cynical exercise.

Its her view, she took a small swipe at the bank for what she felt was an ill-conceived idea. No flaw in THAT logic either.