What do you think of ... the Singapore Education System
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the education landscape is changing for the better with in terms programmes like IB and IP, which places a large emphasis on the student's holistic development such as critical and creative thinking using the extra time freed up by removing the o'levels.
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Originally posted by da-cheese-freakk:
Streaming and special programmes (e.g. GEP) are highly necessary in any successful education system. Aside from catering to the individual learning abilities of the students, it inculcates in them the mindset that the System is undergirded by meritocracy; you get good grades, you get your pay-off. They also give incentive to students to work hard, a clear target to work towards. Examinations, as dreadful as they always seem, serve as an effective gauge of how much knowledge has been imparted, how successful the process of teaching and learning has been.
Haha, I just wrote this huge post, but I didnt sign in. So I lost all of it. [b]
Basically, what do you guys think of the Singapore Education System?
What do you think of GEP?
Of streaming?
Of PSLE?[/b]
Nowadays we are moving towards a more holistic approach in schools -- athletes are presented with awards in recognition of their sporting abilities, students with exemplary leadership are similarly rewarded and proficient students of the arts who show exceptional talent also receive some sort of glorification -- all these while detractors are still claiming that this "performance-based system" wrongly conditions students to believe that a person's value is solely based on academic adeptness. I believe that we are on the right track, i.e. nurturing and appreciating the various talents of our students while still placing significant emphasis on the importance of grades and ensuring effective streaming. The sort of highly differentiated environment in schools may prove too tough for some students to cope with, but ultimately, it makes it much easier for our students (when they grow up) to swallow the fact that the modern world functions on Social Darwinism and that those left behind are as such only because they have chosen to be left behind.
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1)Then Archimedes' (I not sure spelling lah) "Eureka" is wrong liao lor.Originally posted by fudgester:And don't get me started with his Science teacher - among other things, here's what she taught them:
1. The density of water is 0.1g/cm3.
2. An atom of hydrogen has 0.0008 neutrons.
3. The basic unit of measurement for vernier calipers is the meter. That is to say, if the reading is 4.10, the length measured is 4.10 METERS.
2)Forgot chemistry liao but a bit different from what I studied in Secondary school.
3)Then a test tube's diameter is about 2meter liao. -
Ahhh
Reminds me of another quote from George Bernard Shaw.
"The only time my education was interrupted was when I was in school."
--George Bernard Shaw -
LETS ALL APPEAL THAT NO MORE PSLE! NO MORE GCE O & N LEVELS!!!!...-.-
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Yeah, direct honours for all Singaporeans.Originally posted by MyPillowTalks:LETS ALL APPEAL THAT NO MORE PSLE! NO MORE GCE O & N LEVELS!!!!...-.-
Woohoo. -
if they help the N(T) students, than it consider good.
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Neutrons are discreet subatomic particles. In other words, they exist only in integer amounts (1,2,3,4,5....).Originally posted by Hogzilla:2)Forgot chemistry liao but a bit different from what I studied in Secondary school.
To say that there are 0.0008 neutrons in an atom of hydrogen is as good as saying that there are 1.234 chickens in the chicken coop.
And no, this has nothing to do with statistical data. It's true that the average Ar of hydrogen is 1.0008 after you consider the relative amounts of the deuterium and tritium isotopes. However, you can only make the assumption that (no of neutrons = mass number - proton number) if you consider just one isotope.
Hydrogen has 0 neutrons, deuterium has 1 neutron, and tritium has two neutrons. Any value that has a fraction or decimal in it is plain absurd. -
I agree that there are several endemic systemic problems in our education system, but I think, compared to most other countries, even those in the First World, we are better off.
However, one basic bias in our system is results-orientation, which is very much exam-focused. That might have worked in the previous decades, when we were training and educating our people to do simple jobs in a simpler world. But now, in the IT age, we need to move towards process-orientation, to teach our people how to think and process information, not just to get results and answers, so that we can continue to survive and thrive amidst these new technologies. I think this is what our system is sorely lacking at the moment. -
Precisely.Originally posted by dakkon_blackblade:I agree that there are several endemic systemic problems in our education system, but I think, compared to most other countries, even those in the First World, we are better off.
