S'pore officially has the smartest students in the world. Thank you Mr Heng Swee Kiat

[zeroo]

In a programme this week, American television station CNN examined an official finding that named Singapore's secondary school students as the brightest in the world, by interviewing international experts.

While world-renowned education experts spoke highly of Singapore's education system in the report, some local experts believe there are still shortfalls.

Associate Professor Eugene Tan, who teaches law at the Singapore Management University, told Lianhe Wanbao there is still room to strengthen the ability of local students to apply what they have learnt.

"Most of our students acquire knowledge just to pass exams, and they do not really enjoy the learning process," Prof Tan told the Chinese evening daily.

Also, many develop a set formula and adopt a conservative approach in learning for fear of tasting failure, he pointed out.

Hence, teachers play a vital role in motivating students so that they are not limited to being just "exam-smart", added the associate professor.

According to findings by the Programme for International Student Assessment - a triennial survey conducted by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - Singapore students outperformed peers from 64 other economies in tests on skills and knowledge.

The CNN programme interviewed Marc Tucker, president of the United States National Center on Education and the Economy, and Andreas Schleicher, OECD's education director.

"They (Singapore) source their teachers from among the best kids coming out of their high schools," Mr Tucker told CNN in giving one reason on why the country's students are brilliant learners.

Mr Schleicher said: "The emphasis on the application, the creative use of knowledge is very, very strong in Singapore and other Asian countries."

 

[mojito]

Re: S'pore officially has the smartest students in the world. Thank you Mr Heng Swee

Of course. PAP is the best!

 

[NanoSpeed]

Re: S'pore officially has the smartest students in the world. Thank you Mr Heng Swee

Hence, teachers play a vital role in motivating students so that they are not limited to being just "exam-smart", added the associate professor.

This is an oxymoron. Most teachers, if not all, are from the same supply chain that has been churning out "exam-smart" students. If the teachers were good, they would not have chosen teaching as a profession, especially in Singapore. They would have become entrepreneurs.

It's precisely because teachers, including Prof Eugene Tan who himself has never practiced law, are themselves risk averse, which is why they have returned to the system that they now complain just to eke out a risk-free living. And to Prof Eugene Tan, how many "litigation hours" have you clocked in your entire career ? How many M&A have you done ?

So it's stupid to expect a risk averse teacher to coach their students to be creative and risk taking.

The litmus test of the value of teachers is to look at the tuition industry. If teachers in the schools are doing their job, the tuition industry is non-existent in the first place.

 

[harimau]

Re: S'pore officially has the smartest students in the world. Thank you Mr Heng Swee

Not happy kids! Kena stressed real bad!

All later developed mental problems and come back to Sammyboy!

 

[yahoo55]

Re: S'pore officially has the smartest students in the world. Thank you Mr Heng Swee

This is an oxymoron. Most teachers, if not all, are from the same supply chain that has been churning out "exam-smart" students. If the teachers were good, they would not have chosen teaching as a profession, especially in Singapore. They would have become entrepreneurs.

It's precisely because teachers, including Prof Eugene Tan who himself has never practiced law, are themselves risk averse, which is why they have returned to the system that they now complain just to eke out a risk-free living. And to Prof Eugene Tan, how many "litigation hours" have you clocked in your entire career ? How many M&A have you done ?

So it's stupid to expect a risk averse teacher to coach their students to be creative and risk taking.

The litmus test of the value of teachers is to look at the tuition industry. If teachers in the schools are doing their job, the tuition industry is non-existent in the first place.

Agree, the education system is churning out "exam-smart" students that are very risk averse, kaisu and kiasee, just like the civil servant teachers, principals, super-scale directors and ministers in MOE.

The education system is one of ways PAP has controlled Sinkies from young, brainwashing kids with a certain curriculum of "social studies and history", kids are taught in schools that PAP = Singapore.

The tuition industry is a billion dollars industry in tiny Singapore, many kids had to go for private tuition to keep up in school or to get good grades.

The key reason Singapore has smartest students in exams is because of kiasu parents who spend tons of money on private tuition for their kids, and put lots of pressure on their kids to get good grades and get into top schools.