MOE to stop publishing names of top students?
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Oh. Until MOE sorts this out, DD is going IP. By hook or by crook, I don’t care.
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david59:
Ah, but if you're convinced then we would lose the privilege of reading your views! I'm sure many here would miss your opinions on DSA.
Just convince me one good reason why DSA is neccesary that outweighs the bads and I will say no more about DSA. If not, why continue it. Thks.CayennePepper:
It's a CHOICE. Nobody's making them. Or maybe their parents are?
But I do want to share, briefly, what I think, though not with the objective of convincing you.
Is your objection predicated on the fact that a successful DSA applicant, who goes on to demonstrate a poor academic fit in an IP school, 'deprives' another candidate of a well-deserved place?
Here's what I think with reference to this group of students, who are presumably sportsmen (no offence to athletes). I've met some young athletes who can balance academics and demanding training schedules admirably, but not many. I'm acquainted with several who juggle school team, national youth squad, and even club training. They seem to be always training... 7 days a week! Owing to their passion and dedication, there is very little time left for studying. Ergo, less than stellar grades.
One of Singapore's brilliant young swimmers was my neighbour many years ago. He was in pri sch then, and I remember his gruelling schedule. At 5am he would already be in the pool, training before going to school. After school he trained past the evening. He spent most of his waking hours at the pool on weekends! I recall asking his mother when he had time for homework and she told me he did his work between his brief breaks at the pool.
I support DSA for kids like these because they deserve a CHANCE. To go to 'top' schools which they may not otherwise be eligible for, with the absence of good grades. I tend to think it's unjust to tell these 12yos, please train hard and win accolades for your school/club/country! but know that you will probably sacrifice your grades and won't be able to enter certain 'elite' schools, IF you so aspire to.
(I'm generalising here, of course there are super kids who can juggle sports and studies successfully.)
We talk about giving chances to late bloomers right? I like the spirit of DSA because it signals that grades ain't everything. It recognises that talents - in many areas - are not less important than PSLE scores!
Its execution, well... that's another matter altogether. :razz:
By the way, DSA is nothing new. It's just a legitimate name. I remember classmates who entered JC with the strength of their CCAs, though they clearly did not have the requisite grades. -
pirate:
Oh. Until MOE sorts this out, DD is going IP. By hook or by crook, I don't care.
Fortunately my two dds went to Temasek JC before they started IP. Otherwise, I doubt they would have gotten in with 6pts after using their 2 bonus pts now.
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pirate:
Not just at secondary level but also at primary level. P3 kids r now learning n doing p6 materials n doing P6 worksheet to be competitive. A level students r learning master degree stuffs? What do u want to achieve? :stupid: :mad:
In other words, our non-IP secondary schools are failing to teach our students the necessary or relevant skills. Thank you very much for that enlightenment. In a nutshell, this looks like a systemic failure to me at the secondary school level. I take back what I said earlier about there being a reasonably level playing field.him4mixer:
The new ‘A’ level examination started in 2006 with the introduction of H1, H2 and H3 subjects. The papers (not the MTL) btw are NO LONGER set by Cambridge!! Instead the questions are now set by MOE (through XXX branch).
What’s the difference?
Many of us who took the ‘A’ levels in the good ole days could do well just by constantly practice & practice TYS. It worked because many of the questions then were LOT (lower order thinking) like recap and recall. Few questions were on HOT (higher order thinking) like data analysis and application. Those who took ‘S’ paper would work on questions requiring them to synergize and extrapolate the concepts/knowledge learnt.
Unfortunately now this is not so…
H2 papers nowadays have literally no recap and recall questions that will favor the hardworking students. Instead the papers are filled with thinking questions where it will favor the thinking students.
Example: I had no problem finishing 40 MCQ qns within 20 min in the old syllabus and achieve perfect score. However now even if I am to finish the MCQ paper in time (as a capacity as an experienced teacher!), I am not confident to achieve perfect score. Some of the concepts tested in the paper were what I learnt in the university, up to Masters!
Thus the IP schools start to teach these HOT skills real early so that they will be well prepared when they come to us as JC students. Life is never fair but that’s how it works. The smart ones have now a better advantage IF they can benefit from our system.
Minister Sir, are you reading this?
Now you know why PSLE is so stressful. If your kid does not score tops enough to get into IP, they will have to go to a secondary school that will fail to teach them the required and relevant HOT skills necessary for them to prepare for the A-levels. -
CayennePepper:
By the way, DSA is nothing new. It's just a legitimate name. I remember classmates who entered JC with the strength of their CCAs, though they clearly did not have the requisite grades.
