[redbean]

How would citizens benefit when school fees were raised for non citizens?

There were noises that the raising of school fees for non citizens only benefitted the govt’s coffer and citizens did not gain anything. How could they gain if their school fees remain the same? Maybe some of them were thinking that fees for citizens could be lower.



Actually Singaporeans gain a lot. If not of the increase for foreigners, citizens will have to pay more for school fees. Now the foreigners are absorbing the increases that could have fallen onto citizens. And at least citizens can look forward to two years of the same school fees. They better pray that not all the non citizens applies and becomes citizens. If that be the case, then the frozen school fees may be unfrozen before the two years are up.



But I must say that the MOE move is brilliant. A Singaporean grouse is turned into more revenue for the govt. Can they reward all those people who kpkb about citizen and non citizen privileges that gives them this excuse to generate more revenue? The non citizens must be very angry with the netizens for complaining so much and ended with them paying for it.



Actually citizens are damn lucky this time. Normally when they complained about anything that was not right, they would end up paying for it. Road congestion is one very good example. Now no motorists dare to complain about traffic jams. Now the buck for higher fees is passed to the non citizens. But they may not be happy for long. They must know that these non citizens are very talented and they will soon find ways to overcome the increase in fees.

The article is copied from Asian Correspondent.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Abundance of talents in red dot

The O level result is out and thousands of students are happily celebrating their good results. 10 A1s, 9A1s, 8A1s are flooding the schools. The top schools like St Nicholas and Crescent Girls hoarded most of the top students. I couldn't believe myself to see so many top students with straight As. This brings me back to the days when I was a student, in the 1960s. Then getting a Grade 1 was cause for celebration. The other two pass grades were Grade 2 and Grade 3. To get Grade 1, a student must do very well and score less than 23 points in the best 6 subjects. When I look at my grades I feel a embarrassed when compared to the student's grade today. The top student then, and maybe only one or two in the cohort, would only get 8 A1s. I repeat, only one or two. Not the whole school.

I must say that our students are getting better and our talent pool is growing bigger.

Wait a minute, what happens to RI, RGS, Chinese High and the rest to the top schools that we once knew? None of their students got straight As? Yes, none of them. How could it be when their students were the creme ala creme? Only the very best in PSLE were admitted in these top schools and SAP schools. I was told that they were too good and no need to sit for the O level exam. They were expected to pass with straight As as well, everyone of them. This would mean that another 3000 or 4000 students in the top schools would get straight As as well.

Then there were the N level students. They too scored straight As in their Sec 4 examinations. If we were to add up all the straight A students here, I think it will be another record to book in the Guiness Book of Records. Now, who says we don't have talents? We have the bestest of the best talents here. Maybe the foreign talent students would all scored straight As with stars. Nonetheless, we should be seeing some Noble Prize winners among these top grade students. I am still waiting. Surely there must be one or two that would be better than the best in the world. Or am I deceiving myself?


The article is copied from Asian Correspondent.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Consequences of grade inflation

More letters are pouring in and more grouses will be heard when 6A1s and 4A2s are not good enough for admission to Hua Chong JC. And the same thing will apply to admission to Raffles Institution. Parents are right to be fuming mad that their children with such great results could not find places in the two top JCs.

Why? Grade inflation or Integrated Programme(IP) programme? Like it or not, the top students are in the IP programme and have already been admitted. The second best, now filling the places in the normal distribution of straight As are not the same as the best in the IP programme. It is damn good feeling to get straight As even in the Normal stream. But the reality is that straight As in Division Two are not the same as straight As in Division One.

What shall the MOE do to please parents and students? Continue with grade inflation or grade the Division Two students as the Division One students which means that many may not get their straight As? Alternatively it can open up more places in the top JCs for these students and appease their parents.

Tough situation requiring tough fixes.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Lower standard of Chinese for easy learning

There is an interesting article in Viewpoints in mypaper by a Chua Chern Nee on teaching and learning Chinese in Singapore. Many parents have been so frustrated and desperate as their children just could not learn the language or find it so difficult and boring. And many fled to foreign countries where they don't have to learn Chinese.

