Singapore Need A Better Education System

The Singapore Model of educating kids has evolved to what is now claimed by our government as being one of the best in the world. I do not agree as many of our kids are very highly stressed and most of them also need to attend additional tuition classes. Worst of all, is having to learn a 2nd Labguage not to their liking, but force-fed despite many not having interest nor are capable of learning, especially Mandarin. The educators themselves are highly stressed due to the workload and themselves being assessed and tested on their abilities. Moreover, many of them are doing it for the money rather than a passion to teach. We need to re-look at ourselves and wonder, whether is this the only way or are there a better education ysytem and what do we all desire for ourselves and our kids.

this is good too. I give free classes ....to chiobus only ah. :p

Pray tell, how successful is Finland's education system? How many Nobel Prizes thus far? Why is Finland's GDP per capita so low despite having a purportedly World class education system? Can you name 1 Finnish invention or discovery? Imho, there's only one country that Sinkieland and the rest of the World ought to emulate: Confoederatio Helvetica

[video=youtube;472D0r5NI2E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=472D0r5NI2E[/video]

Cruxx said:

Pray tell, how successful is Finland's education system? How many Nobel Prizes thus far? Why is Finland's GDP per capita so low despite having a purportedly World class education system? Can you name 1 Finnish invention or discovery? Imho, there's only one country that Sinkieland and the rest of the World ought to emulate: Confoederatio Helvetica

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Google Search is your friend. Don't ask if you cannot bother to check the number of Nobel Laureates, the similar population size with Singapore, the number of well-known Finnish inventions. How is the GDP related to having a good education system? US has a double digit ranking and their dropout rate is about 25% compared to Finland's 2% dropout rate. What is the size of US GDP per capita, 15 trillion? If you want to rebut, at least do some proper homework, you will be more credible.

Singapore education is Kiasu type. More on theory and chasing score. When join work force most of them cannot make it because lack of street smart and creativity.

Cestbon said:

Singapore education is Kiasu type. More on theory and chasing score. When join work force most of them cannot make it because lack of street smart and creativity.

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Agreed. Singapore is just trying to emulate the sith in creating clones to rule the galaxy under the PAP dark lords.

I do agree with you about Singapore's model is not the best but then that depends on what one tries to show. If education means to show results, think we are pretty good at that - still not as good as the PRCs - think PISA scores. If you have kids going through the primary to secondary education system, just look at the curriculum, there is no flow at all. It is pretty obvious they are designed by totally 2 different groups of 'geniuses' who do not communicate with one another. So to the kids, it will come as a shock when they enter secondary schools. So much emphasis is placed on PSLE even the parents think if they don't get their kids into an elite school, their kids' future is doomed. If you do ask around the standards, I bet the average raw score for the actual paper is pretty low, not talking about the T score. This should be a good indication of the national standard for mean results.

To me, education is a process, a pretty long one at that, formal and informal. For our system, the focus is usually the end goal eg PSLE results, 'O' / 'A' level results etc, this leads to the KPIs of the educators.

Windsor said:

The Singapore Model of educating kids has evolved to what is now claimed by our government as being one of the best in the world. I do not agree as many of our kids are very highly stressed and most of them also need to attend additional tuition classes. Worst of all, is having to learn a 2nd Labguage not to their liking, but force-fed despite many not having interest nor are capable of learning, especially Mandarin. The educators themselves are highly stressed due to the workload and themselves being assessed and tested on their abilities. Moreover, many of them are doing it for the money rather than a passion to teach. We need to re-look at ourselves and wonder, whether is this the only way or are there a better education ysytem and what do we all desire for ourselves and our kids.

Click to expand...

Cestbon said:

Singapore education is Kiasu type. More on theory and chasing score. When join work force most of them cannot make it because lack of street smart and creativity.

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Sinkies' procedural memory v good. These robots know how to perform tasks according to steps. Just don't ask them to innovate or comprehend nuances.

SG kids just need better home education （家教). The rest will take care by itself.

Windsor said:

Google Search is your friend. Don't ask if you cannot bother to check the number of Nobel Laureates, the similar population size with Singapore, the number of well-known Finnish inventions. How is the GDP related to having a good education system? US has a double digit ranking and their dropout rate is about 25% compared to Finland's 2% dropout rate. What is the size of US GDP per capita, 15 trillion? If you want to rebut, at least do some proper homework, you will be more credible.

