Education 02 (Sep 09 - Jul 10)

[iam802]

It is a question of :

Do you want to be:

- the big fish in small pond?
or
- the small fish in big pond?


Note:
My brother ask me the above. I do not have any answer to the above.
For now, my kid is in small pond. However, there will come a time when I have to visit this again.

[millionairemind]

hehe.... mine's in a small puddle...

[Poles]

mine was playing in the puddle....

[millionairemind]

May 20, 2010
Private schools to dwindle
By Amelia Tan & Leow Si Wan

THE big clean up of the private education industry is expected to shrink the number of private schools in Singapore from 1,000 to 600.

Officials from the Council of Private Education said at a press conference on Thursday that they are already seeing schools merging and some are even leaving the industry as a result of new stringent private education laws.

Schools have to register with the Council to be allowed to operate under the new laws.

To do so, they will have to meet a list of criteria which includes showing that they have proper systems, such as independent academic and examination boards to develop and review academic policies; giving information on their finances, teachers and facilities; and ensuring that foreign institutions they link with are up to par.

So far, 62 schools have registered with the Council and one has been rejected. Officials declined to reveal the name of the school.

The council said 308 schools submitted applications, of which 164 handed in fully completed applications.

[kennynah]

way too many PRC "students" here on 1-2 year student visas for them to ply their "trade"....

[millionairemind]

May 29, 2010
No P1 exams at 16 schools
By Leow Si Wan
SIXTEEN schools have taken a massive step towards greater holistic learning by doing away with end-of-semester examinations for their Primary 1 pupils.

These prototype schools, comprising both neighbourhood ones as well as established names, use a variety of methods to gauge pupils' progress that are more qualitative than just pure grades.

For years, many parents and pupils have complained about an education system which places too much emphasis on examinations, leaving young children snowed under by big exams.

[iam802]

Hurray!!

Now, the schools will conduct tests every 2 weeks or every month.

Guaranteed no exams

The tests will be counted towards the score of the end of year exam and have a weightage of X%

And on top of that, certain schools will meet up with parents, on a quarterly basis, to highlight the school average results, the top results...and where your child stands in the grand scheme of things.

They may also suggest that your kid may need extra help outside of school hours.

[millionairemind]

hehe...

Actually the schools can just administer Topical reviews every 4 weeks to gauge how the kids are doing.

The parents will know how their kids are doing based on the topical reviews...

This "so-called pressure" is due to "over kiasu" parents who like to compare one kid versus the another. Just like they like to compare the house they live in, the car they drive etc etc.. with others.

The boy's school has 2 topical reviews per term. If he has been following the classes, he should know the materials. I don't worry about "hot-housing" him just before each review. I just let the review speak for itself on how well he is learning in school.

His Math teacher also likes to give "ad-hoc" tests. I never had a problem with those. It just tells me if my kid is absorbing the lessons taught in school.

If he doesn't get full marks, it doesn't bother me one bit.

Education is about learning... and its the journey that counts. It's a marathon, not a 100m sprint.

No point turning a kid off studies now just because of our own insecurities. One must believe that he/she can do the work.

[kennynah]

sometimes...the parents used to be ace students...having achieved almost full marks almost always when they were students... in this case, i can understand that they expect their child/ren to be achievers too... afterall, they have done it...so, why not their child/ren?

[winston]

Education throughout the World has failed

Surely, to discover truth, there must be freedom from strife, both within ourselves and with our neighbours. When we are not in conflict within ourselves, we are not in conflict outwardly. It is the inward strife which, projected outwardly, becomes the world conflict.

War is the spectacular and bloody projection of our everyday living. We precipitate war out of our daily lives; and without a transformation in ourselves, there are bound to be national and racial antagonisms, the childish quarrelling over ideologies, the multiplication of soldiers, the saluting of flags, and all the many brutalities that go to create organized murder.

Education throughout the world has failed, it has produced mounting destruction and misery. Governments are training the young to be the efficient soldiers and technicians they need; regimentation and prejudice are being culivated and enforced.

Taking these facts into consideration, we have to inquire into the meaning of existence and the significance and purpose of our lives. We have to discover the beneficent ways of creating a new environment; for environment can make the child a brute, an unfeeling specialist, or help him to become a sensitive, intelligent human being.

We have to create a world government which is radically different, which is not based on nationalism, on ideologies, on force. All this implies the understanding of our responsibility to one another in relationship; but to understand our responsibility, there must be love in our hearts, not mere learning or knowledge.

The greater our love, the deeper will be its influence on society. But we are all brains and no heart; we cultivate the intellect and despise humility. If we really loved our children, we would want to save and protect them, we would not let them be sacrificed in wars.

I think we really want arms; we like the show of military power, the uniforms, the rituals, the drinks, the noise, the violence. Our everyday life is a reflection in miniature of this same brutal superficiality, and we are destroying one another through envy and thoughtlessness.

We want to be rich; and the richer we get, the more ruthless we become, even though we may contribute large sums to charity and education. Having robbed the victim, we return to him a little of the spoils, and this we call philanthropy. I do not think we realize what catastrophes we are preparing.

- Education and the Significance of Life Chapter 4 Education and World Peace

Source: jkrishnamurthi.com