And we have come out with a solution, lower standard of learning to fit the ability of different students. The writer quoted the case of a Korean boy who came here without any background in basic Chinese and he aced the subject after 10 months of learning the language.

How could this happened? My guess is that the Korean boy ate rice as his staple food. And for those who have difficulties learning Chinese, it must be their diet, eating too much kantang. Maybe changing their diet will make a difference.

As for those who went overseas, it may become compulsory to learn Chinese as a second language in America and Australia in time to come. Ok, it is a new myth. I like creating myths and I have a column dedicated to myths, all 200+ of them. And I am going to add one more, the Rajaratnam Myth.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Quality education doesn't come cheap

The quality of university education in Singapore has just gone up by 4% to 10%. The three state universities have just increased their fees by that amount for the Singaporean students in the next intake. If the quality goes up annually by 10% or bi annually, soon the quality will increase by 100%. I think a monkey could even become a Einstein at that rate of improvement.

Singaporean students got one more thing to celebrate other than better quality education. They can feel comforted that their fees are subsidised to a tune of 50% or more compare to foreign students. I am not sure how to put it, a discount or a subsidy against market rate? One thing for sure, they are affordable. For you would not expect anyone demonstrating at the increase but grateful parents and students for the quality education that they are getting.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Singapore Education - A feel good system
The O level results have just been announced and so many students and their parents are elated with their straight A1s. Throw a stone and you will definitely hit one with at least 5 A1s and often more than that. Getting anything less is probably a rarity.
I do not want to dampen their spirit as the Chinese New Year is around the corner. How many of these A1 students will make it to the top JCs, or how many will go to the lower rung JCs?
We have a feel good education system that makes getting straight A1s today as easy as getting straight passes in the past when getting just an A1 was a dream come true. What did all these say of the grades?
The top 4000 or 5000 students from the top schools did not even bother to sit for the O level. One day, don’t be surprised that employers may not want to look at the O level result in the future. Don’t ask me why. The two most important examinations today are the PSLE and the A level. With the bulk of the top students not taking the O level, one could simply slide the bell curve backwards on the grades of those taking the O levels, and viola, a new batch of A1 students is manufactured.
Getting O level results today is such a happy moment for many students and their parents. In the past, it was a nerve wrecking experience for both students and parents. Then they did not know of things like the bell curve and moderation or massaging. It is worthwhile paying for a good massage, definitely.
Please ask why the top schools and their top students are not taking the O level examination. And if they do sit for the same examination, how would the distribution of straight A1 students be like? Would it be that 99% of the top school students be getting 10 A1s? Maybe that is too high a number, 90% should be just right. Or would they slide the bell curve back to where it was supposed to be?
If all the top school students would to sit for the O level, it is not surprising if there will be a few hundred 10 A1s students and a few hundred 9 A1s students from each cohort. It is simply possible.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