On the bright side, if you are an Olympics medal level athlete (preferably in rowing), you can DSA into Oxford or Cambridge. :razz: -
CayennePepper:
Ah, but if you're convinced then we would lose the privilege of reading your views! I'm sure many here would miss your opinions on DSA.
Just convince me one good reason why DSA is neccesary that outweighs the bads and I will say no more about DSA. If not, why continue it. Thks.david59:
[quote=\"CayennePepper\"]
It's a CHOICE. Nobody's making them. Or maybe their parents are?
But I do want to share, briefly, what I think, though not with the objective of convincing you.
Is your objection predicated on the fact that a successful DSA applicant, who goes on to demonstrate a poor academic fit in an IP school, 'deprives' another candidate of a well-deserved place?
Here's what I think with reference to this group of students, who are presumably sportsmen (no offence to athletes). I've met some young athletes who can balance academics and demanding training schedules admirably, but not many. I'm acquainted with several who juggle school team, national youth squad, and even club training. They seem to be always training... 7 days a week! Owing to their passion and dedication, there is very little time left for studying. Ergo, less than stellar grades.
One of Singapore's brilliant young swimmers was my neighbour many years ago. He was in pri sch then, and I remember his gruelling schedule. At 5am he would already be in the pool, training before going to school. After school he trained past the evening. He spent most of his waking hours at the pool on weekends! I recall asking his mother when he had time for homework and she told me he did his work between his brief breaks at the pool.
I support DSA for kids like these because they deserve a CHANCE. To go to 'top' schools which they may not otherwise be eligible for, with the absence of good grades. I tend to think it's unjust to tell these 12yos, please train hard and win accolades for your school/club/country! but know that you will probably sacrifice your grades and won't be able to enter certain 'elite' schools, IF you so aspire to.
(I'm generalising here, of course there are super kids who can juggle sports and studies successfully.)
We talk about giving chances to late bloomers right? I like the spirit of DSA because it signals that grades ain't everything. It recognises that talents - in many areas - are not less important than PSLE scores!
Its execution, well... that's another matter altogether. :razz:
By the way, DSA is nothing new. It's just a legitimate name. I remember classmates who entered JC with the strength of their CCAs, though they clearly did not have the requisite grades.[/quote]Exactly, if they are late bloomers, go to a school of their level and work hard from there. In my opinion, it is harder to strive to work hard academically in an elite school when at the same time you are expected to train very hard regularly in your CCA with the hope of winning glory for your DSA school.
You want to develop your talent further? Like I shared in another posting, there are many excellent clubs and associations for swimming, football, bowling basketball, athletics and you name what we have what. Most of our national players come from there.
Thanks for sharing that you do like to hear my opinions. We agree to disagree. Good nite n sweet dreams. -
david59:
On the upside, DD already exhibited HOT at 6 months when we told her \"kai kai\", she looked out the window, saw it was dark and shook her hand to signify \"don't have\". :rotflmao:pirate:
Oh. Until MOE sorts this out, DD is going IP. By hook or by crook, I don't care.
Fortunately my two dds went to Temasek JC before they started IP. Otherwise, I doubt they would have gotten in with 6pts after using their 2 bonus pts now. -
him4mixer:
Thus the IP schools start to teach these HOT skills real early so that they will be well prepared when they come to us as JC students. Life is never fair but that’s how it works. The smart ones have now a better advantage IF they can benefit from our system.
Hahahahaha is that why PRIMARY school papers are now peppered with HOT questions! -
pirate:
On the upside, DD already exhibited HOT at 6 months when we told her \"kai kai\", she looked out the window, saw it was dark and shook her hand to signify \"don't have\". :rotflmao:[/quote]Good one :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:david59:
[quote=\"pirate\"]Oh. Until MOE sorts this out, DD is going IP. By hook or by crook, I don't care.
Fortunately my two dds went to Temasek JC before they started IP. Otherwise, I doubt they would have gotten in with 6pts after using their 2 bonus pts now. -
pirate:
pirate:
Oh. Until MOE sorts this out, DD is going IP. By hook or by crook, I don't care.
On the upside, DD already exhibited HOT at 6 months when we told her \"kai kai\", she looked out the window, saw it was dark and shook her hand to signify \"don't have\". :rotflmao:
This is one hell of a funny pirate. :rotflmao:
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