Is GEP really necessary?
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[quote=\"Chenonceau\"]I've never quite forgiven this governmentt for bringing in the casinos despite gathering feedback... hearing people out... and then still going right ahead. I suppose it's gonna do it again in the new Dialogue on National Values... and what we want Singapore to become.
Talk... talk... talk... and then... oh well... WE think this is best... WE know best... WE are smart, gifted, scholars, had perfect grades and therefore also perfect thinking (YOU... where were YOU when I collected my perfect A level cert and served as President of my JC's student council... and lounged around the fireplace at Cambridge?). So... thank you for giving your 2 cents, I will now tell you that THIS is what we will do... you people of inferior intellect.
And what they do will be exactly what they wanted to do BEFORE all the
National Dialogue. :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:[/
:goodpost: What you mention is true. Last election outcome reflected the unhappiness of Singaporeans. High costs of education (tuition, enrichment & university) & stressful education system leads to decline in birth rate. Even baby bonus can't help! -
Refering to speeches, words with no action is like nothing to me.
I not touch by words but by actions. :imcool: -
Mychildren:
I am not an expert for such a young age leh... people like Phankao did an excellent job with her children at a young age, setting the right foundations. I think working from P5 onwards is good. Maturity is required. Also, I find it hard to teach children who have been too 'tuitioned' and too protected, because they will have motivation issues, leaving details to their parents or tutors.2ppaamm,
How about my girl who is 2 now, can she wait for your program to start???
I'm serious, u c, don't miss my girl lei, better put in a serious smilies here if not u think I play play again :sad:
I am working on something with my youngest now, who is 9. Interestingly, I am not sure whether it is because I have no time as I have so many children ahead of him, or he is truly slower, he started speaking at only 3 (other before they turned 10 months), and started walking only at 17 or 18 months, reading only at 7 years old (others at 3 years old), so I thought :sad: , but to my big surprise, over the last 3 years since he went to school, I have worked with him systematically. Hehehe... he is now handling Singapore P6 work for all subjects (except Chinese of course). So I think, it does not matter if he is slow, as long as we are consistent and persistent, we can get there. He is now even faster than his siblings when they were at his age. So I am trying to work on entry level uni work with him to see how he takes it.
Late developers? No worries, there's always hope.
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cherryc:
Wah, this guy is saying exactly how I feel... Thank you for posting it here... :goodpost:In a wide-ranging interview with former GIC chief economist Yeoh Lam Keong, Yahoo! Singapore’s JEANETTE TAN finds out what he thinks are the key challenges Singapore faces in its quest for continued economic development. This is the second of a three-part series entitled “Behind Singapore Inc.” that takes a look at the country’s key policies and governance. In Part II interview :
The real cost of education
Turning to Singapore’s education system which is heavily subsidised, Yeoh said the cost of private tuition is skewing matters out of whack.
Currently, a Singaporean child going through government-aided mainstream schools pays roughly $11 per month at primary school level, about $21 at secondary school, and about $27 per month at junior college or at a centralised institute.
Even at university level, Singaporean and permanent resident (PR) students attending local university courses benefit greatly from substantive grants provided by the Ministry of Education.
But these benign fee structures mask the real cost of schooling in Singapore when one takes in the cost of private tuition, says Yeoh.
“If you have a kid who has tuition in two or three subjects, that easily costs close to $1,000 (per month) or often even much more,” he says. “A lot of people also feel that at primary 6, they need to send their kids for tuition in three to four core subjects, so that adds up to more than $1,500 per month, perhaps even $2,000.”
But is private tuition really necessary?
Yeoh argues it is because of two key reasons — first, because of insufficient teaching resources for what is becoming an unnecessarily difficult curriculum and second, because class sizes are too large.
Making matters worse is the various possible paths in primary and secondary education alone — from the gifted programme to the through-train, and a wide range of elective programmes offered at secondary and junior college level.
It is no wonder parents become “kiasu” to ensure their children get the best opportunities and the most choices, said Yeoh.
His solution? Cut down class sizes and do away with unnecessary streaming.
“This would require higher education expenditure, but it will be less stressful for both students and teachers, and (the former) can actually be taught in school instead of at home (through tuition),” he adds, pointing out that the average OECD country spends about 6 per cent of its GDP on education, as compared to Singapore, which spends roughly 3.8 per cent.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/behind-singapore-inc--part-ii---%E2%80%98gov%E2%80%99t-must-rethink-delivery-of-public-services%E2%80%99.html
Awaiting his In Part III of “Behind Singapore Inc.”, Yeoh reflects on the changing personality of the ruling People’s Action Party and its leaders.
Maybe he read my posts... :rotflmao: -
mummy so kiasu:
上梁不正下梁歪， a leader who thinks that he is of an elite race, and that he is not even apologetic about having these views cannot expect his officials to think otherwise. Such leaders are great people, and they do do wonderful and great things, but some are sick in the head, that's why people believe there is a thin line between being a genius and a lunatic, who btw are all forever paranoid. Sadly, such thinking filters down. :yikes: Hitler lives! Thank God we only have an intellectual gas chamber.Chenonceau:
I've never quite forgiven this governmentt for bringing in the casinos despite gathering feedback... hearing people out... and then still going right ahead. I suppose it's gonna do it again in the new Dialogue on National Values... and what we want Singapore to become.