The best tailor made all round education
The current education system has too many flaws and causing too much stress on the children. It is very unhealthy, too exam oriented and does little to develop character and good values and did not produce a well rounded person on graduation. What should be done is to study the feedbacks of parents and their children, understand what they want, what they fear, their expectations and dislikes, and put them together in a neat little basket to please parents and children for a more holistic and inclusive education, developing the sporting talents at the same time, wholesome and good character building and with straight As of course.
For a start, too much emphasis on exam grades is bad. Too much elitist bias is bad. The branded schools should go and all the schools should be made more equal and the spread of students spread equally to all schools, including the spread of good and bad teachers. This will not only level the playing field, it has plenty of wholesome goodness. The more talented students will have a chance to mix with the less talented and empathise with them. Good for bonding and the removal of elitist thinking.
The curriculum should be reduced, teach less and learn more is good. Children must have a lot of time to play, which will also develop their friendliness and EQ. Play if specially coordinated can be part of the sports training to develop the children into future champions as well.
Second Language or mother tongue shall be made optional. Children should not be stressed to learn something they dislike, like their mother tongue. The future will be mono lingual, maybe just English. Plan for the future and help the future to succeed.
And science and mathematics are just too restrictive. Allow the children to read other subjects as well. Reduce the time from science and maths and spread them to other subject. This can include ethics and morals, how to be good citizens.
And make sure the students have good grades. Ask the parents how many As they want their children to have. Make the necessary moderation to make the parents and children happy. Having more than 50 per cent with straight As may be too much and people will question the standard of our education. 20 percent straight As should be a nice number, follow by 20 percent with 4 As and 20 percent with 2As. Another 30 percent should be for those with Bs and Cs and balance 10 percent, make it 9 percent pass and 1 percent unable to make it. This would be good news for parents and children. What? Not good enough? OK make it 30 percent straight As and adjust accordingly.
And I forgot, articulation skill is very important. Our children are quite tongue tied and find difficulties in expressing themselves. Have more debating classes and social interaction time for students to debate with each other. Such skills will be good if they later choose to become politicians. They can continue debating in Parliament.
Did I miss out anything? I think that’s about it. This must be the most wholesome and happy education system for happy parents and children. And all guarantees to have good grades. Oh, oh, one more thing, no homework. I remember those days when I was in school, barely any homework except when punished to write lines. The free time available can be used to explore the neighbourhood and play with the neighbour’s children.
Think about it, the best education system we ever had was in the 50s and 60s. Every day is fun. Have fun in school and have fun after school. Only thing bad then was the red marks. But this can be fixed with moderation to make parents proud of their children’s grades. What is important is an enriching and rewarding experience for both parents and children. And the teachers must also inculcate into the children that winning all the time, being the best all the time is not necessary a good thing. In life, there are many other better things to achieve than just winning. Always think of the losers before one thinks of winning. I think this last sentence is the best part. Just imagine the look on the loser’s face. That is satisfaction beyond words. : )
Specialised or customized is good, generalized is bad. General education is good, streaming is bad. Elite school is bad, neighbourhood school is good. Now I got myself confused.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

The rights and wrongs of Reuben Wang
Reuben Wang is the new young sensation after the infamous get out of my elite uncaring face episode. But this time Reuben’s notoriety is about swearing at the DPM. Young people are hot and expressive. It is a kind of language that I too occasionally let go when frustrated by the unrepentant. Using such terminologies are socially incorrect in whatever circumstances, but sometimes they came out spontaneously and there is no other expletives that can replace them in saying what needs to be said. I am not encouraging the young to be so flowery and generous in their verbal expression.
It is the right for anyone to disagree with anyone, even with the govt or the most powerful one. Disagreement is not about being rude or uncourteous or being offensive or even a crime. What is so wrong about saying one disagree with some views or even policies? Unless the turkey thinks that he is damn right and nobody can disagree with his idiocy.
Young people, especially sinkies, must be encouraged to think critically and to disagree when it is right to disagree, when they seriously think that something is just not right. Maybe it is not a matter of right or wrong but a matter of priorities, a matter of values, a matter of interpretations.
No one shall be castigated for disagreeing. The schools have a vital role in not teaching students to conform to authority for the sake of political correctness. This will be the biggest failure of our education process if we do that. And unfortunately we have done that for too long and have sterilized the minds of several generations of unthinking Sinkies.
The inability or fear to question and to disagree is a sickness in our people to the extent that any little disagreement or non acceptance of a dominant idea is taken as a big surprise, a big shock, a no no. Disagreement, in the case of Reuben Wang, could be put forth succinctly, forcefully but with less venom. A little deference is not a bad thing but not be cowed by jokers who demand that everyone must know his place. A bit of decorum and decency is good and would allow a disagreement to be taken and accepted in a more pleasant way. Just disagree if one has do, and there is nothing about being brave or being right or wrong, but don’t give the other an excuse that one is rude. That will distract the whole intention of the disagreement.
As this is exactly what happened to the Reuben case. It is no longer about the whys of his outburst, the reason for his displeasure or anger. It is now about his being socially incorrect, rude and maybe be removed from school. It became a disciplinary issue. What happens to the crux of the discussion? Lost in the milieu of challenging a social norm?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

After banding, what’s next?

