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Nov 11, 2010
Graduation: No gown, scroll or photo op
I ATTENDED the full-dress rehearsal of my six-year-old son's graduation ceremony at a grassroots kindergarten, PCF Pioneer Kindergarten, last Sunday.
I expected to see him and his fellow graduands go through the full, happy process - putting on graduation gowns and going on stage to collect their scrolls as the photographer took pictures.
Instead, the ceremony was reduced to a superficial shadow of what such milestones should be.
A pupil went on stage to receive the scrolls on behalf of each class. The focus appeared to be on the accompanying concert.
Shocked, I questioned the principal, who replied that the truncated ceremony had been the kindergarten's practice.
I was also given to understand that it was too time-consuming to have each pupil go on stage as the ceremony involved hundreds of graduating preschoolers.
Shouldn't the organisers focus on the primary purpose of the graduation ceremony, which is to acknowledge and celebrate the completion of a child's preschool education - marking that first milestone in their journey of lifelong learning?
Is the success of a dance item or two more important than recognising a child's first rite of passage?
Does the PCF headquarters issue guidelines to its kindergartens to ensure that such acknowledgements remain the primary focus of the ceremony?
My son's kindergarten ceremony is tomorrow. Except for the class representative, he and his fellow classmates face the unhappy prospect of not wearing the graduation gowns, not hearing their names called, not going on stage to receive their scrolls and not having their pictures taken.
The kindergarten may argue that it had fulfilled these separately earlier, but such canned arrangements of convenience defeat the purpose and spirit of a graduation ceremony.
The kindergarten's omission will be felt painfully by parents, unless the organisers do the proper thing: change its attitude and the ceremony, quickly.
Yap Wai Ling (Mrs)
http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_601826.html
Graduation: No gown, scroll or photo op
I ATTENDED the full-dress rehearsal of my six-year-old son's graduation ceremony at a grassroots kindergarten, PCF Pioneer Kindergarten, last Sunday.
I expected to see him and his fellow graduands go through the full, happy process - putting on graduation gowns and going on stage to collect their scrolls as the photographer took pictures.
Instead, the ceremony was reduced to a superficial shadow of what such milestones should be.
A pupil went on stage to receive the scrolls on behalf of each class. The focus appeared to be on the accompanying concert.
Shocked, I questioned the principal, who replied that the truncated ceremony had been the kindergarten's practice.
I was also given to understand that it was too time-consuming to have each pupil go on stage as the ceremony involved hundreds of graduating preschoolers.
Shouldn't the organisers focus on the primary purpose of the graduation ceremony, which is to acknowledge and celebrate the completion of a child's preschool education - marking that first milestone in their journey of lifelong learning?
Is the success of a dance item or two more important than recognising a child's first rite of passage?
Does the PCF headquarters issue guidelines to its kindergartens to ensure that such acknowledgements remain the primary focus of the ceremony?
My son's kindergarten ceremony is tomorrow. Except for the class representative, he and his fellow classmates face the unhappy prospect of not wearing the graduation gowns, not hearing their names called, not going on stage to receive their scrolls and not having their pictures taken.
The kindergarten may argue that it had fulfilled these separately earlier, but such canned arrangements of convenience defeat the purpose and spirit of a graduation ceremony.
The kindergarten's omission will be felt painfully by parents, unless the organisers do the proper thing: change its attitude and the ceremony, quickly.
Yap Wai Ling (Mrs)
http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_601826.html
