Will this affect our school ranking?
Saturday, March 3, 2007
For the purposes of the "different categories" rule, this shall be classified under "Issues regarding teenagers" :)I refer to the article
MP Denise Phua calls on Singaporeans to do away with "T-Score Syndrome" from Channelnewsasia.com (
link to article).
SummaryMP Denise Phua calls for the mindset of the average Singaporean to be shifted away from the prevailing "T-score syndrome", an obsession and over-reliance on grades.
Reflection
Ms Phua points out a very relevant yet unglamorous distinguishing fact about Singaporeans: our over-reliance on school academic results as a gauge of a student’s ability. Singapore is a country renown for its zeal in providing the best in all areas, so it is ironic that little is being done to correct the fact that we are doing too little to establish ourselves as something more than just an exam result-crazy population.
In the past, extra-curricular activities were renamed to co-curricular activities, in a bid to shift the emphasis of schools from just academic studies to a more holistic education, but it is apparent that with this change, the mindsets of most Singaporeans, be it students or school administrators, have not changed one iota. Most schools, for example, are not willing to take in students who have special interests in arts or other non-academic disciplines, if they are sure that the decision would affect their overall ranking. Ironically, most of the only schools to do so are the academically better ones who offer the Integrated Programme as an alternative to the O’ Levels. Taking in such students would then have no consequence on their ‘ranking’, so to speak.
I feel that above all, Singapore schools are too caught up in the school ‘ranking’ system to care about more pressing matters, such as the future of talented students who are not exam smart. Life should after all not just be about rankings and reputation. The interests of every single student must be considered. To refuse a student from studying just because it may pull down his school’s overall ranking is unfair, and it will be a decision that may haunt Singapore in the future. It has been proven countless times in the past that good grades may not lead to somebody with a successful career. Therefore, lousy grades should not condemn a person’s future.
Another point Ms Phua brings up is the fact that Singaporeans tend to treat the university route as THE route to go to. My opinion is that some talents, having been stifled by the narrow-minded and grades-centric Singaporean society, may have grown frustrated of the lack of opportunities to prove himself, and therefore gone overseas to carve their career. Ironically, Singapore currently relies strongly on foreign talents. Why search so far out when there can be talents in our own country?
Being an ex-GEP student in RI who has had the doors of every school practically opened to me, my knowledge of schools still taking the O’ Levels and still on the school ranking system is limited, and the problem is not as clear-cut to me as if it would have been if I had not been in one of the ‘stellar’ schools in Singapore. However, being someone who is slightly cynical of the overemphasis placed on grades and certificates that in fact will have little practical use in the future, I can understand Ms Phua’s concern about the over-importance on school grades that Singapore students and schools place.
(502 words. Cunningly sidesteps mark penalty.)
To get a high aggregate for PSLE: $200 worth of tuition. To get people to stop bothering about PSLE altogether: Priceless.References
Yay! I finished this on the eve of the deadline! Didn't really follow the rubrics as much, since I'm more or less familiar with it now. This may lead to precious marks being lost, though. Hope not, anyhow. PLEASE COMMENT! No one will, probably, since lots of tests await.
give me a good grade pleeeease! 11:58 PM