The quashing of the banding system for schools seems to be a most welcomed move by parents, educators and students. Although it is symbolic, it is still a big step forward to want to change, to want to listen to the people, to want to do good for education and make the parents happy. Malaysia made that move many years ago when parents complained that it was too difficult to use the English Language, and they took English out of their system. We almost took Mandarin out of our system as well. Any way the standard of Mandarin taught in schools today is way below par from yesteryears.

Before people get too excited and go overboard with the relac mentality, before we enter the age of narcissism, let’s look at the status of our education system and its products. Is our education really good? Are the products really first class? I am putting aside the other greater values of education, like opening the mind to see the real world, critical thinking, an educated and better person, values, goodness etc etc.

For the first question, relatively, yes. Compare to the third world countries, we have a good education system. Or at least the infrastructure and the hardware are first class, brand new and with modern comfort and facilities.

What about the quality question? Forget about the older generations of leaders that were mostly the products of foreign universities. In fact many of our top talents in govt are also products of foreign world class universities. What does this say of the quality of our local education?

In the employment scene, are our local products, all those with straight As, good enough? I think so, at the middle management level. Would they also be good at the top management level? This is a tricky question. Apparently it seems that our local products are not good enough for top level management, both in the govt and private sector. In those govt positions where there is no competition from foreigners, it is hard to tell.

And many organisations, including govt linked organisations, are happily recruiting foreigners or foreign educated professionals in preference to local graduates. Why? Foreigners are cheaper or are foreigners better? If foreigners are found better, then we have a problem, a real problem. And if foreigners are from third world countries and found to be better to boss around with our world class straight A products, now this is not funny. It simply says that our super products are useless or not worth their grades on paper.

The situation on the employment scene is not speaking very well of our local products. And this is in spite of the high pressure cooker system, including banding and branding of schools, to squeeze out the best from each cohorts. Would it be worst if the high pressure is slackened to appease the parents? Would we produce junks that are not even good enough to work in third world countries when everything is relaxed? Can we afford to lower our standards, make schooling fun and stress free as all parents and children would love to have, and everyday a happy and carefree day, a fun day in schools?

How far and how low would the education system go when we are not even producing graduates that can compete with third world countries even now? Would there be a day when all the top and senior managements must be imported, from third world countries, to manage our happy and stress free products from our friendly and wholesome education system?

What do you think? Did anyone say levelling down? There must be competition to get the best to be the best. There must also be moderation so that those that are meant for better things in other fields could excel and not feel dumped into the rubbish heap. Let’s not have an Olympic Games to compete for sportsmanship and not to excel. There can be another Olympic Games for other purposes like not winning and every participants would come home with a medal, the same medal for everyone to make everyone happy.

Will there be a shift in the direction and mission of our education system?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

