Action after Much Damage has been Done.....
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I not stupid
The Education Ministry is scrapping the EM3 stream for slow learners. Two former EM3 students say that is a good thing'It was pointless being known as slow when I'm obviously not'
By Veena Bharwani
September 30, 2006
THE change came a little too late for him.
The EM3 stream in primary schools, for the academically-weakest pupils, will be scrapped from 2008.
Em3 success stories Low Song Chuan (above), 20, and Chua Kim Wee (below left), 19. -- KUA CHEE SIONG
That was the key announcement made by Minister of Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the ministry's Work Plan Seminar yesterday.
Even then, former EM3 student Low Song Chuan, 20, is glad that the controversial stream is being phased out.
He is happy for the next generation, because the Temasek Polytechnic student harbours some ugly memories from being in the stream, which was widely seen as the lowest.
Said the former Cedar Primary student: 'Other students from upper streams looked down on me. I could feel that they looked at me differently.'
While a particular incident does not stick in his mind, he recalls even his relatives looking at him funnily.
'They didn't say anything to me. But my mum told me that they think I'm not good enough because I'm in EM3.'
He added: 'I hardly mixed with students from other classes because of this.'
And that is one of the key reasons why the stream is being scrapped.
Mr Tharman said: 'We already place students from different streams in the same schools.
'It gives students with different abilities the opportunities to interact with each other, work with each other, and build up friendship. That's a strength of the Singapore system.'
MAKING STUDENTS MIX
-- KUA CHEE SIONG
With the removal of the stream, Song Chuan agrees that students will be able to mingle better.
'Students can learn new things when they mix with others. You can discover your own potential and push your limits,' he said.
He explained: 'If you are weak in one subject and you spend time with others who are good at it, you can improve in it over time.'
Looking back, he feels that if there had been banding for each subject in his time, he might have done better.
'I was quite good at Maths but weak in English. If I had been pushed to do Maths at a higher level, I think I would have coped well,' he said.
He used to obtain As for his Maths papers in upper primary, but barely passed his English and Chinese papers.
Because of that, he scored only 90 points for his PSLE.
But through sheer determination, he made something of himself.
He entered the Normal-Technical stream in Bendemeer Secondary in 1999 and later made it to an ITE in 2003 doing the Multimedia Technology course.
He did so well in his ITE course that he qualified for polytechnic in 2004.
Song Chuan is flying high now, scoring mostly As in his Information Communications course.
The second-year student even made it to the Director's List last year - a privilege reserved for the top 10 per cent in a particular course.
He said: ''I'm doing well now. It was pointless to be known as a slow student as I'm not, obviously.' -
In 1994, CSJ wrote about the need to change the education policy in his book 'Dare to Change', and this topic was revisited again in 2001 with his book 'Your Future, My Faith, Our Freedom' :
An extract from 'Your Future, My Faith, Our Freedom' : Page 217 :
An Alternative Wealthy Society
Policy changes are inevitable and urgent if Singapore is going to remain viable not just in terms of GDP growth but also in ensuring that its citizens are able to enjoy a quality of life commensurate with their toil, that its children don't become psychological wrecks, and that demographic transformation does not occur at the expense of the locals.
Do away with streaming. It is important to eliminate the streaming process, especially at the primary four level. Cognitive functions in young students must be given the chance to develop before any categorisation and training is effected. Experienced teachers and those with specialised training should be assigned to provide weaker students with added attention and time in an effort to level up the classroom.
Singapore's education system has always been geared towards producing the talent for the type of industry the government considers important. The latest flavour of the month is life sciences (the previous one being Information Technology). Upon the discovery that there is big bucks to be made in the field, the Ministry of Education inanely but expectedly announced that life sciences terms will be taught right from primary one through to pre-university level and beyond. Words such as cell, gene, germs, etc., will form part of the vocabulary taught to first graders from 2001.
The education minister related that this was because the government had to prepare Singaporeans to ride the 'Next wave in scientific and technological innovations.' Ho Ching, one of the chief planners of Singapore's economy and Lee Kuan Yew's daughter-in-law, weighed in that there was a need to review Singapore's education system to bring about a greater emphasis on the biochemical and biomedical fields. There is little attempt to reform the educational system.