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Hi there.

1. Aiyoh!
2. Finland Nobel laureates per capita is ranked 21st in the world, 22nd if you exclude the awards for literature and peace. Hardly World best in this regard.
3. If your education system doesn't improve the market value of the goods and services you produce, then I worry
4. Judged solely on the narrow aspect of dropout rates, US does seem to have a poorer education system than Finland. But a good education system is more than simply getting students to turn up.
5. USA's GDP (PPP) per capita is $46,860, not 15 trillion. Google Search is your friend

Windsor said:

Moreover, many of them are doing it for the money rather than a passion to teach

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bro,

a time bomb may be ticking away, here are the reasons:

1. experienced & dedicated teachers are leaving the fraternity due to:
a. retirement age, b. jaded
despite having some of these gems back as adjuncts or flexi-adjuncts, it isn't helping much.

2. high attrition rate, would be higher if not for:
a. the bond, b. the connect plans
despite having enhanced school experience or internship, there's still a disparity between realism & idealism. folks are finding it harder to reconcile the two.

3. changing paradigms as a result of:
a. technological advancements, b. evolving expectations from parents/students/ministry/society
despite having IT tools for teaching, that doesn't mean the teachers' time are freed up. teachers are supposed to teach the kids how to learn, unlearn & relearn, not spoon feeding. teachers are neither nannies nor baby-sitters.

4. huge class size
despite the recent announcement on homework policies, multiplying by 40 is always daunting. how does one concentrate on 40 individuals at any one point in time? the learning curve may be different for every individual and the learning capacity and learning style hasn't been factored in yet.

5. ranking
yah, go ahead & produce 10 year series on how to be filial to the parents, how to raise a decent family instead of raising brats, how to be more innovative. do make sure good values are all tested so the kids can be ranked on who's most filial.

zhihau said:

...
1. experienced & dedicated teachers are leaving the fraternity ...
2. high attrition rate ...
3. changing paradigms ...
... teachers are supposed to teach the kids how to learn, unlearn & relearn ...
4. ... how does one concentrate on 40 individuals at any one point in time? ...
5. ... yah, go ahead & produce 10 year series on how to be filial to the parents, how to raise a decent family ...

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world's bestest paid gahmen got gif world crass, world bestest, world lumpar 1 soln oredi wat! ... ah loon oredi said ... teach less, learn mor! ... gao dim! ... :o

Cruxx said:

Hi there.

1. Aiyoh!
2. Finland Nobel laureates per capita is ranked 21st in the world, 22nd if you exclude the awards for literature and peace. Hardly World best in this regard.
3. If your education system doesn't improve the market value of the goods and services you produce, then I worry
4. Judged solely on the narrow aspect of dropout rates, US does seem to have a poorer education system than Finland. But a good education system is more than simply getting students to turn up.
5. USA's GDP (PPP) per capita is $46,860, not 15 trillion. Google Search is your friend

Click to expand...

I meant total GDP not GDP per capita, which is my bad.

A complete and well-rounded education does not mean receiving an honours degree to be able to improve market value of goods and services produced. It says very much about Singaporeans and their mindsets which are generally pretty shallow most probably due to the kind of education they have.

As some had pointed out, we are not statistics and numbers, which apparently TPTB and those like you would have. How can Singapore produce outstanding individuals if everyone believe we need to have an education system just to add on GDP figures and etc.? My post is not insomuch having an education system just so Singapore can produce more degree holders, but a superior education system that produces results without the stress and the fear that if they fail to get excellent results, they are doomed.

The current pace of education is such that slower learners gave up as they could not catch up with the others. The streaming and putting smarter kids in one school and the rest not so smart in another, gives the idea that they are under certain classification. There are many of such pupils that may actually be smarter than those in elite schools or if not better, more successful in the fields they are in. Grading exercises undertaken by MOE of students every few years and classifying them as Grade A, B, C, D and E only create an elitist society.

Then there are the rich and wealthy that takes their kids off from the Singapore education system and invariably they obtained their Master's Degree, which in effect, they most likely will not get if they went through the Singapore education system.

Personally I have witnessed how Singaporeans performed in overseas colleges and universities. They generally have better results than the locals, even those that are not considered as good enough to be in our local universities.

zhihau said:

bro,

a time bomb may be ticking away, here are the reasons:

1. experienced & dedicated teachers are leaving the fraternity due to:
a. retirement age, b. jaded
despite having some of these gems back as adjuncts or flexi-adjuncts, it isn't helping much.

