Co-curricular activities
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fark, it's graded now ? ...
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yup. it's call LEAP program if im not wrong. started in 2002 or 2003.
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it has been graded for like 10 plus years?
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Having gone through this CCA system myself, I feel that it's a retarded move. Forcing students into joining some ridiculous activities in school doesn't help them get a more holistic education anymore than building ERPs on every road would help solve congestion problems. While the idea of a holistic education is a good one, the implementation is screwed up. If you want to build character in students, give them chances to learn about responsibility and allow for personal growth, what you really should be doing is to encourage students to explore outside of their already taxing academic life. I believe there's a very good phrase for this and it's called, "Getting a life."
I don't think that such qualities can be built in a school environment regardless of the sort of programme they implement and people must realise that schools can't teach everything and that getting educated is not something solely restricted to schooling.
Compulsory CCA only wastes more of their already precious free time and deters them from exploring outside of school life to learn many important qualities that schools will never be able to impart. I think this why many people say that our schools are essentially robot factories.
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Originally posted by gamerx:
Having gone through this CCA system myself, I feel that it's a retarded move. Forcing students into joining some ridiculous activities in school doesn't help them get a more holistic education anymore than building ERPs on every road would help solve congestion problems. While the idea of a holistic education is a good one, the implementation is screwed up. If you want to build character in students, give them chances to learn about responsibility and allow for personal growth, what you really should be doing is to encourage students to explore outside of their already taxing academic life. I believe there's a very good phrase for this and it's called, "Getting a life."
I don't think that such qualities can be built in a school environment regardless of the sort of programme they implement and people must realise that schools can't teach everything and that getting educated is not something solely restricted to schooling.
Compulsory CCA only wastes more of their already precious free time and deters them from exploring outside of school life to learn many important qualities that schools will never be able to impart. I think this why many people say that our schools are essentially robot factories.
agree 100%.
If what they really want to achieve is people who are both street and book smart, time should be dedicated for students to work towards those aspects. Having at least 6 hours cut off per week just for some shit that students have absolutely no interest in is taxing to the student mentally and physically, and might be exhausting to a certain extent. We do understand the rationale behind the CCA system, but they are doing it wrongly, with an impractical and as you suggested, retarded method.
Seriously, I wonder when this kind of shit is going to be abolished completely..
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just join and be phantom?
seriously though, what stuff are you guys so busy with that you have no time to do retarded stuff with your school mates like cca?
i realised that apart from cca and school, the rest of the stuff i do is pretty retarded anyway.
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They should adopt the poly style, lots of cool cca's and none of them compulsory.
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i want to be phantom, but doing so would defeat the purpose of even having a cca in the first place - your testimonials. anyway, the teachers would hunt us down if we don't participate actively
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Originally posted by skythewood:
just join and be phantom?
seriously though, what stuff are you guys so busy with that you have no time to do retarded stuff with your school mates like cca?
i realised that apart from cca and school, the rest of the stuff i do is pretty retarded anyway.
Read carefully. I didn't say that CCAs are retarded, I said that the idea of making CCAs compulsory is retarded.
I might not have been very busy outside of school life but how is that wrong? Doesn't a student have the rights to enjoy his childhood and adolescence, spend time on a hobby, spend time with his family, seeking experiences outside of school,etc.
You might argue that CCAs don't take up so much time that students are completely left without the time to engage in the above activities but if CCAs don't serve their purposes well and on top of it is a torment, then it is more a waste of time than any other actitivities a normal youth can do.
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i'm not very sure what you said, but i do think cca is retarded. fun, but retarded.
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Last time, people took up ECAs because of interest and it was something people looked forward to after classes or on Saturdays.
Somehow, the education ministry has managed to screw up this one good thing in a student's life and turn it into some stupid shit.
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u going ITE? Private?
CCA = waste of ur freaking time... -
Yeah... compulsory CCA is crap, totally defeats the purpose of having a cca.
But for those who say studying trigo/useless non-life-related studies is crap, it's not entirely true..
Almost every advanced country's education's system is like this, they build up your foundation on EVERY single thing they can, so you will have a wider base of choice you can advance in when you reach that level.
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cca is for you to learn life skills. obviously ts didnt do well in his cca...its about the soft skills that is essential and cca is a very good platform for youngsters to try it out and learn something...
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Thinking back I wish I put more effort into my CCA in secondary school instead of feeling all sorry for myself like TS
and JC cca was a blast! I could relive JC just for CCA!
CCA was fun to make friends, keep fit, and learn new things~ And since when did some people get the impression that "doctors do not use math"? Math is the purest physical science from which physics is derived, chemistry is derived from physics and
biology is derived from chemisty...
At University level all the branches of physical sciences are closely inter-linked and you really cannot isolate what you are studying into 'chem', 'math' etc..
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CCA is fun, only if you are really interested in it.
i agree with TS that some CCAs, especially the uniform groups, are a complete waste of time.
i don't see the point in having wad NCC, NPCC, scouts, Girl Guide etc. at least CCA like St. Johns has practical use. NCC is totally useless. and forcing people who are not interested at all about uniform groups to join these CCAs is plain dumb. it is a waste of their time, and the school's resources, since these students are more likely to play truant during CCA sessions.
not as if getting into NCC, NPCC etc will get you into the respective services when guys are doing their NS. and most likely, these ppl would have to relearn most of the stuff when they are actually serving NS.
after students graduate from their sec sch, it would be quite some time before guys enlist for NS. for JC, 2 yrs, for poly, 3 yrs. 2-3 yrs is more than enough for ppl to forget all they have learnt during their NCC etc days.
as for girls, they would most likely never use "knowledge" gained from their stint in the cca uniform groups ever again.
but i want to stress that not all CCAs are a waste of time. popular sports CCAs like bball and soccer are still applicable even after one graduate. the less popular ccas such as floorball and hockey are less relevant after you leave school. (how do you plan to play hockey in public? there's not many facilities and players around)
as for clubs and societies, it depends on the nature of the CCA. AVA is practical, i guess.