However, one basic bias in our system is results-orientation, which is very much exam-focused. That might have worked in the previous decades, when we were training and educating our people to do simple jobs in a simpler world. But now, in the IT age, we need to move towards process-orientation, to teach our people how to think and process information, not just to get results and answers, so that we can continue to survive and thrive amidst these new technologies. I think this is what our system is sorely lacking at the moment.
New invention / new ideas that will be used to keep Singapore thriving needs to come from different perceptives. When the thinkers are restricted, the country won't progress. When you don't allow the people to talk about some national issues, there is no chance a country will progress.
This 146 thingy should be restricted to crisis (no matter economy or miltary wise). You cannot cook up a crisis for the sake of stopping citizens from voicing out their discontent. -
Parents are always going to compare, but perhaps streaming gives them something MORE to compare with? And the PSLE -- it gives parents the impression that entering some school is "better" than entering another, when maybe the schools still teach the same thing, around the same level.Originally posted by Hogzilla:The "streaming made people lost confidence" sh!t is not caused by the students, it's caused by the society and the parents' mindset.
When parents compare their children, they compare how well they did at school, got what achievement etc etc. Then we all know that Singapore parents are kiasu one, they want face, so they push the pressure onto kids.
I tell you guys one incident lah. When I was in Secondary school, my England is sibei powderful one. Whenever there is a family gathering, my mother would complain to the relatives how lousy my English is. (why "is"? Because my English still sux today) I got pissed. When we got home, I told her that why not said something like I got distinction for Chinese (I prefer to use the word "Mandarin", but the subject is "Chinese") and good grades for other subjects? Then under my "supervision", she called all the relatives that was at the gathering just to inform them this. It's the face that I fought to get back, myself.
The system needs to change a little bit, it's the people's way of thinking that needs a renovation.
Ex/ I went to a "prestigious" school for 2 months, and during those two months, my uncles and aunts mercilessly nagged at my cousins just 'cause they went to poly and neighbourhood schools. and they (my aunts and uncles) listened to everything I said, even when it was gibberish xD
doesnt the education system somewhat create this kinda mindset? -
It sucks.
Students ourselves cant choose wad subjects we can or cannot take.They just dump everything to us an expect us to excel in everything.Pursue your own interest?My foot
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Then if u can choose wad you like to build your interest on, your parents will say 'Oh you should study this or that.Why u so stupid go study this instead?Next time cannot become banker/lawyer/doctor alrdy la'
Come on man don tell me other occupations cannot make it big in life
And is it just me but the education system here foucses very heavily on maths and science? -
for me i will think, 'If it aint broke, why fix it?'
last time older generation studied those wat we define as 'death reading', n they copied well in the working society.
my point is by introducing so much things in the education can caused the students hard to adapt at time. -
This rote learning will not work in the information age. It merely gives you the answers to a few pre-defined questions but doesn't tell you how to get them. We need to teach people how to think for themselves, how to ask the right questions and how to reach the answers, acquire, process and reconstruct information in meaningful and useful ways.Originally posted by 798:for me i will think, 'If it aint broke, why fix it?'
last time older generation studied those wat we define as 'death reading', n they copied well in the working society.
my point is by introducing so much things in the education can caused the students hard to adapt at time.
The chopping and changing of educational policies is in part due to the on-going search for the pedagogies to help attain these educational objectives. I suppose the government has made quite a few mistakes along the way, but it is necessary to change the system if the country is to continue to survive. -
all i feel dat these days students are very exam-orientated or result-minded. whenever the lecturer teaches something, they will ask, "are these examable?"
students studying for the sake of studies, not NOT for the sake of learning. -
no good.
