MOE to stop publishing names of top students?
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Parents welcome scrapping of top students list from Yahoo news :
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/parents-welcome-scrapping-of-top-students-list--104044227.html
Parents in Singapore appear to welcome the news that the Ministry of Education (MOE) will no longer provide a list of students that top national exams.
According to local media reports, the ministry will start with the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scheduled to be released on Thursday and then with the results of the N- and O- levels expected to be announced later his year and early next year respectively. Both the overall list of top scorers and the lists of top scorers for each race will be scrapped.
MOE added that this is in line with the \"importance of recognising our students for their holistic development and all-round excellence, and to balance the over-emphasis on academic results.\"
Several parents Yahoo! Singapore spoke to approved of this change.
\"As a parent, I think it is totally fine. Whether they announce the names of top students or not, it's just a name. It's just an extra recognition and I believe students are not studying so hard to just get their names announced on national television or printed in newspapers,\" sales assistant Sim Kim Heok said.
\"When there is no announcement [of the top students], I believe there will be less pressure placed on children,\" the 47-year-old with a Primary 1 child added.
Another parent said the removal of such lists is long overdue.
\"I feel that it's not necessary to announce even the top student of each race. Why should we bother to mention the race? How a child does boils down to his own abilities and, I should say, his teachers too,\" said Jill Choo, 40, mother of a Primary 4 child.
\"Removing the top students list will not help in a big way, but it's a small step that the MOE is taking,\" Choo added.
Not naming top scorers is especially helpful for PSLE students, a parent said.
\"As a parent, I am glad that this practice had been removed. I was with my son when he received his PSLE results last year. When the announcement was made for top student and other top 20 to 30 students, you could see the pressure on the faces of those children, including parents,\" Joycelin Tan, early 40s, healthcare admin.
\"Why put a child through such stress when this is only a initial part of their life and it's still to early to determine whether the child will be successful in his future life?\" Tan continued.
However, some parents questioned the changes and said that it's a knee-jerk reaction by MOE to address the stresses of PSLE.
One parent, Funz, posted on parenting forum Kiasuparents and said, \"Just because the noise about PSLE being stressful is getting louder, they are now going into overdrive to avoid all possible contribution to that stress.\"
Another user Pirate said, \"What's wrong with celebrating the efforts and talents of those who come out tops? How do we inspire excellence in any particular field if we do not celebrate the best performers in that field? Are we taking the first step towards the slippery slope of dumbing down and a culture of mediocrity?\"
Though the top scorers’ lists will be scrapped, schools can still recognise academic excellence through other avenues. Students who perform academically well will still be recognised through Edusave Awards and scholarships, MOE told local media. -
Wow!! Watch what you post on KSP!
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I fail to understand why some parents feel stressed just because the names and scores of a handful of top students out of a cohort of say 50,000 students are made known to the public. :?
:skeptical: -
3Boys:
Wow!! Watch what you post on KSP!
:yikes:
Yah boy. I better stick to posting in tuckshop.
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cherryc:
Can we say that PSLE is not a competition with the ultimate prize being to be able to choose to go to ANY secondary school you want in Singapore? Until MOE delinks T-scores with entry requirements to secondary schools, PSLE will always remain a source of stress for parents and students. And we know that will never happen....
Comparing PSLE with Olympic game and Nobel Prize? It is of different league and for different age groups. If a true blue Singaporean wins an Olympic award or Nobel Prize, please by all means let's glorify him or her using every form of media. Not glorifying means standard dumping down ? Then I am curious to know which countries used the method of naming their top primary school kids over a national examination to attain high standard in education or to boost the country's GDP.
...
It appears that MOE thinks that PSLE stress can be somewhat reduced by masking the top scorers in its exam. That's equivalent to the common HR policy in civil service of not letting employees know who the top performers are at the end of a bonus period. Apparently, that would help reduce jealousy and unhappiness amongst staff => less stress by not knowing.
Ignorance is indeed bliss, but it does not make the problem go away. It will only force the problem to go underground, worsened by rumours and hearsay. We cannot stop jealousy and unhappiness by simply obfuscating information.
If anything, MOE should strive to supply more information to parents, information about the support provided to the bulk of the lower ranked Secondary schools (yes, we know MOE knows who they are since Secondary schools used to be banded into 9 bands), to convince parents that our children are in good hands when they go into these schools. Give the best resources to these schools so that they can spend more time helping late bloomers excel too. If parents feel that their children will not be penalised by going to these schools, but will instead be allowed to grow and succeed at their own pace, no sane parent will force their child to go into top schools and have their child suffer because he/she cannot keep up.
Work on removing the stigma of the lower ranked Secondary schools, and the problem of PSLE stress will solve itself. -
ChiefKiasu:
:goodpost:
Can we say that PSLE is not a competition with the ultimate prize being to be able to choose to go to ANY secondary school you want in Singapore? Until MOE delinks T-scores with entry requirements to secondary schools, PSLE will always remain a source of stress for parents and students. And we know that will never happen.
It appears that MOE thinks that PSLE stress can be somewhat reduced by masking the top scorers in its exam. That's equivalent to the common HR policy in civil service of not letting employees know who the top performers are at the end of a bonus period. Apparently, that would help reduce jealousy and unhappiness amongst staff => less stress by not knowing.
Ignorance is indeed bliss, but it does not make the problem go away. It will only force the problem to go underground, worsened by rumours and hearsay. We cannot stop jealousy and unhappiness by simply obfuscating information.
If anything, MOE should strive to supply more information to parents, information about the support provided to the bulk of the lower ranked Secondary schools (yes, we know MOE knows who they are since Secondary schools used to be banded into 9 bands), to convince parents that our children are in good hands when they go into these schools. Give the best resources to these schools so that they can spend more time helping late bloomers excel too. If parents feel that their children will not be penalised by going to these schools, but will instead be allowed to grow and succeed at their own pace, no sane parent will force their child to go into top schools and have their child suffer because he/she cannot keep up.
Work on removing the stigma of the lower ranked Secondary schools, and the problem of PSLE stress will solve itself.
They are skinning the wrong cat. -
3Boys:
Wow!! Watch what you post on KSP!
Lol. It's strange that the report seems to be based on what we say on KSP and yet is so different from what we actually think in KSP. -
ooopps! Not suppose to post here.
:siam:
But cannot resist. -
ChiefKiasu:
Chief,
Ignorance is indeed bliss, but it does not make the problem go away. It will only force the problem to go underground, worsened by rumours and hearsay. We cannot stop jealousy and unhappiness by simply obfuscating information.
you banged the nail right on the head.
Guess what's gonna happen now?
\"Oh, did you hear about what A said about school B and how they managed their admissions?\"
\"Oh did you hear about how school X performed against school Y?\"
It just goes underground. We are trying to tweak the system to fix what is essentially a problem with the parents.
I have been saying this from day 1 across various threads like private tuition, \"every school is a good school\" etc.
It's the parents creating the stress, not the system. -
Fairy:
I fail to understand why some parents feel stressed just because the names and scores of a handful of top students out of a cohort of say 50,000 students are made known to the public. :?
:skeptical:
I don't think parents are really stressed by the announcement of the top scorers.
I think it's misplaced, the source of stress.
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