Schoolchildren oppressed by their schoolbags

Schoolchildren with heavy backpacks literally weighing them down deserve pity. I think they probably bring all their books with them every single day without following their timetable. This is the result of 'kiasu-ism'. This will inevitably cause their backs to be affected in the long run, since they seem to be bending under the weight. They do pose a danger to others too when they turn around too quickly. Their bags can hit others and injure them.

Feedback on Noelle's article

A parent wrote in to give his take on the local education system from a fellow foreigner's perspective.

His son was told by his teachers that "his Mandarin was poor (and he has to) catch up with the school standard". What a joke! He had taken Higher Mandarin in China. China is the native country of the language and our country employs teachers from China to teach our students the language. How can "his Mandarin (be) poor"?!

Also, the boy was told that "he had not had any proper education for the past five years" and this is the cause of his undesirable grade in a particular subject. How can another country's education be so negatively commented on? China has its benefits too and the citizens aren't all that stupid. It is an insult to the boy's country of birth. I wonder how he had felt. Though its medium of learning is Mandarin, their education system can't be all that bad.

These two cases only serve to illustrate how some of our teachers can be so insensitive and tactless. Arrogance and distastefulness are also some other words that come to mind. I hope that these black sheep don't affect foreigners' perceptions of our teachers. There are some extraordinary ones and no, I'm not referring to myself.

A P5 student actually wrote in to comment on this too. His view will stand strong because it is from the horse's mouth. I'm glad he decided to write in.

I feel he's blessed to have such a good English teacher who gives clear explanations for his marking scheme in compositions. His Math and Science teachers have obviously taught him so well that he is inspired to write about them. I completely agree with his comment on the system: "...a system should not be blamed in case one particular student is unable to cope."

Ho Kong Loon, a retired teacher, wrote about this article too. He says our system advocate authority and conformity. Yes, I could not fathom having anything else other than respect for my teachers. It took some time for me to see my university lecturers as friends too.

Conformity can be associated with rigidity in answering questions. It was Literature which I majored in, that allowed me to accept the possibility of using different texts for a set essay question. I was assured that I did not need to use the recommended texts and that as long as my texts were relevant to the question, and I provided convincing and sensible arguments in my answer, they were considered acceptable.

One teacher will find it challenging to handle forty students at one go and that is where home tuition comes in. Its one-to-one approach gives weaker students who find it difficult to understand or catch up with school lessons, personalized teaching. The students may not dare to ask questions in class too and so here, opportunities are presented for them to do so with fewer qualms.

The letter sees him as a defender of our system, with loyal feelings towards it. I get the impression that he is saying that since Noelle can afford to send her kids to an international school, she should have done so at the start. He also ends his letter rather convictedly, implying that our system is far superior to others, as it is more "serious" and practical in its focus. He seems to be undermining and subtly mocking other systems.

Expatriate children adjusting to the local education system

Noelle De Jesus lamented about our schools' methods of learning in Weekend Today. I do agree with her in certain aspects.

"Why can't they take Mandarin as a foreign language?" That is so true, especially for expatriate children. The local children take German, French or Japanese as a foreign language, so why can't these children take Mandarin in the same context too? They are foreigners and though they should try to fit into the system, since they are in our country, it won't hurt to give them the option of taking Mandarin as a foreign language. Local students are allowed to take Chinese Basic for the O'levels, if I'm not mistaken. Why shouldn't this alternate situation materialise for expat children?

The marking scheme in schools is rather rigid in certain cases. If unusual but "grammatically correct" sentences are used in a piece of work, they are marked as incorrect. Compositions especially, are supposed to evoke creativity in the students but where is the creativity allowed in their marking? Quite ironic, don't you think?

From my experience as a tutor, comprehension cloze passages too, suffer a similar fate. Answers outside the given set of words are not accepted as correct, even though they make sense and fit into the structure of the passages. What is there left to say?

Teachers seem not to be open to curiosity in students. The author's son was merely clarifying his doubts, since he had problems understanding the way certain things were taught here. For that, he was seen as a "trouble-maker"? That's rather narrow-minded and superficial, I feel.

I remember being made to feel stupid as a student when I wanted to clarify what I didn't understand. Other students had no problems but I was a slow learner especially in Math. This fear of asking questions accompanied me to my degree level and it took some coaxing and assurance from my lecturers before I was courageous enough to learn to ask questions again. Thank goodness I did or else I wouldn't have obtained my degree!

He was also not given a chance by his teacher to give his point of view when he was framed as a bully by his so-called friends. So he just resignedly allowed himself to be accused. What does that say about our teachers in general? I hope this is just an isolated case.

I disagree with her in terms of how she feels about the root problem of our education system. The high teacher-student ratio happens because there are insufficient teachers who are willing to give their hearts to our future generation, and this stems from the rebellious children they have to deal with. No matter how hard they try, their efforts go unappreciated and they feel they are fighting a losing battle. I was a relief teacher and so I understand this feeling.