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i think streaming is okay. cos ppl have different pace of studying/learning, so it may be necessary to separate quick learners to the not-so-quick learners so that extra care may be given to the latter group of people. however, as wad many of you have said, parents jus love to compare! they'd be like 'oh, your child in EM2? mine is in EM1 you know!' this will not only give the child stress but oso frustration cos wadeva he is doing will be compared to others.
and, singapore education system is too systematic. im not suggesting more project works and stuff. cant they see we're doing PW for the sake of the grades? and why grade PW? HOW do you grade PW? diff people have diff ways of researching and reporting things. each person is unique. why do you have to force someone who is more introvert to present his work to people?? the more vocal ones will obviously get better grades.
my teacher told us,'although you all have longer hours of school, im very confident to say that i knew more things than you all when i was in school.' students nowadays study for the sake of the grades, not for the sake of learning.
how many of you here who have graduated dare say that you still remember wad you've learnt in school? like those formulae or wadsoever? for me, i wouldnt care, cos i require no such knowledge in my future job. -
i have some friends who were slow at primary school..but become cleverer when they get older...some kids r like that....but alas theres a fixed route for those who discovered their intelligence at a later stage..they die die need to spend more time at sschool n waste more money...primary to ite..to poly then to uni
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I find streaming is needed. But what is taught in primary/secondary is very limited. Those students who do badly aren't slow learners. They just suck big time with books.
What i wanted to say is, primary/secondary sch only caters to that group of "book students". That is what so bias about s'pore education system. The "non-book students" definitely suffers there.
It is thus required for the "non-book students" to be more independent. E.g. if they love to play computer games or create website, they'll probably have to sign up external IT courses. -
Do you notice that they send the best teachers to teach the so called creme de la creme while the "dumb" streams gets teachers who don't really bother?
Anyways I cannot be arsed, I just took the streaming destiny of education by the neck and wrangled it. I survived past the societal horror of being in the Normal stream. I remember my parents couldn't talk to me for weeks after I got my PSLE results. -
Double post
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i will rate it as fair not really very good but compared to other asian country,we are abit better than them
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agreed ...
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Current Singapore Ed System is far too inflexible and short-sighted.
Our system fails to recognize late bloomers. I personally feel that too much streaming sidelines too many late bloomers and deprives many of these otherwise bright children of chance to fully develop their talents. Albert Einstein was one such late bloomer.
There's also poor emphasis on, and acceptance/understanding of, the Arts in Singapore's schools..
Singapore still has no idea what Art is about and it shows in the way they Arts students are still bound by the basic maths requirements whether or not the subject is relevant to the course at all. Singapore's opened its doors to the Arts Scene, but so far our initiatives have been extremely superficial, and our local arts students lose out. One cannot hope to properly nurture Arts students if there is little support available for these students in the 1st place. Most Arts students simply go abroad to receive adequate opportunities to develop their talents, instead of wasting it here.. those who cannot afford it, and did not get the opportunity to be discovered, lose out.
The current system of streaming also creates unnecessary segregation and a class divide. You would be continuously told "you just aren't good enough".. and even you knew it wasn't true, you would begin to lose faith in yourself when frequently and purposely denied the rightful opportunities to shine, out of sheer bias. A normal (A) student, compared with an Express student in the same school can tell you of the biased treatment received at school. The students of the "better" streams are not the sole perpetrators of this discrimination.. it is even observed by teachers, principals, parents, the government. There is little or no encouragement or nurture for those of the "lousier" streams. If you produced a quality of work considered beyond your stream's capacity, you'd be likely to be regarded with much suspicion and hostility, even from your teachers. Few chlidren climb back up in this situation.
People who top such a rigid system usually cannot tolerate failure. They tend to become arrogant and look down on others. They would have had been told that they are the best, been given the best, received heaps of praise, and therefore are likely to react poorly to criticism or "feedback". They would be proud that they have emerged the "fittest".. and believe that those less successful are simply the lazy rejects of society who dug their own graves. As the living success stories of Singapore's education system, they would have almost full support it and be skeptical of any calls for change.
A recent, famous product of our "perfect" education system is Wee Shu Min, who upset many with her elitist comments.. her MP father later added salt to the wound by apologizing for his daughter's tone but not for the contents of her writing.. this created an uproar. -
i believe that when it comes to academic portion, we are one of the very best (even americian buy our text books to teach the americain) but when it comes to the thinking part, we screwed up