Talk... talk... talk... and then... oh well... WE think this is best... WE know best... WE are smart, gifted, scholars, had perfect grades and therefore also perfect thinking (YOU... where were YOU when I collected my perfect A level cert and served as President of my JC's student council... and lounged around the fireplace at Cambridge?). So... thank you for giving your 2 cents, I will now tell you that THIS is what we will do... you people of inferior intellect.
And what they do will be exactly what they wanted to do BEFORE all the
National Dialogue. :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:[/
:goodpost: What you mention is true. Last election outcome reflected the unhappiness of Singaporeans. High costs of education (tuition, enrichment & university) & stressful education system leads to decline in birth rate. Even baby bonus can't help!
-
cherryc:
Heheheh... now that we have the highest per capita GDP in the world, we look forward to the highest per capita spending in the world for education! http://sg.news.yahoo.com/s%E2%80%99pore-is-now-richest-in-the-world.html?
“This would require higher education expenditure, but it will be less stressful for both students and teachers, and (the former) can actually be taught in school instead of at home (through tuition),” he adds, pointing out that the average OECD country spends about 6 per cent of its GDP on education, as compared to Singapore, which spends roughly 3.8 per cent.
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That is why my son has been begging me and trying his luck every week to take him out of school. He said he can learn much more and faster at home, and still has lots of time to laze around.
2ppaamm:
I am not an expert for such a young age leh... people like Phankao did an excellent job with her children at a young age, setting the right foundations. I think working from P5 onwards is good. Maturity is required. Also, I find it hard to teach children who have been too 'tuitioned' and too protected, because they will have motivation issues, leaving details to their parents or tutors.
I am working on something with my youngest now, who is 9. Interestingly, I am not sure whether it is because I have no time as I have so many children ahead of him, or he is truly slower, he started speaking at only 3 (other before they turned 10 months), and started walking only at 17 or 18 months, reading only at 7 years old (others at 3 years old), so I thought :sad: , but to my big surprise, over the last 3 years since he went to school, I have worked with him systematically. Hehehe... he is now handling Singapore P6 work for all subjects (except Chinese of course). So I think, it does not matter if he is slow, as long as we are consistent and persistent, we can get there. He is now even faster than his siblings when they were at his age. So I am trying to work on entry level uni work with him to see how he takes it.
Late developers? No worries, there's always hope. -
Since I got a bit of time, I'll elaborate what I touched a bit on yesterday. The government's budget 2011(at current prices) allocated S$10.9 billion to education. (http://www.mof.gov.sg/budget_2011/expenditure_overview/moe.html) Our GDP is S$327 billion (http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/economy/hist/gdp2.html), meaning we spend about 3.3% of our GDP on education, making us at the same level as Indonesia and China... or the lowest end among OECD countries, and certainly way below developed countries.
Refer to chart below.![](\"http://i48.tinypic.com/2a9un7m.jpg\")
http://i48.tinypic.com/2a9un7m.jpg\"> (Source: OECD)
Highest GDP per capita, but lowest expenditure in Education. Of course it is 'ok', since it is till churning out good results. But hey, who is funding the education? Parents. The danger? The rich will always have access to the best education. The price of educating the citizens has shifted from the government to the public over the decade or so. Unfortunately, though some say that education did not get them out of poverty, for most, that is the MAIN (notice I didn't say only) equalizer in any society. At least, that was the case for me and many, many of my peers. This is wrong. Someone needs to wake up and realize this...
Smaller class sizes, more GOOD teachers, better programs were way overdue. Nice buildings are great, but we can have more than that. -
Mychildren:
2ppaamm,
How about my girl who is 2 now, can she wait for your program to start???
I'm serious, u c, don't miss my girl lei, better put in a serious smilies here if not u think I play play again :sad:
For your 2yo, just make sure she can read fluently already now, lor! ;D (*hehe* - like my youngest). -
2ppaamm:
I am not an expert for such a young age leh... people like Phankao did an excellent job with her children at a young age, setting the right foundations. I think working from P5 onwards is good. Maturity is required. Also, I find it hard to teach children who have been too 'tuitioned' and too protected, because they will have motivation issues, leaving details to their parents or tutors.Mychildren:
2ppaamm,
How about my girl who is 2 now, can she wait for your program to start???
I'm serious, u c, don't miss my girl lei, better put in a serious smilies here if not u think I play play again :sad:
2ppaamm, I have not, lah. Only the youngest could read EL/CL at 10months old. The next earliest reader was my eldest who could read at 4.
The 2 middle ones \"gong, gong\" - only run around neighbourhood play, rollerblade, cycle, climb playgrounds like mad, play lego, play cars (put cars/lego together, and modify, etc, etc).... went to pri 1 without being able to read more than 1-syllable words!!! *yikes*
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