This utilitarian approach continues through to the university level. Top students at the National University of Singapore will now be enrolled in a special curriculum where they will be trained 'for the new economy'. One of the programme's new recruits duly boasted: 'It prepares you for the new economy well in allowing you to understand and use the links between the sciences and the arts.' Another hoped that the new scheme would give her 'an edge in the job market.' In 2001, the government announced that it iintends to attract top colleges from the United States and Europe to set up univeristy programmes in Singapore, Of course, these courses will centre on disciplines such as medicine, engineering, business, and information technology. Tellingly, and unsurprisingly, the body charged with this task is not the Education Ministry but the Economic Development Board.
The PAP's education policy is a massive effort to teach students what to think, not how to think. The amont of work that the system places on young students is beyond comprehension. Professor Roger Schank, director of the Institute of Learning Sciences in Northwestern University, pretty much summed up the matter when he said to Singapore's educators: 'You don't have a great education. Your sense of a well-educated man is someone who has memorised all the facts.' The reduction in volume of material students are expected to cover cannot be over-emphasised if we are to produce well-educated, not just well-drilled, students.
Education must remain a process where an individual learns to discover oneself and, in doing so, endeavour to improve the human condition. For our future, it is important that we teach our children that reading and learning can be enjoyable and intrinsically rewarding.
In this regard, does the PAP have a clear idea of what education is or should be besides defining it in terms of dollars and cents ? Who is the educated Singaporean ? What qualities would we like to see in her ? How should education serve the needs of Singapore over and beyond the economic considerations ? Why are Singaporeans not reading as much as their counterparts in other countries ? These are not esoteric questions. They are fundamental issues that are essential in the formulation of sound educational policies. As long as we fail to understand and address such issues, we will be caught in a cyclical pattern of making patchy revisions to our educational system that will lead us nowhere.
Focus less on materialistic wealth The overall philosophy of the government must be one of ensuring the well being of Singaporeans in a holistic manner. Being obsessed with material acquisition inadvertently makes it harder for society to create wealth. This reminds me of the visual phenomenon of stargazing. When we focus too intently on a distant and dim star, we often lose sight of it. But when we gaze in its vicinity and make less effort in trying to bring it into our visual focus, we see better. This is because the periphery of our vision detects light better when it is dark. Similarly, making money the nucleus of our existence will blind us to the other values in life, some of which may even lead us to greater opportunities of wealth creation. The greater our obsession with crass materialism, the more elusive wealth will be.
To develop a dynamic and well-rounded society, a government must invest in the people. The PAP's idea of fiscal spending on education and training and then extracting payback in the form of economic production is not what I am talking about. Political investment in the people by way of guaranteeing a free flow of information through a free mass media is vital. National debate, even intense ones on controversial subjects, will allow the literate population in Singapore to draw energy from the passions of the various interest groups in society. History tells us that it is the unread and uninformed society that poses the greatest danger to itself. Frequent exchanges of diverse viewpoints teach a community to be mindiful of opinions that are often at odds with one's own. With a good legal system to ensure that voices do not escalate into violence, tolerance and acceptance of non-uniformity becomes embedded into the political culture. This is turns provides the vibrancy, the 'buzz' that is lacking in Singapore but necessary for the economy to innovate and compete. Cracking the whip and admonishing Singaporeans to train and re-train in order to upgrade their skills while continuing to reduce their political space, drains them of energy and commitment. -
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change, change and change.
our education ministry have become very fickle-minded.
soon our students can go to university directly from kindergarten.
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THis is one over-due policy that should hav abolished long time ago; other policies took a swipe and is gone e.g. hanyu ping yi saga...
It is infliating to have such policy makers that flicker with the slightest knowledge of some new scheme or methodologies and jump into it at rampant, and forgetting that it will and has affect the lives of many of the young ones there-on; ironically, most of these policy pple send their kids overseas to study from young. -
why implement em3 in the 1st place?
why implement SAT1 in the 1st place?
frankly speaking, i hope they changed the education minister too! cos he's only good in making roti prata since he is an indian.
