Is GEP really necessary?
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Nebbermind:
It has become more and more obvious and blatant, isn't it? It took me so long to realize, after spending so much time running around, thinking GEP is there to nurture the gifted, thinking there is a real intention give the gifted kids academic adventure. What a fool I was! And now, I know where not to look and therefore I now know I am on my own. This is a great revelation, and I am thankful for this, and I suddenly find freedom and liberation, instead of being bogged down by the GEP burden, just because they said my kid is gifted. Yes, to me, having a child in GEP was a burden, just that he loved his friends so much, I couldn't have possibly told him so.
You know, I recently arrived at the same conclusion too!!!2ppaamm:
Lim Jeck is one example of those that I mentioned time and again that GEP should be reaching out to if we are looking for talents to nurture. But lately, I have come to realize that perhaps the GEP is not there to nurture those with talents or those who are gifted and have a real chance of winning like a Nobel Prize or put our little red dot some where. GEP, it seems, is there to nurture a bunch of high ability kids who will be good administrators.
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2ppaamm:
......Then, put in some resources to single out a Lim Jeck or literature equivalent, and instead of supplementary classes, give them some interesting enrichment to raise them to the level they deserve. Putting Lim Jeck in GEP would be a waste of time and talent, as he will have to struggle through the English. Instead, in a regular classroom, which he can do his English and other subjects with his classmates, and then be singled out to do his incredible Math with a volunteer professor or some retired teachers. Much less resources and happier outcome. But this is just me. I am no MOE.
There is a boy fr current batch of P6 GEP who is very gud in Maths.
Besides following d regular GEP curriculum, understand he is also taking additional Maths modules with NUS.
Dis boy was offered a place at NUSH when he was in P5.
There is hope MOE is not entirely blind to talents.
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Laura02:
Actually, I think our taxi drivers came to that conclusion some time ago
Yes of course. And I was told many times as well. But you know, people like me tend to complicate things, we choose to believe the more complicated things we are told, refusing to believe the simple. Yes, taxi drivers were right, things were really quite simple. Why didn't I see that? :stupid: See? You don't need to be gifted or in GEP to be clever. I was the stupid one. -
Way2GO:
It will be great to see if this is the next Lim Jeck. The GEP sorely needs a success story, afterall, they said their GEP selection is NEVER wrong, and a child is NEVER wrongly selected for GEP. At least this is what they told us at the GEP briefing. We shall see if they are EVER wrong. BTW, just by missing ONE child, they would have been wrong in their claim. So sorry to have to say this, but if they are not sure, then they shouldn't have made this claim at the GEP briefing, and if they are not sure of their selection method, then they should not accord so many privileges to GEPpers, at the expense of those who need the facilities and access more.2ppaamm:
......Then, put in some resources to single out a Lim Jeck or literature equivalent, and instead of supplementary classes, give them some interesting enrichment to raise them to the level they deserve. Putting Lim Jeck in GEP would be a waste of time and talent, as he will have to struggle through the English. Instead, in a regular classroom, which he can do his English and other subjects with his classmates, and then be singled out to do his incredible Math with a volunteer professor or some retired teachers. Much less resources and happier outcome. But this is just me. I am no MOE.
There is a boy fr current batch of P6 GEP who is very gud in Maths.
Besides following d regular GEP curriculum, understand he is also taking additional Maths modules with NUS.
Dis boy was offered a place at NUSH when he was in P5.
There is hope MOE is not entirely blind to talents.
And, one more point. It was a blessing for Lim Jeck not to be in GEP. His circumstances is unique. If he were in GEP, he would have no time with his parents to work on his love for Math, he would have spent time with his teachers (or rather, tutors) struggling with English. As a mainstreamer, he gets normal work and he gets time to pursue his Math. So everything worked out well for Lim Jeck. So Lim Jeck is where he is BECAUSE (not inspite of) he is not in GEP. But again, not every child has Mathematician parents like the Lims. -
2ppaamm:
It will be great to see if this is the next Lim Jeck. The GEP sorely needs a success story, afterall, they said their GEP selection is NEVER wrong, and a child is NEVER wrongly selected for GEP. At least this is what they told us at the GEP briefing. We shall see if they are EVER wrong. BTW, just by missing ONE child, they would have been wrong in their claim. So sorry to have to say this, but if they are not sure, then they shouldn't have made this claim at the GEP briefing, and if they are not sure of their selection method, then they should not accord so many privileges to GEPpers, at the expense of those who need the facilities and access more.[/quote]I know there were a few kids for further attachment and I do not think GEB needs any success story. Without that, everyone is already trying so hard to get on board(the training and all), why the need for success story? Do you seriously think parents do not sign up because there have been no success stories? :? In fact I think GEB keeps mum about a lot of info for a good reason. I can think of one very good one but I will share this in a few years' time if you can wait.Way2GO:
[quote=\"2ppaamm\"] ......Then, put in some resources to single out a Lim Jeck or literature equivalent, and instead of supplementary classes, give them some interesting enrichment to raise them to the level they deserve. Putting Lim Jeck in GEP would be a waste of time and talent, as he will have to struggle through the English. Instead, in a regular classroom, which he can do his English and other subjects with his classmates, and then be singled out to do his incredible Math with a volunteer professor or some retired teachers. Much less resources and happier outcome. But this is just me. I am no MOE.