My fear in Education becoming a reality
After removing the banding of schools, there are suggestions from the govt elite that PSLE should be scrapped as well. This is front page news in Today’s paper. With the scrapping of O level in the through train scheme, and with this, the only examination left is the A level. And with all the emphasis and pressure left on this last remnants of the old system, it may also be scrapped. We will then have the most stress free education system in the world, replacing the best education system we have at the moment but found too stressful and still not producing good students.
Sinkieland would become another kind of paradise for school children, no examination all the way to universities. It is possible if the parents continue with the pressure and some unthinking govt elite will just bend on their knees and say ok, ok. The past philosophy of making tough decision is discarded and a new culture of pleasing the parents and voters is emerging. The past mindset of the govt knows best is changing to one that the voters know best or make the voters happy. Talk to the voters, ask what they want and give it to them.
Many many years ago when I was a young undergrad, we asked the lecturer how he graded his students. He said it was simple. Though he had hundreds of papers to mark, it only took him a few seconds to do it. He drew two parallel lines on the floor, threw all the papers into the air. Those scrips that fell on the left will get B. Those on the right will get C and those in between the parallel lines will get A. The number of A grades will depend on his mood and how far apart he drew the two lines. This could be re introduced when examinations are scrapped totally and all the happy students took a ride on the through through train to universities.
We are progressing. Many parents and students will be in cloud nine. For those parents who insist on having examinations for their children and stubbornly wanting to put pressure on them, the govt can offer schools that have examinations. Freedom of choice is important. This way, the parents that do not want to have examinations will be happy. Those who want examinations will also be happy.
This is a good start for the National Conversation.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Solving the education dilemma by a farcical solution
What is the problem of education today anyway? Pressure, parents under pressure because children could not get to the best schools, not because children not doing well. Children also feel the pressure if they failed to get into the school their parents desired though they have done reasonably well. I think this is the real problem rather than the perceived problem of students not doing well. Those not doing well can be helped up to a certain extent. Those doing well need little help but would still be under severe pressure because they did not get to the schools they wanted.
Scrapping bandings, scrapping PSLE, do away with exam, lesser the work load etc are in some way superficial and could undermine the whole education system. What all parents and students want is to get into RI or one of the top schools. Get them there and all will be happy. But there is only one RI or a few top schools. And the task now is to make parents and children happy, to remove any social stigma of being in less desirable schools, the answer is to put all of them into good schools. And the solution is not so difficult. Really!
ACS has done it but many failed to see it. Establish many ACS schools, independent, international, non independent, afternoon session, etc etc. As long as the students are in ACS, problem solved. Everyone is happy.
The trick is thus very simple. All schools will henceforth be renamed to take on the top schools’ namesake. We can have RI Independent, RI Normal, RI Sports, RI Vocational, RI Wild Cards etc etc. And the same formula can be duplicated for Hwa Chong, Victoria, SGS, Methodist, etc etc. There shall not be more than ten different school names and the subtle difference will be the courses the students are pursuing and their field of studies or interests.
In so doing, no need to scrap PSLE and examinations. 10 percent of the cohort will be RI, 10 percent Hwa Chong, 10 percent ACS, MGS, SGS, Victoria and so forth. No funny sounding neighbourhood school names that brings along a ‘yak’ when mentioned, or too embarrassing to even mention.
Now, would this not make everyone happy and less pressurized? Every top school will now have its top academic students, its top sporting talents, top artistic students, and the potential Bill Gates and Steve Jobs from the Wild Cards. And whatever the MOE is doing now can still continue with a little adaptation.
An ingenious education system can easily be created without the need for super talent’s input. The Ah Beng’s are our equivalent of Gates and Jobs in a way. Thinking out of the box for unusual solutions to unusual problems that no super talents can ever solve or think of is the forte of Ah Bengs. The problems facing MOE today are not genuine problems but perception and psychological problems that have no real solutions. Every new Education Minister will have to change something to give the impression that something is done. Imaginery problems must be solved in the realm of creative imaginations.
Thus, the solution cannot be real but appeasing to the unreasonable demands and expectations of fictitious problems in the minds of parents and students. And the standard and quality of the education system need not be compromised in anyway.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

What’s wrong with our education system?

The British is going to learn from us. We sold ourselves as an education hub, definitely not because of the reputation of Middle Road but the reputation of our very own national education system and our world class universities. And many foreign students are here simply because of this. We provide quality education through our national education system.

Now we are saying our education system is rotten. Are we really saying that? Would this message get round and the foreign students got scare the shit out of their brain and scurry out for safety?

The recent reaction to changes in the education system is buckling under pressure for the wrong reasons. And the saddest thing is trying to appease unreasonable and unenlightened parents and resort to tear down something that is good and start meddling it like a piece of shit and believing that it is really shit.

I sincerely believe that many FTs that are here and strutting around with their noses in the air and bossing around with academically superior Sinkies would fail or not do well in our education system. Many would end up in the normal stream. But why are they seen as superior and acting superior to the locals? Simply because we made them superior, we called our local daft, we give them the opportunities and deprived our locals of the opportunities. We believe in them instead of our own kind.

