Singapore Education System: On the right track?

(Dedicated to all Singapore's wonderful teachers... non-wonderful ones too!)

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
Mark Twain


The recent teachers’ day gives each of us an opportunity to reflect upon our education system as well as the crucial role played by our teachers during the most impressionable years of our lives.

I whole-heartedly and unreservedly agree with our PM’s quest as per our media’s headline: Govt determined to develop every student's potential to the fullest: PM Lee (see link) Our teachers will determine whether our next generation of citizens will be better than the last.

At the risk of sounding like a sycophant, I also support the Ministry of Education as it unveils a $250m plan to boost the teaching profession



1.Past policies were ok, but not great…

Not being an educationist, I can only comment as a parent and past student and of course as an active citizen. I also believe in life-long learning and those who know me, will confirm that I walk the talk.

I will just dwell briefly on some past policies which I consider to be mistaken. These include policies relating to “graduate mothers”; streaming; school ranking etc.

Thankfully, most of these have been abandoned or modified significantly or just left to die natural deaths. Authorities do not like to reverse policies, for to do so would be to admit to errors in policies or its implementation.

i.Graduate mother policy
However, the "graduate mother" policy was one in which the authorities openly reversed when Dr. Tony Tan became the Education Minister. He still has my respects for this. This ridiculous policy allows children of graduate mothers to have priority in the choice of school. A non-graduate's child queued further down the line and hence is disadvantaged. This was Eugenics in broad daylight! How could any nation tolerate such an unfair and distasteful policy? I am still speechless...

ii.a Streaming ( amended due to inaccuracies pointed out by a "commenter")
Children at the age of 9-10 years old ( end of Primary 3) are streamed into EM1/EM2/EM3. The lowest of these classifications ( can't remember which) indicates that the child should only be challenged with one language (ie monolingual). This policy has been "watered-down" considerably recently. Why don't the MOE just swallow their pride and end this unhelpful policy once and for all.

Also, at this juncture of their young lives, the so-called "really smart ones "are channelled via assessments into the GEP ( Gifted Education Programme) where they almost get a through-train to parent's nirvana! Sigh.. a subject for another post.

At the end of the primary school curriculm (Pr. 6), they will be categorised into Express/Normal classes etc. The stigmatisation from such labelling continue to affect many children in our very achievement-conscious society. For the uninitiated,"Normal" is not the stream of choice for most.

Let me state categorically, that my son's classmates, whether in Express or Normal classes are all extra-ordinarily intelligent and likeable boys who are the pride of their parents.

ii b Other type of Streaming
In my time at school, intelligence was too narrowly defined and talents were looked for almost exclusively in the sciences and mathematics. Any outstanding scholar with an eye for the Arts & Social Sciences would be the exception rather than the rule.

How can we forget how the smarter students would be automatically channeled into the “Science stream” without question as if everyone desired to be doctors and engineers! The rest would fill up the places in the “Arts stream” classes.

iii. School ranking system
This system was introduced to induce the schools to excel. It is a sort of insidious "Amazing Race" where annually, each school would try to outdo each other in their students' grades and statistics in order to be top of a league table. Some people continue to believe that without competition, we humans will be lazy and not try hard.

With the school ranking system, many schools were known to have dropped subjects like English Literature for no reason other than that it is harder to ace this subject compared to others like Mathematics etc. For the same reason, students deemed to be academically challenged were encouraged by some schools to drop subjects. Rumours even have it that some schools actually advised some students to leave the school or sit for examinations as private candidates.

Of course I do not know of any principals who have admitted to such practices.

2.Enlightened Era of the Multiple Intelligences

I am particularly encouraged that in recent years, our Education Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, has brought about the establishment of specialist schools for Sports, Art and Music etc ( have I missed any?).

This shows that new educational theories such as Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences are not only being accepted but also being put into practice.

Educationists amongst us would know that Howard Gardner, is a professor at Harvard University and the author of many books and articles. His theory of multiple intelligences has challenged long-held assumptions about intelligence -- especially about a single measure of intelligence.


THE ORIGINAL SEVEN INTELLIGENCES

Howard Gardner first identified and introduced to us seven different kinds of intelligence in Frames of Mind.
· Linguistic intelligence: a sensitivity to the meaning and order of words.

· Logical-mathematical intelligence: ability in mathematics and other complex logical systems.

· Musical intelligence: the ability to understand and create music. Musicians, composers and dancers show a heightened musical intelligence.

· Spatial intelligence: the ability to "think in pictures," to perceive the visual world accurately, and recreate (or alter) it in the mind or on paper. Spatial intelligence is highly developed in artists, architects, designers and sculptors.

· Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: the ability to use one's body in a skilled way, for self-expression or toward a goal. Mimes, dancers, basketball players, and actors are among those who display bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

· Interpersonal intelligence: an ability to perceive and understand other individuals -- their moods, desires, and motivations. Political and religious leaders, skilled parents and teachers, and therapists use this intelligence.

· Intrapersonal intelligence: an understanding of one's own emotions. Some novelists and or counselors use their own experience to guide others.

Gardner has also identified other intelligences such as the naturalist intelligence, and according to him, Charles Darwin is an example of one.

Links about Howard Gardners: The Theory of Mutltiple Intelligences
Link1
Link2
Link3

3.How to bring back the joy to childhood? (Clue: not more tuition classes)

Even if the government had the most enlightened education policies, not much will change for the kids, if our parents insist on anachronistic attitudes.

My personal observation is that there is just too much private tuition. It is not uncommon to find parents transporting their children from tuition class to tuition class on weekends and nights.

Don't be surprised that these children are not 10 year-old primary kids but 17-year old grown-up’s , many of whom go to very reputable Junior Colleges like Raffles and Hwa Chong.

Let’s pause and think. These ace students ( for one needs almost perfect score in the GCE O Levels to get admission into the top 2-3 JC’s), still need extra-coaching in those subjects that they are already aceing? Or did they ace only because they had weekly extra coaching? Should not our students’ school-teachers’ remedial classes be sufficient?

It is no wonder that the tuition industry is one of 2 industries thought to be recession-proof, the other being the food industry.

Let the children enjoy their childhood. Don’t spoon-feed them.

Let them learn how to learn.

4.Eh… shouldn’t we be getting more world-beating adults?

If we listen to our school children in radio talk-shows, one cannot but be impressed by how articulate they are and that they do not talk nonsense, unlike our generation.

Universities round the world love having Singaporean students as they generally do well.. very well. So if these smart kids graduate summa cum laude from the world’s most prestigious colleges, what really happens to them after they re-enter Singapore’s work-force?

Shouldn’t we expect more world-beating adults? ( I know I am revisiting some old issues which had ruffled many feathers a while ago in the MSM).

But seriously, what else can be done in order for our society to benefit from this enlightened education system? Any takers?

5.SAP schools-I think they are not conducive for the mixing of races
(NB: SAP-Special Assistance Programme- mainly Chinese-based schools which supposedly train future Chinese cultural elites)

I know this is sensitive and controversial, so I will state my personal view and pack up.

I strongly feel that in Singapore, it is not right that a student can be in an environment where there is nary a non-Chinese student for the whole four years of secondary education. Period.

Cheers to all,

Dr.Huang Shoou Chyuan