Of course, it is not the children's fault. Such children are the products of parents who place work commitments over their children's development. A line between supporting the family and not spending enough time with their children has to be drawn. Thus, the neglected children turn to the media or bad company to fill their void of loneliness and unwittingly get imbued with the inherent values in these alternative sources. So there's a reason why the ratio is so low.

I'm reminded of an episode from CSI:Miami where the mother was busy working and hired a teenage baby-sitter to take care of her child. She didn't even want to carry the child and wasn't very concerned when her child was involved in a crossfire incident. That is so sad. This scenario isn't just limited to fiction. It happens in reality. I hope Singapore doesn't reach this level.

Interpretation of meaning via language translation

Hey! Gorgeous's winner was criticized for giving the wrong answer to the question of who the Minister Mentor was. He had misinterpreted the question as "Who is the Senior Minister?" and instead of answering, "Lee Kuan Yew.", he answered, "Goh Chok Tong.". He is more proficient in English and translated the question posed to him in Mandarin into English before answering it. The translation process had gone wrong due to his misinterpretation.

Other contestants had incorrectly answered other general knowledge questions as well.

To label them as 'brainless' though is rather harsh. The critics are probably more proficient in Mandarin. As an English graduate, I would have problems interpreting the question too.

On the other hand, the name of the programme gave the impression that it was based on looks. The whole process of looking for suitable candidates affirmed this.

Audaciously editing the answers of PSLE Tamil scripts

A teacher had changed the answers of 3 Tamil scripts and this secret was exposed by an alert person. This was a very daring act on the part of the teacher.

I was discussing this exposed secret with Frances. We analysed the reasons behind the teacher's deed. Perhaps she was trying to help the students pass or do well in the subject out of pity or favouritism for them. That may be a good intention but the method of doing so is evil. Thus this is evil personified, a lesson I learnt at my choir retreat. Besides, she can't tide them over all their lives. They have to ultimately sit for future exams on their own. She is really teaching them how to cheat and is a disgrace to the teaching industry.

Frances feels that it may be the parents of the students that had bribed the teacher to do so. I'm open to that theory. If they had wanted their children to be promoted to secondary school and would do anything to achieve that aim, then they probably had no qualms in resorting to such a desperate means. That's even worse than pulling strings with the school. That is an immoral approach.

Also, it may satisfy the short-term goal but the children will have problems coping with the secondary school syllabus because they may have needed more time than others to prepare themselves for it, by learning the subject for another year. It's fine if your children are slower learners. It doesn't make them stupid or anything. I obtained my Honours degree in a longer time as compared to others but I still attained it in the end. I just needed more time to understand my subjects. I'm still a university graduate. This mindset of children not being smart if they take a longer time to learn is rather narrow-minded.

Opinion on trishaw uncle being bullied

Ju-len, a star blogger, implied that such a thing is part of life in his blog. That doesn't make it right. His antics are less harmful as compared to what the trishaw uncle went through. They weren't directly inflicted on a human. So what if fun was the ultimate purpose? It is at the expense of elements outside oneself and that constitutes selfishness.

Courage for a better reality

Mr Lim Swee Say advocated loyalty in the working world and received an opposing viewpoint after that. Yes, this particular world is utilitarian in nature and is ruled by intense competition. Survival of the fittest, or the most talented for that matter, is the motto. Our moral principles and integrity can give way. However, I feel Mr Lim is brave to ask Singaporeans to go back to our humanity. I'm sure he is aware of the harshness of the world out there but he still made that request. He is the living voice of hope and belief in a long-forgotten state of goodness, in a world of greed and ambition, dead to purity and morality.

Schools' reactions to Click Five's visit

A recent furore over this boyband's visit to Singapore was reported in the Sunday Times. Being an alumnus of one of the schools, I am not agreeable with the principal's decision of having allowed the boyband to visit the school. The reason is because it clashes with the values the school is supposed to inculcate in its students. 'Simple in Virtue' embodies the trait of simplicity in mindset. The students' excessive boy-crazy fanaticism towards the band members when they came to the school is unbecoming and contrary to the school's motto. If the band weren't allowed to visit, there would be fewer opportunities in allowing the school's values to be eroded within the students.

On the contrary, PLMGS's principal rejected the request to let the band visit her school. I applaud that move because it shows that she takes the mission of retaining the school's values in the students seriously enough, and she blatantly stated it too. That takes courage, to go against the mass and her popularity with the students. She is really standing up for the proper values in life. The students are unfortunately too narrow-minded and immature to see the good she really means by this move, as an alumnus wrote.

Of course, this is my personal opinion but at the same time, I am writing it as a former student of my own school.