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Hallo everyone
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It's back to school today for some
500,000 students here in Singapore. A week of R&R has passed quickly. It's
now time for that last stretch of the curriculum year culminating in the
end-of-year examinations a month or two away.
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So how did our young handle the stress last term? Well, one of my nephews took the easy way out -
he claimed there wasn't any test or exam last term when his Chinese-educated mother nagged him
to study. This got me curious so I did a little digging - I called up his
primary school in Sengkang. I was told there wasn't any CA1 that
term. Instead, the teachers would be setting class tests for their charges.
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I went back to my nephew with the
news and asked when the class tests would be held. He feigned ignorance and
asked whether I was talking about class revision worksheets. As usual, my wife
went to his defence, telling me that perhaps he didn't understand what I meant
when I used the terms "CA" and "tests".
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Now that remark really riled me!
Fancy a Primary 4 schoolboy in Singapore not knowing what CA or test meant,
after going through repeated CAs and tests for the past four years and
bringing home the report cards bearing their results. It was, I thought, a
lame defence. My wife was merely helping her nephew out of a tough spot.
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I think my nephew was taking an
easy way out. He wanted no nagging from his mother so before the CA or test he
would claim there weren't such things around the corner. And when he had sat
for these things, he would just show the marks. His mother said he used this
trick quite frequently.
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Perhaps, I was ruthless when I
confronted my nephew. My thinking is that of a 40-plus person and he is just
ten years old. There appears to be a huge generation gap between us. I was brought up
resigned to endless tests and exams in the 70s. I took these things in my
stride and complained little. I wasn't the studious type but when the exams or
tests were around the corner, I burnt the midnight oil - without being nagged.
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It may be the stress at school
from teachers and at home from his mother that is making my nephew behave
thus. It's his way of handling stress. And I shouldn't chide him for this
little trick of his. This may be his way of keeping sane in the rat race at
school.
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Grades have become all too
important in Singapore and schools may have become pressure-cooker centres
unwittingly. Some children may bask in such situations. Others may not know
how to handle the stress. In their minds, they are still young and being young
meant being free to play around. Hitting the books is the last thing in their
minds. Then, there are those who do not have the grey matter to keep up with
the rigorous learning programme.
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It's obvious there's no
one-fit-for-all
solution. There will always be different mindsets challenging whatever
proposals being put forward to address the problems at school. Just early this
month, in the Forum page of The Straits Times, some parents were lauding the
five-day week at school as a good move as it would let them and their
children use the whole weekend for family-bonding activities. But, in the same
newspaper, some students with different ideas wrote
in. One requested for CCAs2
to be allowed to continue on Saturdays. Another asked for weekend homework not
to be banned.
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And the debate continues in that
newspaper today with two parents fighting
back. The first appealed to schools
to "reduce homework, and cut school demands and commitments to reasonable
levels" and "incorporate CCAs into curriculum time". She said,
"In my family, all of us get to sleep in late over the weekend. We have a
leisurely breakfast and do other lazy family things. All of us, that is, except
my elder boy who gets up at 6am even on Saturday, because of CCAs. With the
recent implementation of the five-day week, we hope he will get to enjoy
weekends with the rest of the family."
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The second parent was also alarmed
at the comments of the students who wrote in. He said, "We have really
indoctrinated them with a sense that the current school curriculum must be
fulfilled, despite the changes proposed by PM Lee." He continued,
"Several years ago, an effort was made to reduce the school curriculum,
but nothing happened. So long as the way we measure schools - key performance
indicators (KPIs) - remains the same, not much will change. We need to change
school KPIs in order to change."
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Prime Minister Lee has said,
"We've got to teach less to our students so that they will learn more. Grades are important – don't forget to pass your exams – but grades are not the only thing in life and there are other things in life which we want to learn in
school."
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Let's hope his all-important
message will filter through the competing mindsets of teachers and
administrators in our schools. Let them understand that a reduction in the
school curriculum should not be seen as a signal to increase the number and
complexity of tests to make up for the shortfall.
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Then, perhaps, my nephew will be
weaned off his little trick.
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Have a good week!
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1 CA = Continual
Assessment (term test)
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2 CCA = Co-Curricular
Activities
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See also: Community
Issues: Five-day week for schools
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Your comments will appear in our Letters
to the Editor section.
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Monday with the Editor: Give our young less stress at school