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Which is why I can safely say that anything which is compulsory sucks. It might be good for you, but simply the fact of it being compulsory puts the activity in a negative light, and causes people to harbor resentment towards it.
Like yea, national service is good, where boys become men...But who likes NS?
And CCA would be more fun if it was ECA, and if students were given the liberty of choice to choose what they would like.
Dammit, we work hard in school, and endure boring lessons, and even after that, most (subjective) of us have to attend trainings in which we have no interest in, and we cannot even be phantom...
And deathmaster...you're right, its precisely the point that I want to make: uniformed groups (I'm not being biased here simply because I'm in UG) is just plain stupid. It comes as no surprise that students will quit attending trainings from time to time. Pushed in class, pushed even more after class I would say. This is a waste of time for students and future owners of the country, and puts more stress on the already messed-up-enough-emo-teenager.
So, what is MOE thinking? And grading of CCA through the LEAP programme? What the fuck?
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Originally posted by crimson soldier:
Thinking back I wish I put more effort into my CCA in secondary school instead of feeling all sorry for myself like TS
and JC cca was a blast! I could relive JC just for CCA!
CCA was fun to make friends, keep fit, and learn new things~ And since when did some people get the impression that "doctors do not use math"? Math is the purest physical science from which physics is derived, chemistry is derived from physics and
biology is derived from chemisty...
At University level all the branches of physical sciences are closely inter-linked and you really cannot isolate what you are studying into 'chem', 'math' etc..
I don't think I am learning anything by attending UG trainings other than enduring the temptation to smash my fist into the teacher in charge. Sure I made friends, but at what cost? I would be more than happy if I were allowed to choose a CCA that I have interest in, and would definitely work really hard and put in effort for it.
Honestly, the prerequisites for university admission is plain crap, trust me when I say medicine does not make use of mathematics etc. of secondary level and above. Unless you are really mentally disadvantaged, I believe every person should know that you shouldn't touch a scapel blade with your bare hands, and wash your hands with soap after being in contact with a patient.Etc, etc, the list goes on. Unless you are working in more specialised brances like a researcher in A.Star, then you obviously must have a good grasp of biology, since you cant expect a person to achieve without even building up the basics.
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Originally posted by donkhead333:
I don't think I am learning anything by attending UG trainings other than enduring the temptation to smash my fist into the teacher in charge. Sure I made friends, but at what cost? I would be more than happy if I were allowed to choose a CCA that I have interest in, and would definitely work really hard and put in effort for it.
Honestly, the prerequisites for university admission is plain crap, trust me when I say medicine does not make use of mathematics etc. of secondary level and above. Unless you are really mentally disadvantaged, I believe every person should know that you shouldn't touch a scapel blade with your bare hands, and wash your hands with soap after being in contact with a patient.Etc, etc, the list goes on. Unless you are working in more specialised brances like a researcher in A.Star, then you obviously must have a good grasp of biology, since you cant expect a person to achieve without even building up the basics.
My chess club experience taught me patience and sharpened my mind while my canoeing and dragonboat days gave me discipline and mental strength...I'm GLAD that i was FORCED to join a cca if not I would continued my starcraft and warcraft 3/dota obsession in those days..i was kinda saved by the rulethere's a reason why they are CO-curricular...because they provide an extra dimension to your abilities. try going for any job or scholarship interview and see whether the interviewers ask about CCA experience, cca leadership etc. it's EXTREMELY competitive. for instance, almost all JC students gunning for NUS medical school are doing volunteer work in hospitals during vacations...otherwise they wouldn't even get through the interview..
but hey everything's a choice! you can choose to whine! MOE, much less the world, wouldn't give a damn!
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All I can say is... I'm glad I'm not a sec sch or jc student now... I see already also think they very jialat... Much more stressful and competitive than during my times...
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Originally posted by limpper:
we are same in many ways man! me also kana E8. lol, go for sec1 only.
i go until sec 2sec 3 onwards sian liao
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I see already also think they very jialat... Much more stressful and competitive than during my times...
More and more bullshit our education system.
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Originally posted by crimson soldier:
My chess club experience taught me patience and sharpened my mind while my canoeing and dragonboat days gave me discipline and mental strength...I'm GLAD that i was FORCED to join a cca if not I would continued my starcraft and warcraft 3/dota obsession in those days..i was kinda saved by the rulethere's a reason why they are CO-curricular...because they provide an extra dimension to your abilities. try going for any job or scholarship interview and see whether the interviewers ask about CCA experience, cca leadership etc. it's EXTREMELY competitive. for instance, almost all JC students gunning for NUS medical school are doing volunteer work in hospitals during vacations...otherwise they wouldn't even get through the interview..
but hey everything's a choice! you can choose to whine! MOE, much less the world, wouldn't give a damn!
See, at least you got into a useful competitive CCA like chess and dragonboating.
I wouldn't even get a chance even if I wanted to join.