The SIngapore Education SYstem
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Okay people, I need some views from the public (that means all of you out there) regarding the Singapore Education System for my project in school.
What are the disadvantages of the Singapore Education System?
Do you think that IT is being integrated with the curriculum in Singapore success fully?
The stress level of schools in Singapore has often said to be too high. What are ur views on this?
Any comments about the thru-train scheme? (where pupils from Secondary schools go straight to an affilated JC, eg. RI -> RJC)
Is it fair? Any problems the students will face? (eg. if they drop out at JC, then their highest qualification will be PSLE becos they didn't take O'levels at sec4 before going to JC)
Any feedback on all or part of the above would be welcome , thanks in advance -
personally, i feel that the education is pretty good. it makes all of us competitive and keep up with the world. the education is crucial to singapore's development and her economy. however, i also feel that the entire system is stifling creativity in our economy. everyone learns to be too complacent because of this meritocratic system in singapore.
though it's essential for the development of our economy, but it's harmful to an individual. i guess nevertheless, everyone has to juggle with their own stress level. -
thanks for the reply. I think the stress topic is pretty subjective too.. it will depend on each individual. also, in a way, i think you can probably regulate your stress in school (eg. whether you take 8 or 9 subjects, whether you got 3rd lang., how many CCAs yougot, etc)
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yeah, some people deal with it better, whereas some people have a hard time trying to deal with it.
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Simply put, I feel the education system places too much emphasis on grades. The general perception, contributed by society at large, parents and the whole education system, is that if you don't score straight As and I do, that makes me a better person than you. Period. Nothing else matters.
Education is not simply about grades, its also moulding the mind, the character of the young. The system imparts kids with knowledge for exams, teaches them how to spot questions for exams, and then promptly forgets about it after stepping out of the exam hall, so they can cram their brains with more material for the next exam. The system teaches us not to be thinkers, just followers. There must be more emphasis on teaching us to think, to solve problems, not to just do something because "the book says so".
For example, in one of my subjects in my Aerospace Engineering course in Aust, we had just 3-4 lessons for it in the entire 15 week semester. 1st week, we were given an outline to a problem, to design an aircraft using a set of specifications on a single piece of A4 paper, plus a second A4 sheet detailing what aspects of the design to focus on and what to ignore. We're put into groups of 9-10, chosen by the lecturer instead of letting us choose our own groups with ppl we know because, in industry, we don't get to choose who to work with. The remaining 3 lessons we were not taught anything, instead it was used to do presentations on our progess(2 presentations) and the final presnentation. Lecturers from the entire department and selected industry figures were on hand to listen to us present our design and the floor was open to questions from anyone when a group finished its presentations. We had to design every aspect of the plane, from wings, landing gear, tail, cockpit, engine selection and draw out the design on CAD/CAM. Nothing was taught to us, we were told to use whatever we've learnt in our previous years to design. Lecturers were available for questions, otherwise we're on our own. Grading is done by a combination of your teammates evaluation of you and the lecturers reading of your final report. Can anyone see subjects taught like this in Singapore schools? I can't. Neither can the Singaporeans friends I've told this to.
Finally, the education system I feel has to teach kids not only to become knowledgable, but also on how to be a good person. Grades aren't everything. Everytime I come back to Singapore for holidays, I see students from the so-called top schools, behaving like louts without consideration for those around them. And this, I'm afraid, is where the Singaporean education system has failed. All too often, we produce good students, but lousy people. -
heyhey, not all students are lousy people. if you said that you are actually insulting the entire Singapore population and besides, all your words can be summarised into: singapore practices meritocracy. grades do matter anywhere, seriously.
without the people from the good schools, graduating with top grades, and who are highly skilled, there would be no singapore. singapore would still be a fishing village. -
I would suggest you read my post carefully. Since when did I say grade do not matter at all? I never did. What I questioned is the systems tendency to produce students who are exam-smart but knowledge-stupid. If a straight A student who can't pick out Singapore from a map of SE Asia nevermind the world, or tell you when Singapore became independent, simply because they didn't take history in Sec 3/4, are they really smart? Or simply exam-smart? There is a difference you knowOriginally posted by Dolce Vita:heyhey, not all students are lousy people. if you said that you are actually insulting the entire Singapore population and besides, all your words can be summarised into: singapore practices meritocracy. grades do matter anywhere, seriously.
without the people from the good schools, graduating with top grades, and who are highly skilled, there would be no singapore. singapore would still be a fishing village.
What I questioned was the over-reliance on using exams to determine grades, and thus someone's "so called" intelligence. While I do accept that exams are the most cost-effective way to judge achievement, my problem is that I feel exams should not be the be-all and end-all of evaluating a person's eduacation. By doing so the system will only produce a whole lot of graduates who are good a mugging books by the truckload, regurgitating the facts they've mugged from the books at the exam hall without ever understanding the material they learnt.
Meritocracy is a system where a person who deserves to be ahead is ahead, regardless of anything else. I've known lots of so-called top engineers who bagged first class honours who couldn't tell a screwdriver from a spanner, but are where they are because they're good at the "regurgitiation technique" mentioned above. Is that meritocracy?
Which is why I applaud the governments attempts to "remake Singapore", and change the education system into giving a more rounded education rather than just focusing on grades . But I fear this change will not happen overnight as the mindset that "Grades are everything" is already too ingrained in the Singaporean psyche. -
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,1870,140728,00.html?
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/story/0,1870,140557,00.html?
The above 2 stories illustrate my point. The students and parents interviewed have all but admitted that their kids are nothing but exam smart. For f***s sake, these are bloody 18 year olds who are just a step away from university, and they're afraid to analyse and think?
Its about time Singapore produces students who are able to analyse and think what they study, rather than just regurgitate what they mug from books and 10-year series. I usually have little love lost for the Ministry of Education, but I will give credit where credit is due and applaud them for initialing this long-overdue move -
it's pretty true tt some of the students aced their results cos they are indeed exam-smart, but it wun be fair to say tt all of them are like that. anyway, even if they did well enuf to get a scholarship to study o'seas, they might not be able to cope then as the Uni system isn't textbook-based.
it's really a relief tt MOE is moving away from such practices. still, it will take many years b4 it's widely accepted by all parents. the TYS-concept is too deep-rooted in the minds of the parents.
my only little complaint is tt perhaps the MOE can allow a way for slow-learners to be "channelled" back into the elite group of students being groomed for future leadership positions. u may stream the students at Pri 4 and Sec 2, but also allow the "weaker" students who do well into scholarship programs if they are capable. being slow in learning does not equate to stupid. Einstein was a slow-learning genius!
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come to think of it, yah i think students should be given a second chance later on if they prove they can 'survive' in the normal streams after having been in weaker streams, why not? school is suppose to be forgiving, but the education system today is not exactly so...
and thanks for your views, iam still reading the posts here, pls give more comments!