DSA Observations: When Achievement Becomes the Admission Ticket
If children are not required to submit a list of Achievements as a pre-requisite for DSA submission, would our children grow up with less enrichments and trainings?
Possibly!
Parents lose sight because of this “Achievement” tab in the submission form, chasing sports, performing arts and academic competitions just so they can have something to shout about in the DSA submission form.
How else can their children land themselves in a possible interview just to be seen?
Imagine this?
Your child is assessed only from the [DSA] day’s performance. No coach is able to offer secret sealed letters on track or has eyed a particular student from 2 years back, waiting to have her confirmed as long as she turned up for the DSA interview in their school.
I did not think this ideal was possible until this year’s DSA experience.
We submitted DSA interests to MOE and DSA-Only schools.
We all know about this “Achievement” segment where you can click “Add More” to build this invincible resume. I roll my eyes at its hypocrisy.
Surprisingly, as I was submitting Faye’s application at a particular DSA-Only school, there was no section to declare Achievements! All that was asked was a portfolio of recent [personal] works displaying versatility, interest and skill.
In fact, the portfolio submission requires only the student’s recent and original showcase. It cannot be something that had been used for competitions or had already been shared on any public platform.
Fair play. That was her only ticket towards an interview. It captured the essence of, “Welcoming all. Trained or untrained.”
So why not the same for sports?
Back in 2024 when Ewan was DSA-ing for Badminton, two out of three schools gave him only 5 minutes on the court to showcase himself.
Was it because we did not have an exceptional resume? I did not actively sign him up for endless tournaments because I did not want to kill his interest in his game. Neither do we have much to share for Faye as she chooses what she wants to participate in and what she does not.
To enjoy a sport is one thing. To rigorously be trained, pushed to the limit and rise up is another. I mean it’s only Secondary School. I’m not building the next Tiger Woods or Lin Dan.
If Sports DSA was assessed through a DSA tournament among interested applicants, wouldn’t it be able to fairly deduce who are the best?
Performing Arts DSA applicants can also be assessed not through Gold awards in SYF or internally acclaimed competitions. A stage audition will do the same job!
Ah wait. Parents will still game the system with trainings and maybe Public Speaking classes so that the kids will be able to articulate themselves well enough during DSA one-on-one interviews.
How else to stand out?
So I guess. There’s absolultey no win-win situation here.
How about allowing only the DSA-only schools to conduct DSA assessments? Everyone else just, you know, get into a Secondary School via merit.
No Choice. Communist style - assigned according to merit and distance from home.
Oh no... then parents will be moving homes to be near schools they want their kids to get in to and work them triply hard on academic achievements.
Ah. I still have no solution to this chicken and egg problem.
Leaving a food for thought here:
Is trained talent, Talent?
Is trained academic achievements helping or harming the child when they enter the “school of their dreams" with effort amounting to an unhealthy obsession with achievement?
Well, this kid will never be able to stop working hard. It doesn’t stop at PSLE.
And that burden is not one we can carry for our children.
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