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I suggest to PAP to out source the ministry of Education by engaging British or American Minister to re-format our educational system. The British and American are not only very successful and famous, and they have also produced loads of super students.
Furthermore, they are much more cheaper as compare to PAP cabinet ministers!!!
This is a fact!!! -
haha... SAT1 for uni admission is another big flop...Originally posted by 798:why implement em3 in the 1st place?
why implement SAT1 in the 1st place?
frankly speaking, i hope they changed the education minister too! cos he's only good in making roti prata since he is an indian.
U know who sat on the team to decide SAT is needed for uni entrance? The CEO of SAT lah... insider's job...and how come CPIB no go investigate? -
I feel the biggest joke is........after 41 yrs of independence, boasting about a good, well-established education system, which sees the students out perfoming the Americans in terms of the sciences, WE STILL NEED TO DEPEND ON THE BRITISH FOR O/A LEVEL EXAMS!!! Dun u feel that it is ironic. Such important exams, that determines the fate and route of advancement in terms of education lies in the FATE OF SOME ANG MOHS LIVING THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY FROM SG? WE STILL DARE CLAIM WE ARE AN EDUCATION HUB? We have to pay our precious monies just to ship our exam papers there to get marked when it can actually be marked here?
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I think depending on the british O/A levels make out education more internationally recognised. Students can use their results and enter almost any overseas insitute without worries that it'll be useless.Originally posted by equlus84:I feel the biggest joke is........after 41 yrs of independence, boasting about a good, well-established education system, which sees the students out perfoming the Americans in terms of the sciences, WE STILL NEED TO DEPEND ON THE BRITISH FOR O/A LEVEL EXAMS!!! Dun u feel that it is ironic. Such important exams, that determines the fate and route of advancement in terms of education lies in the FATE OF SOME ANG MOHS LIVING THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY FROM SG? WE STILL DARE CLAIM WE ARE AN EDUCATION HUB? We have to pay our precious monies just to ship our exam papers there to get marked when it can actually be marked here?
Back to topic... EM3 should be scrapped long ago!! When does labelling people lousy makes them better? Anyone can tell you it doesn't work. I used to teach in a few schools with EM3 classes and there's a certain resignment to fate in them... like they accept their labelling and think they can't make it. Just feels so sad for them
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Oh hell yeah I remember that...Originally posted by sgboy2004:haha... SAT1 for uni admission is another big flop...
U know who sat on the team to decide SAT is needed for uni entrance? The CEO of SAT lah... insider's job...and how come CPIB no go investigate?
My batch was the last batch of A Level students who didn't have to take the SAT. However, some of my friends didn't get the courses they wanted in uni and had to reapply. In order to reapply, they had to study for and take the SAT.
Fast forward two years. We were all about to ORD. Then the news broke - you don't need SAT to apply for NUS and NTU anymore.
I can vividly remember the endless stream of insults from those friends of mine directed at the MOE. -
I cannot tahan...
can someone tell me ah, why is our gov so bluddy LPPL in everything they do???
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I was glad to have my Literature and General Papers marked in UK because of the content of my essay, which in school, was slapped with a low C or B because I always wrote on subjects deemed controversial by the narrowminded teachers. They would always discourage us writing essays on war, politics, issue of conscience etc.. preferring to steer us on the nice happy areas of family, education, deliquency and how to arrest it.Originally posted by equlus84:I feel the biggest joke is........after 41 yrs of independence, boasting about a good, well-established education system, which sees the students out perfoming the Americans in terms of the sciences, WE STILL NEED TO DEPEND ON THE BRITISH FOR O/A LEVEL EXAMS!!! Dun u feel that it is ironic. Such important exams, that determines the fate and route of advancement in terms of education lies in the FATE OF SOME ANG MOHS LIVING THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY FROM SG? WE STILL DARE CLAIM WE ARE AN EDUCATION HUB? We have to pay our precious monies just to ship our exam papers there to get marked when it can actually be marked here? -
duplicate.