Can we bring our students' learning away from tuition?
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IMHO, the only way to get children away from tuition is to keep them in school the whole day so that they will not have time for tuition. :evil: How many parents or even children themselves can look back 20 or 30 years down the road and say with conviction that if the children did not have tuition back then, life would have been the same, i.e. tuition didn't really make a difference in their lives. Meanwhile, how many would say honestly that all those hard work in getting through HCL, IP, triple science or whichever that parents and children spend anguish effort and heartache on did help the children in their present profession. My main point is, are the children working towards their future with the relevant goals in mind? I always believe in fighting those battles worth fighting and the rest is secondary.
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limlim:
I don't think it will work because what matters most is PSLE. Parents have access to top schools' exam papers and I have already heard on different occasions comments like this school's papers very easy, not sure how their students can handle PSLE, this school's papers very difficult, .....limlim:
So, the teachers will have to do their part to convince parents that tuition is not needed..Chenonceau:
Papers are set by teachers. So, the standard of the papers is also part of the parameters to convince parents that tuition is really not needed...... They should only test on what they already teach..But you can convince all you like... As long as you test more than you teach because you expect the bright ones to NATURALLY KNOW... then no parent will listen to you. Parents will turn to Teachers and ask Teachers to teach more and better. And Teachers will back off because...
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limlim:
Thanks for clarifying. I see what you mean now. Then the (perceived) difficulty of PSLE, how?limlim:
So, the teachers will have to do their part to convince parents that tuition is not needed..Chenonceau:
Papers are set by teachers. So, the standard of the papers is also part of the parameters to convince parents that tuition is really not needed...... They should only test on what they already teach..But you can convince all you like... As long as you test more than you teach because you expect the bright ones to NATURALLY KNOW... then no parent will listen to you. Parents will turn to Teachers and ask Teachers to teach more and better. And Teachers will back off because...
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coast:
I am not sure their official replies are worth much given...I believe MOE or SEAB has already done some of the above (SEAB has given official replies that they are making sure PSLE maintains the same level of difficulties ... so they must have analyse both the questions as well as the results?).
(1) the latest newspaper reports about innovative teaching methods that no one seems to recognise. Maybe it happens in 1 or 2 schools...
(2) that ever since Pamela Liew wrote in YEARS ago about tuition, the official reply has always maintained that the phenomenon does not exist
(3) until now, the official and unofficial line is still, tuition is because of kiasuparent mentality... MOE can't do anything. Official replies also said that floods are inevitable, remember? And officials also said that it PONDED and did not FLOOD. Officials can say anything they want to help their careers along.coast:
This is possible. But then there have been years when the PSLE was so difficult that good students came out crying.Frankly, I am not sure whether the stress (and the over-reliance of tuition/ enrichment) is due to schools (internal exams) or MOE (PSLE). Schools (esp the top schools) have always made their internal exams more difficult than the standard PSLE/ O levels/ ... Parents/ Schools made their students practise top schools' past year papers but in actual fact, some of the questions there might be beyond PSLE complexity.
coast:
Yeah lor.... true standards are a big secret because if people knew, they would all aim for it... and then the PSLE won't be discriminatory anymore. The solution then is to ensure that the market does not get perfect information (whether in terms of standards nor access to educational resources). What this means is that it isn't the best child that wins, but the child that has access to privileged information (whether in terms of standards or educational resources).Are we barking at the wrong tree? We will not know as MOE/ SEAB does not release the exact past year PSLE papers.
The PSLE must be discriminatory you see. -
Chenonceau:
I am not sure their official replies are worth much given...coast:
I believe MOE or SEAB has already done some of the above (SEAB has given official replies that they are making sure PSLE maintains the same level of difficulties ... so they must have analyse both the questions as well as the results?).
(1) the latest newspaper reports about innovative teaching methods that no one seems to recognise. Maybe it happens in 1 or 2 schools...
(2) that ever since Pamela Liew wrote in YEARS ago about tuition, the official reply has always maintained that the phenomenon does not exist
The PSLE must be discriminatory you see.
Who is Pamela Liew? -
violin_lover:
I am not sure their official replies are worth much given...Chenonceau:
[quote=\"coast\"]I believe MOE or SEAB has already done some of the above (SEAB has given official replies that they are making sure PSLE maintains the same level of difficulties ... so they must have analyse both the questions as well as the results?).
(1) the latest newspaper reports about innovative teaching methods that no one seems to recognise. Maybe it happens in 1 or 2 schools...
(2) that ever since Pamela Liew wrote in YEARS ago about tuition, the official reply has always maintained that the phenomenon does not exist
The PSLE must be discriminatory you see.
Who is Pamela Liew?[/quote]Her kiasuparent nic is 2ppaamm -
Chenonceau:
oic. The one whose kids in the university now
Her kiasuparent nic is 2ppaamm -
violin_lover:
Yah!!
oic. The one whose kids in the university nowChenonceau:
Her kiasuparent nic is 2ppaamm -
coast:
For a start, surely all the tuition centers will have student's particulars. And MOE can make it mandatory that all centers must be registered, and submit student's particulars to MOE. If everything is electronic, it is not difficult to link the students to the schools and the subjects.
Good idea but how do one track whether students take tuition/ enrichment? :?
Next, they can take steps to regulate the tuition industry.. -
limlim:
I'm not saying it's a bad idea. You said so yourself that it takes some refinement so my comment is not a judgment of your suggestion.
For a start, surely all the tuition centers will have student's particulars. And MOE can make it mandatory that all centers must be registered, and submit student's particulars to MOE. If everything is electronic, it is not difficult to link the students to the schools and the subjects.coast:
Good idea but how do one track whether students take tuition/ enrichment? :?
Next, they can take steps to regulate the tuition industry..
The MOE officials will just tell ya that they have no resources for this. That's what they told me. Friend, it didn't FLOOD. It PONDED only.