Singapore No. 1 in Education

[Hamburger]

i only see all the more the lower half with poorer academic performance will be stereo typed.....haiz

[A_korusawa]

Your so call tution also is part of Singapore what, complaint si mi?

 

if MOE or the education also recognised and acknowledged tuition is part of that, I rest my case and kudos to them . . . but they 'siam'! instead that 'blame' in on the mindset of the parents.

i'd simply like to do away tuitions . . . .this has become a 'rat race' to facilitate kids into good starts where the education system here does not provide 'u' turns for them easily. if tuition remains part of it, then the education system is screwed!

 

however, it has become a 'hidden reliance' on this education systems that tuitions or additional coaching/teaching are needed to fulfill what the curriculums have been stated by the school. if teachers complete 100% of the syllabus and be tested..... that's fine. but now, they only completed 70%, expect the kids (I refer to primary kids here) to research while tested included the rest of 30% to decide who the 'intelligence ones' for that good starts . . . ?

 

its ok to apply above on colleges, unis or even senior secondaries . . . . . but for God's sake, its the primary school kids !

[A_korusawa]

i only see all the more the lower half with poorer academic performance will be stereo typed.....haiz

 

agree!

the worse is . . . the 'poorer acadamic' ones, they are simply not given the real truth & fair chance prior reaching that status.

and here, its not like in the us or the eu where u turn in academia is as easily possible.

the country still runs on 'nobelism' if not the 'elitsm' . . .

 

sigh

[A_korusawa]

 

agree!

the worse is . . . the 'poorer acadamic' ones, they are simply not given the real truth & fair chance prior reaching that status.

and here, its not like in the us or the eu where u turn in academia is as easily possible.

the country still runs on 'nobelism' if not the 'elitsm' . . .

 

sigh

 

all

please dun take it too hard if my replies sucked (to some, they are) . . .

I take it as light hearted discussions, spiced with arguments/debates that blent with emotionally heartfelts for the judgements; with no offence!

apologise if needed, cheers !

[Pinobii]

Fallacy that students cannot think out of the box. I have actual experience working with teenagers of various level. I think most cannot think out of the box but there are those who can.

 

Thinking out of the box is a relative comparison. Only a small no. of people can do so.

 

FT is needed because the are job sectors that no Singaporeans want to enter. If you are talking abt PMETs, them it is simply the fact that we have a strong currency. At a higher level management, it is abt networking, experience and unfortunately, skin colour. Certain skin colour are deem more reliable or smart.

 

There are a wide variety of education system in sg. We have the standard O, A Levels, diplomas, IB, specialised diplomas and schools offer unique niche programmes. Students coming from acsi are different from those who came out from hci, sports school or ri.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another fallacy. Why do u think that students are not taught EQ in school?

 

Schools are increasingly take over the role of parents. They are taught moral values, life skills, etc.

 

Do you know what is the biggest challenge with equiping students with those skills?

Parents.

 

Very often, students with warped values got them from their parentd.

 

 

 

chill bro

 

this is a discussion, we all have our views and experiences

 

fallacy is a big word

 

my views happen to be close to vid, maybe we have similar working environment exposure

 

again, no right no wrong

 

just agree to disagree, thats all

Edited May 15, 2015 by Pinobii

[Pioneer]

Because I do not have a clear picture of primary school education, I cannot assert whether your statement is true.

 

It may apply to the school your child is going to and not all schools.

 

Theory are developed after years of research and testing. Your experience is but a subset of the different possible outcome. Should people work and behave based on a subset of experience or a thorough developed theory based on good research and testing?

 

Your last 2 replies suggested that there is a lot of frustration and anger at the system and perhaps why create a tunnel vision and focus only on yourself. The world, however, is always about the bigger picture.

 

If my child told me that about being taught abc and tested on xyz, I would first verify it is true. I have worked with students who often said that and when probed further, they admitted that it was not really the case. Like I said, I do not know your case specifically and I can only speak from experience, like you, but I don't claim that I am right and you are just being "academic".

 

Like I said, this 70/30 learning may be unique to your child's school. If it is true, I will speak to the teachers/hod to express my concern and to question whether a school should test what they did not teach. Furthermore, in learning and teaching, there is assessment for learning and assessment of learning. Apologies for the educational lingo if you are confused.

 

Let me give you an example. if a teacher teaches maths topic A - C individually and he test the student with questions that merge topics A-C. Do you then see it as teaching A-C and testing them Y-Z?

 

If my child is below the bell curve despite all the help he can get, I will accept it. Someone has to serve at Mcdonald and repair my car at the workshop. If that is what my child can only do, then so be it as long as he is making a honest earning.

