Is GEP really necessary?
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2ppaamm:
Er... but IQ tests can definitely be prep. Easily. Just do and do and do lots of IQ tests. There are standard ways of doing IQ tests, just like GA tests.
I do not think GEP is required to let a gifted child excel, have seen many gifted kids that excel extremely well in University though they were not in GEP. However, GEP does provide interesting curriculum for gifted kids to keep their minds stretched and stimulate their thinking.Trapwithin:
[quote=\"2ppaamm\"]Are high ability classes good enough or do the gifted students need to be in GEP to excel? This is something I have been debating within myself the last 2 days.
On one hand, I think that GEP is not very healthy, given all the prep classes and hence many students are not even gifted but hardworking, and the elitism. But on the other hand, my own son loved and can connect with his GEP classmates much better than in lower primary.
Quite torn about it. You see, those very hardworking or prep'ed ones, they will excel in any academic setting. But for those like my son, without the GEP classes, not sure where he will find his close friends.
IMHO, almost all GEP Prep classes .. are marketing gimick. They filtered their intake and displayed the success rate based on the GEP Screening Test rather than Selection Test, which is the top 10% of the cohort. GA papers in GEP selection Test are similar to IQ test though not totally. GA cannot be prep or drill like most IQ Test. You either see the question and understand or you don't.
The only part that can probably be prep are the EL and Maths paper which contribute to 50% of the Selection Test. Yet these papers are benchmark way beyond the kids level. With such elevated level, the kids themselves will need to have the ability to understand these higher level concept. Not all kids can handle concepts or principles beyond their level.
So technically, you can't really prep for GEP.
Just as IQ Test cannot really be prep, so GEP Selection Test is the same.
While it is agreed that you cannot gear a child who is at the bottom of the class to a GEP level, preparations can definitely help differentiate and give an edge to who passed the screening test get through. Those who prep will certainly have an edge over those who didn't.[/quote]Perhaps the question then should not be whether or not the GEP should exist, but whether the \"corrupting\" elements can be weeded out.
For instance, it's not the fault of the GEP that kiasu parents make their kids go for GEP prep classes.
Perhaps the distillation process can be refined - throw in interviews? to separate the muggertoads from those who really have different needs.
parents will always be parents. there will be the show-offs (recall the first Amy Chua's Joy Luck Club?), sour-grapes etc, perhaps even more so since we are a very asian society. But we should aspire to rise above such behaviour in and of itself... it's really nothing to do with getting rid of the GEP to eradicate such behaviour. a bit of throwing baby out with bathwater, no? -
pinball:
Honestly, does anyone know how a GEP kid feels being in the prog, a lot of these talk are based on what the parents/adults think. I believe majority of the GEP kids enjoy the prog and nor do they feel they are elitist. A lot of assumptions are based on without understanding what the curriculum is about.
Yup the truth is that most do, some don't. That has always been the reality. -
Sun 2010 and vk2010, I like your posts. They reflect my sentiments too.
Now I don't need to write so much. Just like your posts can already. 
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pinball:
Honestly, does anyone know how a GEP kid feels being in the prog, a lot of these talk are based on what the parents/adults think. I believe majority of the GEP kids enjoy the prog and nor do they feel they are elitist. A lot of assumptions are based on without understanding what the curriculum is about.
My dd said she's happier. Lesson time is so much more fun! So in terms of child's happiness index, mission is accomplished.
Friendship wise, it's about the same, you click with some & don't quite click with some. Although her ex-classmates catched no ball what she was talking about sometimes but that didn't affect their bonding at all. Her existing classmates speak at same wavelength. Nevertheless, temperament & personality played a greater role in establishing friendship than IQ. -
Nebbermind:
Oh, in that case dd's school probably belongs to the former, seems quite laid back. Hardly produce any top scholars the last few years & didn't prep students for Maths Olympiad till p5
I believe not all the GEP schools share this view. Some are more relax and treat the prog as enrichment and only do the catching up for psle during the last few mths. Others, I heard, push very hard and ensure the students ace every single CA and SA during the 3 yrs.verykiasu2010:
It is about enriched curriculum stretching the intellectual ability of the kids. Never about exam. It is also not about grooming an Issac Newton or Thomas Edison or Einstein or Galileo .... it is about not stifling them in their intellectual curiosity based on the normal curriculum -
Increasingly it looks like it is no longer necessary, especially if it is all for the p4 to p6 years. Not worth all that fuss. Afterall by the time they reach secondary, there is not much distinction between the GEP and non GEP, especially in IP schools. Just my 2 cents.
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if the GEP kids in GEP centres are NOT segregated from the rest of the mainstream classes, then why got such labels as GEP and non GEP? for what purpose??
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sleepy:
Perhaps the school wants the kids to get adjusted to the environment and the GEP curriculum before putting in the optional stuff.
Oh, in that case dd's school probably belongs to the former, seems quite laid back. Hardly produce any top scholars the last few years & didn't prep students for Maths Olympiad till p5
In life, there's a time for everything...not everything need to be accelerated. Already doing alot of enriching 'extras' for GEP so let them enjoy the journey rather than feeling stressed with the extra work. -
So what is in GEP that makes it necessary for them to be pulled out of their primary schools and go into a different school? Does anyone know? Why can’t enrichment be done in the same primary school?
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smurf:
if the GEP kids in GEP centres are NOT segregated from the rest of the mainstream classes, then why got such labels as GEP and non GEP? for what purpose??
Also my question... does anyone know? Try very hard to segregate and give a branding to these kids, pull them out for special programs, give them special privilege. Then, after doing all these, put them in twinning programs, tell them to blend in??? :siao:
Confusing the kids? Wasting resources?
What is being taught in GEP that cannot be taught to a bigger group of students who did not make the tests, but are no less smart or academically inclined. Afterall, we know that GEP program is really just academic. There are many, many, many non-GEPers who could easily handle the GEP workload and syllabus. One test determines your future forever.
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