2. high attrition rate, would be higher if not for:
a. the bond, b. the connect plans
despite having enhanced school experience or internship, there's still a disparity between realism & idealism. folks are finding it harder to reconcile the two.

3. changing paradigms as a result of:
a. technological advancements, b. evolving expectations from parents/students/ministry/society
despite having IT tools for teaching, that doesn't mean the teachers' time are freed up. teachers are supposed to teach the kids how to learn, unlearn & relearn, not spoon feeding. teachers are neither nannies nor baby-sitters.

4. huge class size
despite the recent announcement on homework policies, multiplying by 40 is always daunting. how does one concentrate on 40 individuals at any one point in time? the learning curve may be different for every individual and the learning capacity and learning style hasn't been factored in yet.

5. ranking
yah, go ahead & produce 10 year series on how to be filial to the parents, how to raise a decent family instead of raising brats, how to be more innovative. do make sure good values are all tested so the kids can be ranked on who's most filial.

Click to expand...

I agree totally with you on this. The life of a teacher is not easy, but there are perks in being an educationist for them to carry on the job. We are living in a highly stressful environment and unlike the Finns, despite not having cheap labout, nor World's No. 1 in this and that, they are high achievers in many fields and earn a good living and best of all, they are not highly stressed and enjoy a good standard of living. I was there and witnessed how the Finns live and really envied their country and people. Life is not all about having money and more money, but living a full and satisfying life.

It's Already The End When I Saw What Was Happening In School !

Cestbon said:

Singapore education is Kiasu type. More on theory and chasing score. When join work force most of them cannot make it because lack of street smart and creativity.

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Conqueror is an exceptionally intelligent being and I had seen the end result from young. I had notice that the best scorers need not be intelligent. All they had to do is to create a temporary memory to suck up data and reproduce them on the paper as fast as you can because there isn't enough time for you to think. And to think that a person must possess a powerful and an in-depth analytical skill to become a 国家栋梁 country's pillar. My analysis was to forget about working for a civil service. My conclusion should not be a surprise. In fact, there are many who are willing to break their bonds to do something else instead. When is the last time you ever use a SCIENTIFIC calculator after you have left school ? Most of us threw it away for a simple calculator because it helps you make more money.

Re: It's Already The End When I Saw What Was Happening In School !

sg education is too rigid, over systematic.
everyting is book book book. cannot think further after the book.
no emphasis of innovation or creativity, all the while teachers will say read the book. LOL

Re: It's Already The End When I Saw What Was Happening In School !

You totally hit the bullseye when you mention the part about temporary memory and reproducing it on the paper as fast as you can. As one can see from here, what is there to be learnt and take home when at the end of the year you'll just have regurgitate the year's learning so that you can move on to another year's of repeating the same thing over over and again? All we've gain in the end is how to regurgitate the most accurate pile of vomit in the fastest time. I'm still a student and I often worry about how the rest of my peers are gonna take the stress from all this throwing up. We Singapore kids lack social skills, creativity and logic. Things on textbooks and ten-years-series only allow us to look at things in one perspective and this forced the students to look at problems thinking only that there is only one way to solve them. They lack the 'think-out-of-the-box' element. Time has come for the Singapore education system to revolutionize.

Re: It's Already The End When I Saw What Was Happening In School !

When the news feature any school student on any subject, I always cringe because those students always say the same thing and sounds the same. Also our students, children are predictable in the things they say.

If you watch the show Junior Masterchef , you'll notice the kids are articulate and say things to put even an adult sinkee to shame.

chupacabra said:

Agreed. Singapore is just trying to emulate the sith in creating clones to rule the galaxy under the PAP dark lords.

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By clones you meant:

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=o...rt=14&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:14&tx=26&ty=47



By sith you meant:


http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=g...rt=29&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:29&tx=61&ty=20

Re: It's Already The End When I Saw What Was Happening In School !

The education system of Singapore is the second best in the world. Where else can one be effectively bilingual by the time of lower secondary? If you can't catch up, it's your problem, not the system. The best education system is in the world is of course Malaysian private Chinese stream through which one can be effectively trilingual by the time of lower secondary.