Biglittlebean 3rd Gear October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 Are teachers and students overloaded? By Santokh Singh CONGRATULATIONS to all the schools listed in the Ministry of Education's annual roll of honour this year. They include those who made the rankings and banding list and those who won the numerous awards for best practices in the various categories. Others were recognised for holistic character development of their pupils and for outstanding national education programmes. While we celebrate these achievements, it may be timely to step back and look at how we achieved them. There is talk that some schools may have gone beyond basic educational principles to achieve these awards. There are some questions that schools should ask themselves. Did they overload their students with more work than necessary to make the list? Are their teachers and students subjected to more than one timetable in a day? After the official workday from 7.30am to about 1pm, some schools have two more unofficial ones for the afternoon and night. Yes, as The New Paper found out on our walkabouts, some schools have the graduating classes and their teachers stay in school from 7.30am to 9pm. Next, the schools have to ask themselves if they have over-tested their students to the point that they burn out and lose interest in their studies. Some schools have mock exams before the preliminary examinations, others have two prelims followed by more tests before the national examinations. For them, testing goes on year-round, almost on a weekly basis. The New Paper found out that some schools also conducted either mock examinations or preliminaries during the recent school term break. Some parents may be thankful to these schools for 'baby-sitting' their children while they are at work or enjoying an evening out. But let's not assume that all parents are happy to abdicate their roles as care-givers. Don't forget, too, that teachers, some of whom are parents themselves, have their own lives to lead. They spend hours on end preparing for lessons, setting class work, tests and examination papers and then marking these assignments to help their schools win these awards. They also supervise co-curricular activities and fill in forms for the School Excellence Models which are used as a basis for these awards. Let's hope that they, too, do not burn out in this pursuit of awards. This article was first published in The New Paper. ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quirky_ster Clutched October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 can someone point me to the new paper article... I have both a wife as a teacher and 2 school going children that are in good neighborhood schools... sensitive topic... dare not comment in public. ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderman302 2nd Gear October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 can someone point me to the new paper article... I have both a wife as a teacher and 2 school going children that are in good neighborhood schools... sensitive topic... dare not comment in public. ... Your wife should be able to tell you whats going on in the education system right ? (provided she is really honest with you). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuffDaddy Neutral Newbie October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 it's not just the kids, it's all of us. so much pressure to be one up over others. hardly any time to smell the roses. that - or not enough money. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biglittlebean 3rd Gear October 10, 2009 Author Share October 10, 2009 The scary part is that even P6 pupils now have to stay back until 9pm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderman302 2nd Gear October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 The scary part is that even P6 pupils now have to stay back until 9pm. What school is that ? If someone complain to MOE the school principal sure kena. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biglittlebean 3rd Gear October 10, 2009 Author Share October 10, 2009 Hmm. I can't divulge much. Let's just say it does happen at even primary level. But I think it is non-compulsory for students. It's more like a study session for those who need to mug... the school provides a venue and teachers around to help facilitate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderman302 2nd Gear October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 Hmm. I can't divulge much. Let's just say it does happen at even primary level. But I think it is non-compulsory for students. It's more like a study session for those who need to mug... the school provides a venue and teachers around to help facilitate. One school do that, the neighbouring sch principal see oredi, must follow. Cos he/she scare if his/her sch results drops, he has no excuse. So must follow. Then another, another and another. Eventually many school do that. At the end become a norm. Night study is a must. That how it evolve. Teach less learn more BS. AT the end, its teach more, learn some more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scenic98 Clutched October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 it's becoming a vicious cycle. year after year, they set more and more difficult question, parents panick, send kids to tuition, kids memorise the method, test setters set even harder and the cycle goes on. who benefits at the end? the tuition centres. while i am for having some form of challenging questions in test, there should be more than check on the kid understanding rather than those abstract questions where even adults have difficulty answering them. what's MOE trying to do, have a pool of nobel prize winners in 20 years? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderman302 2nd Gear October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 it's becoming a vicious cycle. year after year, they set more and more difficult question, parents panick, send kids to tuition, kids memorise the method, test setters set even harder and the cycle goes on. who benefits at the end? the tuition centres. while i am for having some form of challenging questions in test, there should be more than check on the kid understanding rather than those abstract questions where even adults have difficulty answering them. what's MOE trying to do, have a pool of nobel prize winners in 20 years? No, not a pool. It for a handful of top scholars who will hold top position in garmen. The difficult questions is to sieve out those above average students. Only the super good ones will able to answer. Otherwise everybody gets 80+ marks, how ? So the 20 marsk are for super bright future scholars !!!! This is how the garmen design the society. Its all planned out. Now many go to ITE, how many go Poly, JC and Uni. All must well planned. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boyboy 1st Gear October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 my wife teaches at a secondary sch. pretty decent one, and she is super duper busy at at times, but the students and teachers dun seem to have it as hard as what TNP portrays. of course, different sch, different conditions. but staying back until 9pm? damn extreme. i think at my wife's sch, the remedial ends latest 4 or 5 pm. and it's REMEDIAL, not kiasu/kiasee study sessions. tho i hear some students kay siao go remedial as a form of free tuition ultimately, it's a choice. blame society, but if one has no life, very often it's a choice they made. singapore pressure cooker, dun wanna be pressure cooked? leave lor. or take the slower lane in life. study so hard also wun really help much in future. i think the best way to make it rich is still a good business acumen and some capital to start ventures, even though i;m the sort who is averse to risk and starting business.. study hard only really helps to get scholarship and work in gahmen. decent comfortable pay but not gonna be rich lah Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnolard Neutral Newbie October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 i think 9pm is too extreme... lookin back... i stayed so late was probably becoz of ECA... nvr for studying... hahahhahahaa..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zyrofillica 1st Gear October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 my wife teaches at a secondary sch. pretty decent one, and she is super duper busy at at times, but the students and teachers dun seem to have it as hard as what TNP portrays. of course, different sch, different conditions. but staying back until 9pm? damn extreme. i think at my wife's sch, the remedial ends latest 4 or 5 pm. and it's REMEDIAL, not kiasu/kiasee study sessions. tho i hear some students kay siao go remedial as a form of free tuition ultimately, it's a choice. blame society, but if one has no life, very often it's a choice they made. singapore pressure cooker, dun wanna be pressure cooked? leave lor. or take the slower lane in life. study so hard also wun really help much in future. i think the best way to make it rich is still a good business acumen and some capital to start ventures, even though i;m the sort who is averse to risk and starting business.. study hard only really helps to get scholarship and work in gahmen. decent comfortable pay but not gonna be rich lah ok la. study become govt scholar. Got decent pay and with wise investment acumen can also become quite rich. Also in govt got position of power. So if i could turn back time, i would have applied for a govt scholarship! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfisti168 1st Gear October 10, 2009 Share October 10, 2009 (edited) In my JC where individual/small-group consultations are highly encouraged, a few of my teachers stay back up till 10pm. They come back on Saturdays for consultations too, from morning till the late afternoon. Edited October 10, 2009 by Alfisti168 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
King 1st Gear October 23, 2009 Share October 23, 2009 overload? maybe we are trying to be the next japan and korea?????? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flavous Neutral Newbie October 29, 2009 Share October 29, 2009 Teachers NO Students are overloaded YES. Teachers are of a certain age already. And they are there to teach. And pertaining to age whatever we learn can't be too hard for them Come to think of it, since they can be the setter of the extremely hard exam questions, can they not solve it? ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In NowRelated Discussions
Related Discussions
Who needs tuition or teachers anymore these days? Why waste money?
Who needs tuition or teachers anymore these days? Why waste money?
Any teachers here? Is this happening in our schools?
Any teachers here? Is this happening in our schools?
PSLE exams.... what is it for???
PSLE exams.... what is it for???
Monthly concession Pass refund for students.
Monthly concession Pass refund for students.
New drugs targetting students.
New drugs targetting students.
NTUtopia invites students with 3.75 to 5 for career fair
NTUtopia invites students with 3.75 to 5 for career fair
Happy Teachers Day
Happy Teachers Day
Teachers at schools and JCs to start paying for parking soon
Teachers at schools and JCs to start paying for parking soon