We simply do not have faith in our people. This boils down to the feeling of inferiority, insecurity of our people at the top. They don’t even believe that our system is good. They don’t believe that our people are good. We turn this place from a third world country to first world and the leaders still think we are all full of shit. And now they place their confidence on the FTs who came from third world countries, who are unable to do well in third world countries, unable to lift their third world countries to where we are, and believing that these people will bring us to greater height, and help our people to be better.

See the silliness in the whole system and thinking, and the mantra of foreigners are the best and Sinkies are daft? How could daft people turn this country into a first world country? Or how could third world FTs turn this first world country into a better place and not into another third world?

Maybe this is where our education has failed? Or is it that we are not giving opportunities to our own people, our own children, but chose to throw our money and favour to the strangers that we don’t even know? Heard of the prodigal son that squandered the family’s fortune and inheritance?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Standardization of pre schools
Standardising pre schools or setting standards for pre schools. Are they joking? Pre schools are play schools, not the proper schools for older children. Are they going to set standards as to how many words a child must acquired in pre schools, how many numbers, how many this and that?
As far as educators are concerned, there are wide and varied views as to what pre schools should be, what is good or bad for the little children. There is still no agreement as to what is best or what should not be done. The thought of setting stands for pre schools could end up with the same problems as proper schools, academic achievements, banding and branding.
Perhaps they are not talking about such standards but the standards of the infrastructure and the teachers. What would probably be important are the quality and professional training of the pre schools teachers and their compensation. Raising the standards of the pre school teachers is important as better trained professionals would be better placed to look after the little tots relative to untrained caregivers that are not more than caretakers with little value add other than feeding and looking after their physical needs and safety.
Good and well trained professionals must be recognized and rewarded accordingly for their level of training and expertise. They have invested time and effort to be more knowledgeable and professional in their very specialized field of childcare that requires them to know and understand a whole new skills set and information.
With quality and trained professionals as the standard, the pre schools should be allowed the freedom to design their own programmes for the toddlers. Some may emphasize play, creativity, relationship, social skills, confidence, cognitive skills, motor skills, etc. Different schools should be allowed to market their own programmes that may be very different from another school. The last thing that pre schools should become is straight jacket curriculum and ended up as factories with a standard mould and producing one type of toys that will respond similarly when the right button is pressed. Variety and free wheeling activities are the keys at this tender age and regimentation or standardization should be frown upon.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Have you seen a PSLE child cry?
The PSLE results are always met with joyous celebration and recognition for the bright little boys and girls who have done well. The parents will be proud, the schools and teachers will be proud, the community will be proud too of the children’s success. How many people will look at the little boys and girls sobbing in the corners, starring blankly at the result slips which said, failed, or average, no good?
At the tender age of 12, little children must face a devastating blow of knowing that they are NG. When the parents are understanding it may be a consolation. When parents are unreasonable and daft to place all hopes and desires on the poor child’s PSLE result, life can be very miserable. Many children will live in fear when the results are not up to their parents’ expectation.
Is it fair to put the poor young things through such a traumatic experience when many did not really know what is going on? Actually, for those who are less sensitive and a bit dull, it is a blessing. It is those that are aware of the hopes and wishes placed on them by their parents and knowing what the parents want and what it means to fail to achieve that will face the full might of being a failure at such a young age. And they would not know what to do, and who to turn to. The sight of their disappointing parents could be so frighteningly cold and ruthless.
I am no expert in child education and child psychology or schooling. I can only express my feelings for putting little children through such a pressurizing situation and the trauma they must faced, alone, no counseling to ease the pain and fear. As adults, are we being too cruel to the children because we think it is good for them, or because we don’t bother to think and look at how things will affect them emotionally and psychologically from their perspectives? Children can feel hurt and rejected too.
