Chit Chat with MOE about de-emphasizing Academic Success

I like a good engagement session; especially one that I can help shape society with. I am truly thankful and humbled to have garnered this opportunity with MOE to have my voice heard in an intimate session yesterday. 

I have to tell you and you have to trust me: MOE is working really hard in the back-end to pave an education system for our children so that they grow up to be future-ready. Every policy has its expiration date. What worked before will need to be refreshed accordingly for us to grow and with that, we [the people] will need to be open-minded and see change as constant. 

We touched on several topics and they asked, "How can we help parents look beyond Academic Success?" 

But our system DO subtly put emphasis on academic success. I understand that it is a work in progress and we are slowly getting there to shift mindsets in parents. But first, the ground has to do the hard work in ironing out these nitty gritties first to encourage parents that our education system can withstand a curriculum that doesn't need straight As to be successful.

I shared how certain little details show parents and children that examinations prioritise over everything else: 

1. CCA is dropped significantly in Term 4 in preparation for End of Year Examinations 

2. Junior Sports Academy cancelled this week’s lesson with the reason: Exams 

3. Edusave Awards celebrate top students which translate to Grades Are Very Important 

4. Schools set killer papers in P5 EOY and P6 Prelims in the guise to prepare our children for PSLE [or maybe shake things up to give us a wake-up call] but it creates fear and fear translates to pressure on the kids which in turn leads to tuition and never-ending competition for good grades 

5. Singaporean Mothers are Queens of winging the DSA system which defeats the purpose of sussing out talents from non-academic students. It pushes every mother to groom their child to be best in sport and best in acad to get a chance in “life”! 

Yes! The future employer would want a self-directed, self-motivated, creative employee more than an exam-smart kid. But just promoting this directive to us ain’t gonna cut it. We need the schools to walk the talk now. Put back CCA, set realistic examination papers, tell our children that Knowledge is important and not the Examinations. 

I don’t know if I am minority but I can definitely afford to give my kid that 2 hours of CCA and JSA sports downtime to recharge and clear his mind from the examination stress looming in the background. 

Edusave Awards can stay! I’m not saying it’s evil. They can stay to celebrate Effort for Good Progress or Leadership, Innovation, Creativity, etc. But for us to continuously recognise top grades? Isn’t it obvious what we trying to promote? 

What is the real reason why parents are pushing their kids so hard for PSLE? It is because they want them to end up in secondary school with better network and company. They know it isn’t a guarantee for a GOOD FUTURE in their kids but hey… they are teens. They are at an age where being rebellious is the norm and parents want less trouble during these years and thus, Good Grades = Better Company. 

Therefore, we need to work on the little nitty gritties to help parents see that the education scene here is really making a significant effort to make paradigm shifts. 

Because no matter how collected I seem to be as I write, I do get drawn into the pressure cooker too!

Oh yes! One more thing.

Right before the September school holidays, the kids have to undergo a Weighted Assessment stint. Immediately after September school holidays, the kids have to go through 6 weeks of End of Year examinations starting with Oral, Composition and Listening Comprehension before the big papers. Yet, they are expected to learn more topics in Term 4 amidst these continuous tests. 

When do they break? This gives am impression that examinations are important, no? I'm not saying we drop PSLE or exams altogether but focus on education by showing children they do not have to drop everything to prepare for it. 

If I have the power to change things in the curriculum, I would have left Term 4 alone and use it to properly revise all that they've learnt in the year, rather than skimming through and packing their little brains with so much more. 

I would prefer diving into deeper depths on a single topic than drowning them with 10 topics and only understanding the basics.

I love what MOE is doing, listening to what real parents on the ground have to say because they know what kind of education system our children need to be future-ready and we have to help one other transition in partnership.   

If you have the same sentiments as me, I hope I had lent you my voice with all that I had shared. Not entirely in time for my kids but for those who are yet to be born.

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