zbear:

havok_ex:

Second chances should come in play when say you failed or have done badly for A level, the second chance may come in the form of going to poly after flunking your A levels and trying to do better there instead. This form of second chance does exist. Trying to repeat the Os or the As over and over again wont work.

Are you saying that Polys accept students who fail their A Levels? If yes, do they have to start from Year 1 just like those freshies who just completed their O levels?

schweppes:

slmkhoo:

Would they be willing to reduce group work and allow more individual assignments?

In this regard, no. Group work is part of the assessment criteria. And there's group work for almost all the modules in poly.

The usual reasons for ensuring group work: teach students to work as a team/group, learn about group dynamics, prepare them for the workforce as they learn to work with others and with ppl whom they can't get along.... Also prepares them for uni work which is also has group work component.

Another reason for group work is that sometimes the requirements needed to fulfill the task and assignment are too broad and there's much depth to cover. Hence, it needs at least a few member to work on it as it will be too much for one person to work on.

Whilst students generally find group projects a pain (esp if there's a free rider in the group), they learn to cope and work around the prob. The headache comes in when majority are free riders and only 1-2 good group members.

schweppes:

slmkhoo:

Thanks. Actually, my daughter was interested in the course at Temasek Poly for Library technicians, but it doesn't exist anymore! Not sure what else that she would be suited for as she is very narrow in scope and has limitations.

.....

I truly believe that there is something for every student.

Would you consider Lasalle College School of the Arts (LS) or Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts as an alternate route? I have been to their Open Houses and they have fantastic programs in place. Very impressed with what they have come up with.

They may be private institutions but they are under MOE's purview. Here's a write-up extracted from MOE's website,

\"LASALLE and NAFA are private institutions providing post-secondary education in the arts. Both LASALLE and NAFA offer publicly-funded diploma programmes. The institutions also receive government funding for select degree programmes offered in partnership with reputable overseas universities.\"

http://www.moe.edu.sg/education/post-secondary/

Can check out LS and/or Nafa - maybe for their Theatre studies or media arts / graphic communication courses. Not so much in acting but in script writing (theatre studies) and copywriting or visual/graphic communications for the advertising or media industries.

Their Open House is in Jan. Can go check them out.

And best of all, no maths!!

havok_ex:

Well, in my opinion, everyone should have a second chance. But it is quite narrow to think that there is only one path, and one path only. That is Olevel>Alevel>Uni. Second chances should come in play when say you failed or have done badly for A level, the second chance may come in the form of going to poly after flunking your A levels and trying to do better there instead. This form of second chance does exist. Trying to repeat the Os or the As over and over again wont work. Trust me, I actually have an acquaintance who spent 4 years in JC. Not MI, but a regular JC. And at the end of it, she still had bad grades to show for it and could not qualify for local uni. The second chances did nothing for her except waste her time....


Singaporeans have to change their mentality. The problem stems from the mentality that \"I need to get into XJC or Y-University\" in order to be successful. That's not true. If parents keep enforcing this idea, then nothing will ever change, no matter how many alternative pathways the govt sets up. The different paths are there for a reason, there is more than one way to be successful, you dont have to keep banging on one door to force it open, simply find another door.

slmkhoo:

Thanks. Actually, my daughter was interested in the course at Temasek Poly for Library technicians, but it doesn't exist anymore! Not sure what else that she would be suited for as she is very narrow in scope and has limitations.

.....

slmkhoo:

Another question - any idea if any of the polys is more accommodating to students with special needs such as Aspergers?

slmkhoo:

Would they be willing to reduce group work and allow more individual assignments?

schweppes:

Yes, A level students can apply to poly.


Not sure if they can get a 1/2 to 1 year exemption tho from 1st year poly. Think must check with the different polys' respective schools (by that I mean Sch of Business or Engineering or IT or Life Sciences, etc) as each school from the respective polys may have different entry requirements.

For example, in the case of NYP Sch of Health Sciences, for their diplomas in Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Radiation Therapy and Diagnostic Radiography, students have to go their 3 year prog, and if they do well enough to qualify, proceed to do a 1 or 2 year degree with whichever universities NYP has collabroated with.

(I'm not sure if the rules have changed for recent enrollment, the above Health Sciences diplomas only take in A level students and not Os. But please check on this for current entry requirements)

Here is a link to their Health Sciences prog, http://www.nyp.edu.sg/nyp/slot/u142/Ima ... 13-web.pdf

havok_ex:

Singaporeans have to change their mentality. The problem stems from the mentality that \"I need to get into XJC or Y-University\" in order to be successful. That's not true. If parents keep enforcing this idea, then nothing will ever change, no matter how many alternative pathways the govt sets up. The different paths are there for a reason, there is more than one way to be successful, you dont have to keep banging on one door to force it open, simply find another door.

slmkhoo:

zbear:

Are you saying that Polys accept students who fail their A Levels? If yes, do they have to start from Year 1 just like those freshies who just completed their O levels?

What about students who pass A levels but don't get into a university? Can they apply to Polys?

zbear:

havok_ex:

Second chances should come in play when say you failed or have done badly for A level, the second chance may come in the form of going to poly after flunking your A levels and trying to do better there instead. This form of second chance does exist. Trying to repeat the Os or the As over and over again wont work.

Are you saying that Polys accept students who fail their A Levels? If yes, do they have to start from Year 1 just like those freshies who just completed their O levels?

havok_ex:

Second chances should come in play when say you failed or have done badly for A level, the second chance may come in the form of going to poly after flunking your A levels and trying to do better there instead. This form of second chance does exist. Trying to repeat the Os or the As over and over again wont work.

ChiefKiasu:

havok_ex:

No handicap imposed. However, you can't just want to retake just because you did not manage to go to JC. You must fail a certain number of subjects to be allowed to retake, otherwise, you would have to do it as a private candidate.

Thanks havok_ex for the info.

Actually, I see rulings such as these to be inculcating the \"no 2nd chance\" culture in our society, which is extremely brutal and could be damaging to any attempt to try to promote an entrepreneurial spirit among our young. I cannot think of any reason why MOE should not offer students who did badly in the major exams a 2nd chance to try it again within the framework of its standard programs. Perhaps it is worried about straining its resources, or that repeat students might be unfairly given subsidized education with respect to other students. Or that there is not enough places in JCs to offer to all these students?

havok_ex:

No handicap imposed. However, you can't just want to retake just because you did not manage to go to JC. You must fail a certain number of subjects to be allowed to retake, otherwise, you would have to do it as a private candidate.

schweppes:

The sad thing is that students who want to retake must do so as a private candidate. They can either study on their own, register with a private school (if not mistaken, MDIS and St Francis Methodist Sch) or go for tuition and then retake the O exams at whichever sch MOE assigns them to when the time comes.


If not mistaken, I doubt students who want to retake their Os can do so at their former sec sch. Find this such a pity. Then again, the sec sch may not have sufficient places and resources to handle these repeat students.

ChiefKiasu:

On a side note, how does our education system handle students who retake their examinations? Suppose a student did not do well enough to make it to JC, is it possible that he/she stays back a year to retake \"O\"-levels and try again? Are there any handicap imposed by the system on repeat students, other than the fact that most of their peers would be at least a year ahead of them?