Would it not be better to delay this big cut to a later age when the children are older and stronger mentally to take the blow? The assessment of children at PSLE level and the stakes involved have put a lot of pressure on the parents and children, and many would have their childhood deprived, just to make the mark. Can the system be tweaked to delay this assessment and allow the children to grow up as children and load the pressure when they are in their teens?
No doubt some kind of assessments must come their way to shift out the better from the less academically inclined. Must it be done at so young an age? Would it make any difference to do it later and let parents and children have a more enriching life when the children are growing up, to have a childhood to hold dear to?
Can the PSLE be scrapped and children be allowed to remain in the same schools till Secondary Two when all the streaming can then come in? Admittedly such a major change would affect a whole complex system of education and the infrastructure that is supporting the system. It is a massive task to change and many lives and jobs and systems will be affected. But if it is for the better, no matter how mammoth the task is, how arduous the problems, it is worth the effort to change.
We need to be kinder to the children. Putting so much burden and responsibility on a 12th year old is too much for the child to bear. The adults are simply too ruthless in their expectations from little children. Then again all the talks about kindness and graciousness are mere talks, aspirations, not to mean anything. Let’s talk economics and growth. Children are invisible and cannot feel pain, hurt or suffering.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Ostrich School in Problem Solving
The latest acquisition to the Animal Farm is the ostrich, famous for problem solving skill that the kangaroos, doggies, cows and horses were found to be wanting. This ostrich problem skill is world renowned. It can make all problems vanished instantly…by burying its head in the ground. Unable to see the problems means the problems are no longer there. Problem solved.
Let me try to apply this method to the current PSLE angst of the parents and children and maybe help them to solve all their stress problems. Indirectly it will also help to relieve the problems of those in the MOE and in the govt, without the parents bugging them everyday.
Like all problem solving methodology, the first thing to do is to identify the problems. In this case, the problems are caused by the following.
1. Glorifying the high achievers
2. Creating elite schools
3. Creating elitist Through Stream Process
4. Creating elitist grading system
I believe there are many other sources and causes of stress to the parents and children. Let’s just limit to these 4 to demonstrate how effective the Ostrich Problem Solving Methodology will work.
The authorities should stop reporting and glorifying top students and those that did well in the examinations, starting with PSLE. When parents cannot compare how badly their children have fared in the examination, the stress is no longer there. See, very effective. The problem is gone.
Elite schools with their elitist names is another sore point. Raffles Institution, Hwa Chong Institution! Why is my neighbourhood school named Telok Blangah Secondary School when others are called institutions and with great names attached to them. Easy to deal with this problem. All the schools should now be named after the streets or roads nearby. Raffles should all be called Bishan Primary, Bishan Secondary and Bishan High. Hwa Chong will be renamed Bukit Timah Primary, Bukit Timah Secondary and Bukit Timah High. See, the elitist tag is removed instantly and all the schools now look the same or at least sound the same. This is like leveling the playing field.
The third problem, Through Stream. This is even easier to solve. All students entering a primary school will continue with the same secondary school and proceed to the same high school, eg, Jurong Primary to Jurong Secondary and then to Jurong High. It is a Through Stream, from Primary One to A level. It also saves a lot of hussles and administrative problems.
Finally the elitist grades. All schools are good schools, so all schools shall produce good and excellent students. For this to be believeable, all the students shall receive an excellent grade on completion of the schooling system. The grades to be adopted can be like these, Excellent in Sports, Excellent in Technical, Excellent in Arts, Excellent in Domestic Science, Excellent in Academics. All the students will be very happy, and so will be their parents.
See how effective and easy it is to apply the Ostrich Problem Solving Method to solve such a huge problem that cannot be resolved after so many years. Now no one can see which school is good, which student is good, everything looks the same. A uniform education system when every school looks the same and every student also looks the same. Wait a minute, all the school uniforms must be the same also. Can adopt the Maoist style, dull grey, same dull cuts and with no character. Everyone can blend in and not be noticeable. Very egalitarian. Can send the students to the country side to do farming, very holistic also.
Wow, I am a genius. I am going to write a book on this topic and put it in the Fiction Corner of the Library.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.