 

If everyone is able to absorb the 70% of what is taught in class and then pick up the 30% not taught in class except your child, do you point the finger at the school or yourself?

 

Over more than 90% of students do well enough for PSLE to continue education in Secondary. This means that the system works for them. The 10% or less kids that are healthy and able should ask themselves why they din't make it. They should not blame the system.

 

If you talk about work, then my question is whether your superior taught you everything you need to know to do your job? I for one, have to learn and acquire many skills on my own to cope with the increasing job scope. I see that as an opportunity to learn.

 

I rather work with the system I am in, then to blame it and indulge in self pity. If I feel the system is wrong, I will aspire to rise through the ranks to change it from within. Perhaps, this attitude of mine is why I am not at the lower 30% of the bell curve at my office for my performance review.

 

 

for God's sake, you expect a primary school kids to go & do research on the rest of that 30% that was not covered by his/her teacher to sit for the test !??? categorising a kid incompetent by testing him on that 30% which is not taught!

and then covering it up with a hypothesis bell-curve rule for justifications?

 

there seems to be ignorance to those w/o the experience of parenthood that incites this 'smart' syndrome of applying hypothesis and quoting academias just to support a theory irrelevantly.

 

I guess if your son (if you have any) tell you one day:

" teacher taught me a, b, c but tested me on x, y, z..... I dinno coz I'm not taught, so I failed "

 

and your reply is . . .

" son, this is how it works . . . no need to cover the rest coz its a bell curve. its just too bad you are at the common curves which below the rest lohhhh! dun blame anyone! and I'm not supposed to provide you tuition to cover those that are not taught but tested..... just let the teachers continue to teach in this manner..... 70% covered is good enuff!

 

and your next reply to him . . .

" next time, when you start working..... dun bother to pick up that 30% not told or taught to you even when you are appraised on that! remember that bell curve? just take it that you are at the bottom half..... "

 

. . .

 

[Pioneer]

Oh no no no.... I am not offended at all.

 

The fallacies of school being rigid, academic smart students are not street smart, street smart students are not academically smart are common and easily invoke consensus because it makes some of us feel good about ourselves.

 

Fallacy simply refers an argument which appears to be correct but is not. It is definitely not a big word in my context.

 

Perhaps because of your similar working environment, you only get to see a subset of people. An example will be if I work in a library, I will perhaps form opinion that all singaporeans are boring and domesticated; If I work in a pub, then I would think that all people are drunkard and crazy.

 

In short, we call that biased sampling and people of the same beliefs tend to gather to reaffirm each other belief even if it is not true. That is called confirmation bias.

 

There is no right and wrong in some topics or views but there is right or wrong in certain topics or views.

 

If something is true >50% of the time, in social science, I would deem it as true.

 

But, agree to disagree aside, I have no problem with differing views. No anger or anything. Just discussion. After all, after this post, our views are not going to change because we all still believe we are right. That's how confirmation bias / groupthink works.

 

 

chill bro

this is a discussion, we all have our views and experiences

fallacy is a big word

my views happen to be close to vid, maybe we have similar working environment exposure

again, no right no wrong

just agree to disagree, thats all

 

[WilliamY]

what I am confused about is the contradiction

 

in the world stage, we fight to be no. 1, then we celebrate and glorify our education system and how many obtained tertiary education

 

in our local scene, we are discourage to focus so much on education but more towards apprenticeship

 

as a parent, I am confused, I cannot afford to screw the future of my children, as they only get one shot in life where education is concerned

 

 

question

why are top officials and rich people are spending good money sending their own children to top schools and universities in the world?

 

 

 

[Vid]

Because I do not have a clear picture of primary school education, I cannot assert whether your statement is true.

 

It may apply to the school your child is going to and not all schools.

 

Theory are developed after years of research and testing. Your experience is but a subset of the different possible outcome. Should people work and behave based on a subset of experience or a thorough developed theory based on good research and testing?

 

Your last 2 replies suggested that there is a lot of frustration and anger at the system and perhaps why create a tunnel vision and focus only on yourself. The world, however, is always about the bigger picture.

 

If my child told me that about being taught abc and tested on xyz, I would first verify it is true. I have worked with students who often said that and when probed further, they admitted that it was not really the case. Like I said, I do not know your case specifically and I can only speak from experience, like you, but I don't claim that I am right and you are just being "academic".

