Hi Mr Tan,
I read this report with concern, is this going to get worse?
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1174482/1/.html
Many Sporeans tend to complain and complain yet they are mostly nothing but complain without action. They talk alot about voting for opposition, but many still vote for the PAP. They said one thing but when challenged or questioned in the open, they tend to avoid reality and become inaction.
Sporean parents are pressurising themselves and their children for various reasons. Majority do not want their children to be left out and so tuition and enrichment become part and parcel of the education/curriculum. There is no turning back and our next generation are going into the race without even knowing what is appropriate for them in future. They will only continue to compete and compete and unsure if they are competing for the right path in life! Very sad indeed, it is more than a pressure cooker.
In the article it reported that "......an Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Intan Mokhtar, who also lectures at the National Institute of Education (NIE), added that these enrichment centres play on parents' fears that their children would lose out if they are not stretched from a young age......"
In the first place, is our education system meant to stretch children from a young age? If so, then who is to blame who? OMG, very pathetic yet confusing. I do feel for these children but not the parents! When these kids grow up in future, they will likely adopt and impose the same practices and demands (as hope) on their kids instead..... onto the next generation....on and on, there is no turning back, perhaps until some drastic changes take place in this little island.
I read this report with concern, is this going to get worse?
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1174482/1/.html
Many Sporeans tend to complain and complain yet they are mostly nothing but complain without action. They talk alot about voting for opposition, but many still vote for the PAP. They said one thing but when challenged or questioned in the open, they tend to avoid reality and become inaction.
Sporean parents are pressurising themselves and their children for various reasons. Majority do not want their children to be left out and so tuition and enrichment become part and parcel of the education/curriculum. There is no turning back and our next generation are going into the race without even knowing what is appropriate for them in future. They will only continue to compete and compete and unsure if they are competing for the right path in life! Very sad indeed, it is more than a pressure cooker.
In the article it reported that "......an Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Intan Mokhtar, who also lectures at the National Institute of Education (NIE), added that these enrichment centres play on parents' fears that their children would lose out if they are not stretched from a young age......"
In the first place, is our education system meant to stretch children from a young age? If so, then who is to blame who? OMG, very pathetic yet confusing. I do feel for these children but not the parents! When these kids grow up in future, they will likely adopt and impose the same practices and demands (as hope) on their kids instead..... onto the next generation....on and on, there is no turning back, perhaps until some drastic changes take place in this little island.
The writer forgot to mention, also pressure on the teachers to excel too, the higher the students' grades, the more prestige teachers have, and thus the higher the chance of promotion within.
ReplyDeleteThe result : lessons taught lacking substance and soul, only competing on attaining the highest grade possible for exams only, no room for critical thinking and enjoyment.
And then, when these youngsters enter University, the same thinking mode follows, and the most wasteful of all, talented students majoring in Engineering, ditch whatever they are trained in, and enter the banking, insurance and real estate agents fields, seduced by the high financial rewards of such careers, wasting the country's scarce resources training them.
The educational System should have a Department, specialising to interview and grade them according to their interest and aptitude for their future careers, and advise them to choose their Faculty of choice, thus cutting down on wasted talents and resources.
Someone said Germany has such a system, but then Singapore wan to thrive on Services to drive the Economy, then may as well close down the engineering and Electronics faculties altogether, why resort to pretence.. Maybe these faculties exist to train foreign students only, many of them are priviledged to study here on Sinagpore's taxpayers account by scholarships.
Even the Education System is biased towards true blue locals.
In certain faculties, there is only 1 and maybe 2 Singaporeans in a whole class of foreign students, many of them on Singapore Govt scholarships, while the locals pay and pay out of their own pockets, feeling like second class citizens in their own country.
No wonder our own young talents say they wan to imigrate. No wonder their parents say," Go on,
leave and bring us along later."
Both locals and foreigners treat this country as a stepping stone only for greener pastures abroad, first step through the education System.