Shall we change the education system?
-
Okay. Enough of the Malaysia-flaming. Can we get back to internal topics?
Being part of the education system in Singapore [I'm in ACS(I)], I feel that the standard of education in Singapore is too high and the O and A Level examination thing should be changed.
Firstly, the systen in Singapore is too exam-based. Everything you hear from the teachers in Sec3 to Sec4 is about how to avoid losing marks by doing correct working (in Maths) blah blah blah which is really infuriating for a person like me who just goes for the answers and does not like wasting time on stating working when you've done it on rough paper in the first place. In Maths papers, you can just do the working and get a wrong answer but still get a majority of marks as "working marks". Does this make sense? To me, Mathematics is about calculations and getting the correct answer in is the main goal. In the end, the O Level system, in its aims to ensure that the students know what they're doing, Singaporean teachers twist everything and tell everyone how to do the working and couldn't care less about your answers because all they want you to do is to get an A1 in that subject and raise the ranking of the school in the Straits Times (gonna raise that issue later).
I know that carbon under pressure produces a diamond, but MOE is seriously over-emphasising this "proverb". Everyone is over-stressed. Even Primary School kids can be over-stressed and committ suicide when they're supposed to have a happy childhood. Probably the best example of stressing kids regarded as "the best method to make students do better" is the River Valley High School.
My cousin was posted to RVHS after a stint in another school (I forgot which one) as a teacher. Using her usual method of getting close to students and to know their strengths and weaknesses to teach them better, the RVHS principal disagreed with her teaching method, saying that "Teachers and students should be poles apart. The teacher's job is to stress the students so that the students will be compelled to do better." Disturbed by this, my cousin, being a civil servant, transferred out a year later.
Under the excuse of "international competition" and "no natural resources but people", is it justified to starve the kids of a happy and memorable childhood just to get a super-good education to best the world? It is no surprise that the students which the MOE produce students that top the world in subjects like Math and Science, but do rather badly in Humanities.
The subject of Social Studies. In Singapore, Social Studies is another word for "must-do-in-exam-propaganda-subject".
Having studied it for a year and reading through this year's textbook, it is pure propaganda. In taking advantage of the general student's mentality of "will come out in exam, must study" and making the subject an elective Humanities subject (elective humanity is half a subject. Social Studies makes up half your marks in Combined Humanities, plus another half of History, Geography or Literature. You cannot drop an elective humanity). Is pure mugging going to instill patriotism for the country through compulsory-studying propaganda? No.
I'm not finished... will add later. -
I think the question is more of," Can we change?" instead of ," Shall we change?" -
Oops. Sorry about the grammatical mistake.
As long as the topic gets my message through, it's okay. -
Originally posted by NEWater:Oops. Sorry about the grammatical mistake. As long as the topic gets my message through, it's okay. I wasn't refering to your grammatical mistake. I am wondering if we have the ability or power to change. You know the feeling or 'xin you yu er li bu zhu'?
-
Ohh.....
It's quite obvious, isn't it? This country is a one-party country. SDP? WP? They're all crushed. The major population in Singapore have no choice but to vote for PAP because the PAP holds the flat upgrading and right-to-ask-MP-for-help hostage.
There's no real democracy in Singapore but I was just airing my views. -
Then what do you propose? It is never easy for one to reach a compromise ie having a not so stressful education system and yet have the ability to keep on with the change in technology. About the social studies program, i too, have undergone it, and i found it quite educational.Of course some of the topics may seem to be propaganda, but if you apply the imformation given in the future, it can be of quite good use.For example, the social studies shows examples of good and bad goverments, ie rise and fall of vienice etc.Originally posted by NEWater:Ohh.....
It's quite obvious, isn't it? This country is a one-party country. SDP? WP? They're all crushed. The major population in Singapore have no choice but to vote for PAP because the PAP holds the flat upgrading and right-to-ask-MP-for-help hostage.
There's no real democracy in Singapore but I was just airing my views. -
Do we seriously want to consider to change the education system AGAIN?
The Straits Times recently published that there are more students dropping out of A Levels mid-course, or failing to get through to University, and subsequently opting for Polytechnic as an alternative route to Higher Education.
The reason given was that most of these students could not cope with the changes with the introduction of the S.A.T.S course as a suitability test to enter University.
Each change that is implemented on an ad-hoc basis will carry such consequences, in which time and effort is wasted, a young personÂ’s morale and mental fiber is put to the test and hopefully a better person is made.
Many Government Policies are made with its effects discovered too late, and the fall-out felt over a long term.
Some of the mistaken policies admitted by the Government are:
Two Child Family – which was so successfully implemented, that it resulted in the Population not able to replace itself.
Woman’s Charter – that protects the Woman, in dictating a “One Man – One Wife” Law; but created a situation in which second wives are no longer allowed to be practiced; and resulting in a large number of unmarried girls who are intelligent and of child bearing age – unable to pass their gene on to a new generation.
CPF contribution at 40 Percent – which drew out a large sum of money from the economy, but provides the Government with a cheap source of long term financing.
High Cost of Home Ownership – which has made Singaporeans rich in fixed asset, but poor in disposable liquidity during Old Age, which results in lifetime payment of unending mortgages.
High Cost of Economic Activities – that is largely caused by artificially dictated high prices in selling land parcels for development, resulting in high property prices, resulting in high rental rates, resulting in over rated mortgages to be committed by the Banks, and resulting in the fact that the economy will disintegrate if the cost for any one component is adjusted to a lower value.
