School Examinations Too Difficult

[Chenonceau]

tianzhu... :udaman:

[optimistforum]

Chenonceau. It is both the journey and the destination. Regardless of whether the system is hard or easy, you still need to a have test at the end of it to judge the performance levels.

[Chenonceau]

optimistforum:

Chenonceau. It is both the journey and the destination. Regardless of whether the system is hard or easy, you still need to a have test at the end of it to judge the performance levels.

I am glad you think that. The destination may be worth the while... but the journey there is not up to par. Until schools stop testing what they have not taught, Singaporeans will have to do their learning outside school in order to cope with school exams.

In Singapore too, we get these difficult differentiating exams (instead of formative exams) every quarter from Primary 3 onwards... it is not just at the end that we get differentiating exams where material not taught is tested.

[wiimum]

I fear the situation is going to get worse. I see advertisements in the papers : Prepare your P4 P5 kid for the PSLE. The pressure is mounting from before P6 now.

[happyheart]

Chenonceau:

optimistforum:

Chenonceau. It is both the journey and the destination. Regardless of whether the system is hard or easy, you still need to a have test at the end of it to judge the performance levels.

I am glad you think that. The destination may be worth the while... but the journey there is not up to par. Until schools stop testing what they have not taught, Singaporeans will have to do their learning outside school in order to cope with school exams.

In Singapore too, we get these difficult differentiating exams (instead of formative exams) every quarter from Primary 3 onwards... it is not just at the end that we get differentiating exams where material not taught is tested.

:goodpost:

[kitty2]

Chenonceau:

Wow! I now realise that parents like tianzhu have tried to raise in 2008 the same issue that faces us today in 2012.


2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

5 years ago... and NOTHING has changed. It looks like the government is intent on cramming down our throats an educational system they think is perfectly rational but that has made no sense to parents for at least FIVE years.

Best reason to shut up and suck it up. Feedback is a waste of time. Superior minds don't believe our pain... and cannot see it. Kids MUST fail for the exam to be a good one? I too learnt this theoretical principle when being trained to write exams. BUT see... I use theory to help me. I don't allow theory to tyrannise me. Some sort of practical observation of the effects of blindly following theory is in order...

One thing is sure... as batch after batch of parents go through PSLE, more and more people will realize the system is sick... and the numbers will add up despite MOE's best efforts at rationalising the why and wherefore of today's system.

No one cares about the why and wherefore... people are only interested in the daily experience of being educated. For 5 years now, that experience has not been good.

Something has changed,PSLE getting more difficult each year!!!

[Sun_2010]

kitty2:

Chenonceau:

Wow! I now realise that parents like tianzhu have tried to raise in 2008 the same issue that faces us today in 2012.


2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

5 years ago... and NOTHING has changed. It looks like the government is intent on cramming down our throats an educational system they think is perfectly rational but that has made no sense to parents for at least FIVE years.

Best reason to shut up and suck it up. Feedback is a waste of time. Superior minds don't believe our pain... and cannot see it. Kids MUST fail for the exam to be a good one? I too learnt this theoretical principle when being trained to write exams. BUT see... I use theory to help me. I don't allow theory to tyrannise me. Some sort of practical observation of the effects of blindly following theory is in order...

One thing is sure... as batch after batch of parents go through PSLE, more and more people will realize the system is sick... and the numbers will add up despite MOE's best efforts at rationalising the why and wherefore of today's system.

No one cares about the why and wherefore... people are only interested in the daily experience of being educated. For 5 years now, that experience has not been good.

Something has changed,PSLE getting more difficult each year!!!

Dont think PSLe papers have become more difficult past 2-3 years. PSLE papers are more systematic - a proper mix of difficulty levels.

But school exams have been really made difficult. Too many questions are difficult. And some questions are just difficult for the sake of making it difficult and different - this can make the question irrational :faint:

[Nebbermind]

Standards are unrealistic


by Ian Tan Yong Hoe 04:45 AM May 02, 2012 (TODAY)
[quote]The primary school system here has been a point of much debate among educators and parents for a long time.

As a product of the system in the '80s and now a father of two children in lower primary, I fear that the system has become one of irrelevant, unrealistic standards.

And I come from the perspective of someone who excelled within the old system, yet always questioned the relevance of the education content to real-world settings. Sadly, the situation has gotten worse.

Take primary school mathematics as an example: Why are pupils being asked to solve questions of higher level logic at such a young age? Does it make them more creative in problem solving?

Does it help them when they are faced with heuristic problems that even adults do not have to deal with in the workplace? No, it only leads to more rote learning of, ironically, heuristic methods.

The vast selection of assessment books and tuition centres that teach heuristics is testimony to this.

Another observation is that teachers sometimes do not have the opportunity to reinforce the basics of simple arithmetic and are forced to make their pupils do sums that are more useful in sifting for maths geniuses than genuinely imparting knowledge. Within the crammed periods of each school day, it is impossible for teachers to cover all the bases in today's punishing curriculum.

It is no longer a matter of excelling in class; to simply pass maths today, it is mandatory to have tuition to fill the gaps that teachers sometimes struggle to fill.

If so many pupils require tuition, it means our education system has failed in its basic goal of imparting the correct skill sets.

My wife, a university honours graduate, quit her job to coach the children at home, but is herself exasperated at the standards required of pupils today.

I have yet to observe any beneficial effects of pushing children so hard in primary school, apart from high stress levels and sapping of intellectual curiosity.

Besides removing the joy in learning, another side effect of today's education system is that my children hardly have time to enjoy childhood.

They have less time to play outdoors, to read their favourite books (which is a great way to improve one's English), to explore new hobbies or to learn about the world around them - all because of so much homework.

The scenarios are the same with other subjects. The schools are not teaching less, nor are the pupils learning more.



The writer's children are in Primary 1 and 3.[/quote]

[Chenonceau]

Nebbermind

[fightingmom]

Current school exams are not just difficult, they are also testing the speed of the children in solving the question. That is especially so in Maths. Imagine for Paper 1, the children are supposed to solve 30 questions in 50 mins. That is practically almost 1.5 min per question (no calculators allowed) and for Paper 2, a total of 1h40mins is allowed to solve some complex problem sums which works out to be about 3-4min per sum.

I must admit - i can’t solve some of the questions within 10 mins ! I pity our chidren that they are being pressured and drilled over and over again to complete such tasks within that short period of time.