I was tutoring today when it finally dawned on me just how sad Singapore's Education system is beginning to be. I mean I've known how terrible it was all my life, but today it struck me the hardest.
I have a tutee named C who's studying in school X. School X is a fairly prestigious school that many parents yearn for their kids to be in.
C is having her PSLE this coming October. She frequently has to stay back in school, skip Physical Education lessons, skip Art lessons and is banned from doing anything that might come in her way of attaining good results in her PSLE. In said case, C is even banned from going jogging after school because she'd be blamed for not going home to just study. Her papers are difficult to the extent that there are times when I can't even solve those questions...
I remember my primary 6 life was kinda like this too. Just not so extreme.
I have another student called J. He's 14 this year but he was telling me that when he was in Primary 6, it was a nightmare because whenever he couldn't score for any of his papers, he'd be badly canned by his mother.
Which brings me to my point on Singapore's Education system... Why is it that grades are so important for the educators in Singapore? I understand everything is calculated by a certain grade but sometimes, we all have to realize that not every child can perform the same way others can. There are children who are just not meant to study. They are meant for other things like art or music or even sports.
If we are constantly taking away their art lessons and so on and so forth... How are we going to identify such children? How is it that even in today's open minded society, we are still so focussed on grades such that parents would cane their children just because they are not performing up to standards? What happens if your child is just not the studying kind? Do they get canned all their lives?
What happens to the minds of such children then? Will they have the right attitude towards their work? Will they feel like they are stupid and should not belong in this society? Or is today's society only meant for children who are clever enough to attain good grades?
C was also telling me that when they go for exams, they tell each other that they will hold a party for the ones who fail. The system is so terrible that students have no confidence of passing their exams at all. Is this what we want for them?
The teachers tell them to not get misled by their tutors and parents who say that the PSLE will be easier than their school's papers. Is that really true? Is the PSLE really going to be that painfully difficult? And if it is, what is the MOE trying to prove? To prove that these children just cannot make it in life? What is it?
Why is there the need to set such a difficult paper to hurt the confidence level of these children?
I don't know. Singapore's Education System has frustrated me beyond words.... Once again I ask, are grades really that important?
Tell me your views.
Toodles.
6 comments:
I think Hawaii is on the same level as Singapore in terms of education.
It's so depressing isn't it? I feel like they are training children of the future to become robots who knows nothing but grades.
Having just read the white paper that the UK government has recently published I began to research the WWW for reasons why there are constant references throughout the paper to the Singapore (along with a few other countries) education system being hailed as one of the best in the world. It would make my day if you sent your opinions and feelings to the UK education secretary as they obviously believe that grades are the most important thing in life and want to roll out a similar system over here. As my heart sank as I read your comments, I realised that you were so right again and again. If only the fools that are in charge of the direction of education had your experience, enthusiasm, love and inspiration for life then all of us teachers would be in the perfect profession. As we are, I feel slightly bettered by estate agents, second hand car sales and insurance salesman!
Having just read the white paper that the UK government has recently published I began to research the WWW for reasons why there are constant references throughout the paper to the Singapore (along with a few other countries) education system being hailed as one of the best in the world. It would make my day if you sent your opinions and feelings to the UK education secretary as they obviously believe that grades are the most important thing in life and want to roll out a similar system over here. As my heart sank as I read your comments, I realised that you were so right again and again. If only the fools that are in charge of the direction of education had your experience, enthusiasm, love and inspiration for life then all of us teachers would be in the perfect profession. As we are, I feel slightly bettered by estate agents, second hand car sales and insurance salesman!
I think these days... The education system all over the world are basically controlled and determined by grades. All the countries are getting so disgustingly competitive that they don't really care about how the kids might not be cut out for such stuff anymore. All they care about is that they need the children to produce grades so that their country ranking will rise and so they will be the next most powerful country or something.
I honestly wish for the world to go back when it was less competitive. Although it could make the world progress slower, but hey, why the hell are we progressing so quickly anyway? It is as if we are all rushing to reach the end. Why can't people take things slowly?
I don't know. I just really wish for these kids to enjoy childhood and not just be some education slave for the rest of their lives like many of my tutees end up being.
My grand daughter is in primary 2 this year. Looking at the school work she have to do, my heart BLEEDS for her. The system is ridiculous. Sacrifice thousands of innocent kids just to find 1
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