There is a boy fr current batch of P6 GEP who is very gud in Maths.
Besides following d regular GEP curriculum, understand he is also taking additional Maths modules with NUS.
Dis boy was offered a place at NUSH when he was in P5.
There is hope MOE is not entirely blind to talents.
The way I look at GEB's claim about never wrong. I can understand why they say that because they have set out the tests to sieve out the definition of the gifted group they want to groom, so it is based on their criterias, how can it be wrong? :? -
Exactly! Their objectives have always been different from what we thought! Everything they told us is just a smokescreen!
Anyway, if LJ doesn't fit into GEP, then he will not fit into a rigid SG system! He's as good as gone when he leaves for some US uni! -
ksi:
[quote]It will be great to see if this is the next Lim Jeck. The GEP sorely needs a success story, afterall, they said their GEP selection is NEVER wrong, and a child is NEVER wrongly selected for GEP. At least this is what they told us at the GEP briefing. We shall see if they are EVER wrong. BTW, just by missing ONE child, they would have been wrong in their claim. So sorry to have to say this, but if they are not sure, then they shouldn't have made this claim at the GEP briefing, and if they are not sure of their selection method, then they should not accord so many privileges to GEPpers, at the expense of those who need the facilities and access more.[/quote]
There is a boy fr current batch of P6 GEP who is very gud in Maths.
Besides following d regular GEP curriculum, understand he is also taking additional Maths modules with NUS.
Dis boy was offered a place at NUSH when he was in P5.
There is hope MOE is not entirely blind to talents.ksi:
Haha! I like your last sentence that they set up the definition so they can never be wrong. How RIGHT! There is no definition of GEP's giftedness. So, even if you produce papers from psychologists to prove that your child is so gifted, they will reject you, and they will have their own reasons, and nobody can tell them they are wrong - at least now. So yes, they are never wrong! So they are right that they have always picked the right children for GEP! It is not about giftedness alone but other things. The other things? Anything they like.I know there were a few kids for further attachment and I do not think GEB needs any success story. Without that, everyone is already trying so hard to get on board(the training and all), why the need for success story? Do you seriously think parents do not sign up because there have been no success stories? :? In fact I think GEB keeps mum about a lot of info for a good reason. I can think of one very good one but I will share this in a few years' time if you can wait.
The way I look at GEB's claim about never wrong. I can understand why they say that because they have set out the tests to sieve out the definition of the gifted group they want to groom, so it is based on their criterias, how can it be wrong? :?
They do not need success stories to prove to parents, you are right. Because with all those carrots dangling, there is really no need to have success stories for people to fight to get into GEP. The trouble is, there is a bigger picture than that. There is the government to answer to, the people to answer to, funds to justify. And herein lies the problem, because there is never a need to account for where we spent all these educational funds, people get complacent and just do as they like. These folks are never accountable to anyone?! But one day, they will have to be. And if enough people ask, they will have to be transparent. Maybe not today, maybe not even the near future. But they will have to be accountable one day to someone called the People.
It is not parents who support a program like GEP, it is the policies. So no matter how popular it is, once it is no longer justifiable, it will be gone. So if there is so lacking of success stories, there will be enough bullets to shoot that down, not by parents of course. So the GEB can do whatever they like now, but I think they have forgotten they will be accountable one day. Whatever measures and rules they put up will stand today, but one day, they will have to answer, and when they cannot, it will be GOODBYE time. This is nothing new, it happens to people like TT Durai to Satyam - all of them are the same. You can do whatever you want and develop any kind of selection criteria, until you are asked to justify. When you have no justification, and your rules don't conform to general rules and you cannot stand audit, you are in for a surprise. History never fails to repeat itself. Men are strange creatures, they make the same mistakes again and again, they look themselves in the mirror and never see a thing. -
2ppaamm:
Agreed dat if LJ was in GEP, he wld hv diverted much time to cope with English n perhaps MT which he cld otherwise hv use more productively to nurture his interest in Maths. So fr dat perspective, d GEP selection was not wrong, right?
And, one more point. It was a blessing for Lim Jeck not to be in GEP. His circumstances is unique. If he were in GEP, he would have no time with his parents to work on his love for Math, he would have spent time with his teachers (or rather, tutors) struggling with English. As a mainstreamer, he gets normal work and he gets time to pursue his Math. So everything worked out well for Lim Jeck. So Lim Jeck is where he is BECAUSE (not inspite of) he is not in GEP. But again, not every child has Mathematician parents like the Lims.
Its quite obvious d term 'gifted' in GEP has to be taken with a large dollop of salt since it is statistically impossible to hv 500+ truly gifted kids consistently every year.
As u n some here hv nailed it, these 1% of each cohort r being trained n tracked to hopefully provide d numbers to continue to drive d economy n help in d administration of dis country in future. -
2ppaamm, if the time is right and if there is a chance one day I will explain it to you. Suffice to say now, the good reason I talk about for keeping mum in general is a noble one…so go along the line of positive thinking. You have hit on quite a number of valid points, just have not put the whole picture together to see the rationale.
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Nebbermind:
Why worry? We have an excellent foreign talent policy anyway.Exactly! Their objectives have always been different from what we thought! Everything they told us is just a smokescreen!
Anyway, if LJ doesn't fit into GEP, then he will not fit into a rigid SG system! He's as good as gone when he leaves for some US uni!
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