MOE - We wish, we want.... so we write

[Mawar]

My wish list remains the same, more affiliated secondary schools and give schools better sounding names. Create more opportunities for kids to learn musical instruments or sports. This need not be confined to specific schools but shared within communities. I know of kids who want to learn the piano but private lessons are out of their reach.

[J and J]

Small class teaching (<30 pupils @ class) across all classes from lower primary to upper primary for all schools.


MEP and AEP are offered in all schools, not only for those popular schools.

[nms1]

Mawar:

JoeeYee:

I propose all kids be taught table manner. How to use chopsticks, different ways to use forkspoon., when to use what, etc.... Not just theory, but practical lessons too....


I wish they learn the correct way to address all their relatives..... Not just uncle and auntie....

That covered in kindy! The salutations and simple table manners.

That should be taught at home in my view.

[JoeeYee]

But so many of them still cannot use the chopsticks correctly, even into adulthood… My kids were taught at home but when we eat out and they see other adults doing things that we told them are wrong, v difficult to explain…

[JoeeYee]

Mawar:

JoeeYee:

I propose all kids be taught table manner. How to use chopsticks, different ways to use forkspoon., when to use what, etc.... Not just theory, but practical lessons too....


I wish they learn the correct way to address all their relatives..... Not just uncle and auntie....

That covered in kindy! The salutations and simple table manners.

I'm referring to the more advance version, prepare them for adulthood.

[JoeeYee]

Mawar:

JoeeYee:

I propose all kids be taught table manner. How to use chopsticks, different ways to use forkspoon., when to use what, etc.... Not just theory, but practical lessons too....


I wish they learn the correct way to address all their relatives..... Not just uncle and auntie....

That covered in kindy! The salutations and simple table manners.

I'm referring to the more advance version, prepare them for adulthood.

[MR06]

pirate:

MR06:

At the same time, it removes the incentive for overzealous schools to teach beyond what is required and over-load their students with homework depriving them time in learning other life skills, forging and nurturing friendships and enjoying their school years.

Considering that many of the schools that are reputed to be overzealous (some would say notorious for it) continue to be amongst the most popular when it comes to Pri 1 admissions, I really wonder how much support such a suggestion really has among the silent majority of parents.

If a primary school is reputed to be a mill for churning out students with top PSLE results but are less than \"balanced\" in other areas, and that school remains amongst the most popular in Pri 1 admissions, then I think parents should take some responsibility for choosing to send their kids to those kind of schools in the first place. After all, parents know which schools those are. And we know how they churn out those results.

Parents who do not want that kind of pressure on their children have a very simple choice. Just choose not to send their children to those schools. You know which ones they are. And if you make that choice, chances are you don't have to be an alumni. You won't have to join a clan or be a PV. You don't have to worry about moving to within 1km of that school. You won't even have to worry about how the ping pong balls are going to come out of that wire cage because chances are there won't be a bingo session at the end of Phase 2C, especially if your kid is a SC and/or you live within 2km.

That's why I said \"Academic achievement is still the main concern among parents/guardians; sports, arts and other areas that differentiates one school from the others are just secondary considerations.\"

For most popular schools, it's not solely \"reputed to be a mill for churning out students with top PSLE results\". Parents felt assured there is a good internal system, a strong parent support group and in most cases a powerful alumni association behind them. The various stakeholders work tirelessly towards making these schools outstanding.

If the exams are standardised and weaker schools taken care of by MOE's headquarter sending in a support team, parents would be assured of an acceptable standard across board. There would not be so much fighting tooth and nail over the popular schools. Those who fail to get in would have the consoling thought another school would still be ok. It is less likely to see someone wanting to \"move heaven and earth\" should his/her child fails to get into that \"dream school\".

[MR06]

Hello…


We had hit >1000 views, can we have healthy participation from all?

Any good suggestions are welcome and if there are posts you like, please "like" them.

This is a calling out especially to those silent readers because you make up the majority users.

Otherwise, MOE would construe our constructive comments as another source of forum noise.

Here is how you "like" a post.

Eg. there are 2 posts by 2 different users.
One wishing for shorter school holidays (Poster A) and another hoping for longer school holidays (Poster B).

If you agree with Poster A,
1) go to that post, click "Like!" button on the right next to the post.
2) A blank text screen, (same as the reply post screen) appears. If you have comments write on it and it will appear as a reply with your user name. On the other hand, if you have nothing to add, just scroll down and click "Submit". Your vote will be anonymous.
3)You would be prompted with "Are you sure you want to increase the reputation of the selected user?" (actually it means specific to that post only) Click "Yes"
4)Revisit the post and you would see "_ people like this post" increase by 1 count due to your vote.

Do so for Poster B if you hold differing view. Don’t "like" any of them if you are happy with status quo.

Don’t be a spectator be a participant!

[MR06]

J and J:

Small class teaching (<30 pupils @ class) across all classes from lower primary to upper primary for all schools.


MEP and AEP are offered in all schools, not only for those popular schools.

Maybe not all schools, but schools with enough pupils who qualifies and expressed interest in them.

[pirate]

MR06:

If the exams are standardised and weaker schools taken care of by MOE's headquarter sending in a support team, parents would be assured of an acceptable standard across board. There would not be so much fighting tooth and nail over the popular schools. Those who fail to get in would have the consoling thought another school would still be ok. It is less likely to see someone wanting to \"move heaven and earth\" should his/her child fails to get into that \"dream school\".

True. But I wonder how many primary schools are actually 'below par' (by definition not every school can have PSLE results above the mean), not in the sense of academic results achieved by the students, but in actual teaching etc. In the latest Pri 1 admission exercise, I noticed that quite a number of primary schools that are reputed to be good all rounders did not even have to go for balloting at P2C. I am not talking about schools reputed to be 'weak' here. Just saying...

Does anybody know of any primary school that is known for setting internal exams that are too easy compared to the PSLE? :scratchhead:

I am raising this because I do not want a centralised exam database to result in dumbing down.