 

Like I said, this 70/30 learning may be unique to your child's school. If it is true, I will speak to the teachers/hod to express my concern and to question whether a school should test what they did not teach. Furthermore, in learning and teaching, there is assessment for learning and assessment of learning. Apologies for the educational lingo if you are confused.

 

Let me give you an example. if a teacher teaches maths topic A - C individually and he test the student with questions that merge topics A-C. Do you then see it as teaching A-C and testing them Y-Z?

 

If my child is below the bell curve despite all the help he can get, I will accept it. Someone has to serve at Mcdonald and repair my car at the workshop. If that is what my child can only do, then so be it as long as he is making a honest earning.

 

If everyone is able to absorb the 70% of what is taught in class and then pick up the 30% not taught in class except your child, do you point the finger at the school or yourself?

 

Over more than 90% of students do well enough for PSLE to continue education in Secondary. This means that the system works for them. The 10% or less kids that are healthy and able should ask themselves why they din't make it. They should not blame the system.

 

If you talk about work, then my question is whether your superior taught you everything you need to know to do your job? I for one, have to learn and acquire many skills on my own to cope with the increasing job scope. I see that as an opportunity to learn.

 

I rather work with the system I am in, then to blame it and indulge in self pity. If I feel the system is wrong, I will aspire to rise through the ranks to change it from within. Perhaps, this attitude of mine is why I am not at the lower 30% of the bell curve at my office for my performance review.

 

 

 

Good long post.

 

I would just like to add that the newer generation will have things much harder than we had in the past. Globalisation has brought in immense competition.

 

Being academically good is now only the basic.

 

[Jman888]

what I am confused about is the contradiction

 

in the world stage, we fight to be no. 1, then we celebrate and glorify our education system and how many obtained tertiary education

 

in our local scene, we are discourage to focus so much on education but more towards apprenticeship

 

as a parent, I am confused, I cannot afford to screw the future of my children, as they only get one shot in life where education is concerned

 

 

question

why are top officials and rich people are spending good money sending their own children to top schools and universities in the world?

 

 

 

 

 

i only remember my parents used to say:

 

读书是为自己而读的，读的下你就读，读不下你就去打工！

 

simply mean study is for your own (not to compare or compete), if can study you carry on, if cannot go work! you can blame the system or so call unfair system, end of the day is how you plan your own path cos there are many to success (success doesn't necessary mean financially).

[Duckduck]

Singapore voted no. 1 in Education worldwide which helps propel us to be first world country.

Whilst I won't deny this is true, I'm just wondering what price we pay for achieving this.

Pressure on our children at a young age, streaming ie segregating the children by their results, book smart children etc. Interested to know what do you guys feel, worth it? Perhaps.......

 

i feel that very high education level is the antithesis of entrepreneurism as there are many good jobs for them so as a result there isnt any drive to walk on the wild side.

[Ben5266]

 

Good long post.

 

I would just like to add that the newer generation will have things much harder than we had in the past. Globalisation has brought in immense competition.

 

Being academically good is now only the basic.

 

Globalisation....

 

some choose to see it as a threat....

but some see it as an opportunity....

 

it is all about our mind...

[Vid]

Globalisation....

 

some choose to see it as a threat....

but some see it as an opportunity....

 

it is all about our mind...

 

 

Opportunity involves taking risks. That is not as easy as it looks.

 

[Ben5266]

 

 

i only remember my parents used to say:

 

读书是为自己而读的，读的下你就读，读不下你就去打工！

 

simply mean study is for your own (not to compare or compete), if can study you carry on, if cannot go work! you can blame the system or so call unfair system, end of the day is how you plan your own path cos there are many to success (success doesn't necessary mean financially).

我读了很多书， 还是要打工。

真惨！

[Vid]

我读了很多书， 还是要打工。

真惨！

 

就是读很多书才要打工 [laugh] 不读书的已经去做老板了

[Mustank]

我读了很多书， 还是要打工。

真惨！

 

我们这班打工仔

hue hue hue

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi7hdoUd2_s

[Hamburger]

 

我们这班打工仔

hue hue hue

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi7hdoUd2_s

 

我的偶像。。。。。。

[Achtung]

All we need is to bring back the good old days of 生活教育! Taught in the late 70s and early 80s.

 

 

The underlying principle of EQ is empathy.

 

To develop empathy and be sensitive to others, students have to experience and work with people from different cultural and financial background. Of course, after these interactions, there must be reflection of their feelings and thoughts about what they have seen and heard.

 

This is why they are sent overseas, working with elderly, people from poorer families, special needs students, etc.

 

The disclaimer is that all these can be undone by parents as well as the immaturity of the students.