High Cost of Car Ownership – the large amount of cash wasted on C.O.E. and the high cost of Owning and Operating a Car that is required to be scrapped at the end of the first Ten Years, or the renewal of the C.O.E. for the car to be used until the end of its Second Ten Year Period; which result in a large enforced expenditure of disposable income to an average Singaporean Family that is burdened by home mortgages and other financing costs, which make the Singaporean Individual dependent entirely on the Government for its continued economic survival.
The above are some of the recognized and admitted Government Policies that have immediate and admitted impact, which resulted in some Government fine-tuning.
However, there remain some Government Policies that the Government has refused to acknowledge, and carry with it the long-term danger of negative impact:
GRC Election System – that assured the admission into Parliament of weak candidates that the Ruling Party “think” is suitable to be groomed as a Political Leader for the Community. In so doing, it deprived an equally or better Opposition Candidates from representing their constituents.
Privatization of Government Linked Companies – that merely result in the changing of ownership from a direct Ownership by Temasek Holdings, to a “Private Named” Company whose capital is set up by the Government Investment Corporation.
The accountability of SingaporeÂ’s National Reserves in the Hands of the Ruling Party, that remains unaccountable even to an Elected Presidency.
A system of Government that is governed by Political Appointees, that can leave the Country in a limbo, in the event of a popularly elected Opposition Party coming into Power – as had happened in Taiwan, when the Kuomintang was thrown out of office and the opposition DPP was popularly voted to rule Taiwan but its effectiveness was hampered by the Kuomintang Political Appointees that ran the various Government Agencies and Civil Services. -
Do we seriously want to consider to change the education system AGAIN?
The Straits Times recently published that there are more students dropping out of A Levels mid-course, or failing to get through to University, and subsequently opting for Polytechnic as an alternative route to Higher Education.
The reason given was that most of these students could not cope with the changes with the introduction of the S.A.T.S course as a suitability test to enter University.
Each change that is implemented on an ad-hoc basis will carry such consequences, in which time and effort is wasted, a young personÂ’s morale and mental fiber is put to the test and hopefully a better person is made.
Many Government Policies are made with its effects discovered too late, and the fall-out felt over a long term.
Some of the mistaken policies admitted by the Government are:
Two Child Family – which was so successfully implemented, that it resulted in the Population not able to replace itself.
Woman’s Charter – that protects the Woman, in dictating a “One Man – One Wife” Law; but created a situation in which second wives are no longer allowed to be practiced; and resulting in a large number of unmarried girls who are intelligent and of child bearing age – unable to pass their gene on to a new generation.
CPF contribution at 40 Percent – which drew out a large sum of money from the economy, but provides the Government with a cheap source of long term financing.
High Cost of Home Ownership – which has made Singaporeans rich in fixed asset, but poor in disposable liquidity during Old Age, which results in lifetime payment of unending mortgages.
High Cost of Economic Activities – that is largely caused by artificially dictated high prices in selling land parcels for development, resulting in high property prices, resulting in high rental rates, resulting in over rated mortgages to be committed by the Banks, and resulting in the fact that the economy will disintegrate if the cost for any one component is adjusted to a lower value.
High Cost of Car Ownership – the large amount of cash wasted on C.O.E. and the high cost of Owning and Operating a Car that is required to be scrapped at the end of the first Ten Years, or the renewal of the C.O.E. for the car to be used until the end of its Second Ten Year Period; which result in a large enforced expenditure of disposable income to an average Singaporean Family that is burdened by home mortgages and other financing costs, which make the Singaporean Individual dependent entirely on the Government for its continued economic survival.
The above are some of the recognized and admitted Government Policies that have immediate and admitted impact, which resulted in some Government fine-tuning.
However, there remain some Government Policies that the Government has refused to acknowledge, and carry with it the long-term danger of negative impact:
GRC Election System – that assured the admission into Parliament of weak candidates that the Ruling Party “think” is suitable to be groomed as a Political Leader for the Community. In so doing, it deprived an equally or better Opposition Candidates from representing their constituents.
Privatization of Government Linked Companies – that merely result in the changing of ownership from a direct Ownership by Temasek Holdings, to a “Private Named” Company whose capital is set up by the Government Investment Corporation.
The accountability of SingaporeÂ’s National Reserves in the Hands of the Ruling Party, that remains unaccountable even to an Elected Presidency.
A system of Government that is governed by Political Appointees, that can leave the Country in a limbo, in the event of a popularly elected Opposition Party coming into Power – as had happened in Taiwan, when the Kuomintang was thrown out of office and the opposition DPP was popularly voted to rule Taiwan but its effectiveness was hampered by the Kuomintang Political Appointees that ran the various Government Agencies and Civil Services. -
-
i am a trainee-teacher undergrad
i say change
kids will not benefit from our present system
if u all notice
all the MPs are from the old school system
we have yet to fill impt positions with pple from this "generation"
name me 1 person who can take over Dr Tony Tan's job
i dun think there is one yet
and i dun think there will ever be one as cool headed as him
my personal opinions folks -
____________________________________________________Originally posted by whiteillum:i am a trainee-teacher undergrad
i say change
kids will not benefit from our present system
if u all notice
all the MPs are from the old school system
we have yet to fill impt positions with pple from this "generation"
name me 1 person who can take over Dr Tony Tan's job
i dun think there is one yet
and i dun think there will ever be one as cool headed as him
my personal opinions folks
Presumably, by this generation you are referring to the current group now in their teenies ?
Certainly they will not be capable of taking over Tony Tan's position, let alone wear his shoes - not if they drop out at "O" or "A" levels.
The old school system did not fair any better either, and that generation (2 or 3 years ago), will probaly now be either in NS, or in Polytechnic, if not in Colleges, or looking for job in a tight economy facing recession.