Only fools will claim Singapore education is good

[Cecil Lee]

Reference: http://forum.geomancy.net/phpforum/article.php?bid=2&fid=1&mid=31178&new=%3EHouse%20Hunting%20:%20A%20Lot%20PositiOn%20-%20%3Cem%3EFeng%20Shui%3C/em

In the above link, just because, a type of water feature (fountain) is considered useful for elaborating the concept of what makes a good fountain.
It does not mean that this type of fountain is an excellent choice e.g. for the living room area.
Given all the clues that it is so; yet, one can reproduce an exact replica of it and ask: is this the correct fountain to use? * Shake my head *
In my opinion, most of us, even myself (to blame) may have paper qualfications, not because we are smart but rather, we only know how to regurgitate word for word what we read in our books.
I like to say that we Singaporeans who had studied locally are good "photo-copiers". We are great at mimicking all these.
I hope I did not found it out too late, when one day I stared in the mirror and realised how "condemned" our education system was... That was at least 20 years ago...
The writer of the article, below used the most relevant sentence:-
" The Singapore education system is good for testing and grading. "
I totally agree with the above : SGP = COPYCAT degrees = Xerox creativity! Let's hope that this can change.

Is this one of the reasons why many of the large Singapore corporations are (or have to be) run by foreign talents?
== START ==
Source & Credit: http://www.tremeritus.com/2012/03/21/only-fools-will-claim-singapore-education-is-good/

Only fools will claim Singapore education is good

March 21st, 2012 | Author: Contributions

I graduated from an Australian university. Yes, Singapore students do better in math and science. But do you know that Australians are better than Singapore students in law, critical thinking, arts, medical?etc?

My advice to you is stop reading Straits Times. Go to Australia, stay there and experience for yourself. By the way, each year our government send hundred of Singapore students to Australia under PSC scholarship. If their universities are that bad, would our government keep sending them each year? Also, do ask our dear President (Tony Tan) and PAP members where do they graduate from?

Although Maths and Science are both essential for the development of a nation, but the over emphasis of the two subjects in some of the Asia countries education curriculum has made students become study robots and follow formulas blindly without knowing the actual applications of these formulas. This is actually a very sad fact as the education system that only emphasis on the exam results had failed to open the creative thinking part of a child. Making them study for the sake of exam and not for the sake of acquiring a lifelong skill.

From my point of view, changes like the use of creative thinking skills must be inculcated in younger generations if any of the Asian countries want to compete with the Western countries in terms of innovations and developments of the nation.

This is actually something very important as the behavior and the developments of a nation will start from root of good education that enables the student to think and innovate, and not to follow blindly.

I have seen many local grads and sad to say, most of them have attitude problems. They are only good at office politics but has no interests in learning. They keep emphasizing that they scored good grades in Uni and they do not have to learn new things at work because to them, good grades mean everything and preferably can get a high pay
every month without doing anything. What makes them worse is that they actually look down on Poly grads, which I do not understand and can never understand their mindsets. In fact, I?m more worried about our future. Can we depend on this kind of person to be our leader when we grow old? Will they lead us to a better life? Or they will actually lead us to hell???

I did my degree overseas and it opened my eyes to the amazing things or should I say, incredible things, that people in this country have done and can do, using their education or what they know. I?ve been to country fairs where the English retired men showcased the little steam engines they built in their backyard as a hobby (You should see the
smile on the old men?s faces when their automotive rides gave children so much joy). They used what they learnt in almost everything from food tech to flying, and more importantly they carrying on learning.

Despite the so called first world education system, Singapore isn?t any better than Taiwan or Hong Kong. At least in these countries, we can see some signs of innovation and creativity,

Singapore has the worst education system ever to be found in the world and I say this as a FACT.

The Singapore education system is good for testing and grading. Any education system that wants the easy way out will choose this system. Today?s world is not all about measurements, is it? What does that do for our children though? Measurement puts grades and systems first, children 2nd. That is not education.

I hear people say that Singapore education is the best in the World. I just feel that some of these top people have no qualms in misleading the people of Singapore. It is darn sad!

Source & Credit: http://www.tremeritus.com/2012/03/21/only-fools-will-claim-singapore-education-is-good/

[Cecil Lee]

Source & Credit: http://www.tremeritus.com/2012/04/04/pap-the-master-illusionist/
Irefer to Mr Tan Jee Say?s article ?PAP?s low cunning ? a primary 1 half-truth?. This is what the PAP has transformed into for the last decade, telling us the half-truth!

Let me quote you another example.

Back during my NS days with the 5th Singapore Infantry Regiment, my CO was a president scholar. Because he wanted us to win the Best Infantry Award, he insist that we set a record timing for a 40km route march.

On the day of the route march, he instructed all OCs to get those weaklings to report sick regardless of whether they are sick or not. Also, an order was given to our Medical Officer (MO) to liberally grant exemptions and not to ask any questions. As I was obese, I too was one of those who was asked to report sick.

When I saw my MO though, he asked me how come I came too. He asked me when I will ever have a chance to walk 40km ever again?! This sort of event only happens once in a lifetime. Whether one can make it or not, it is all in his mind and not his physical body. He believed that I was mentally strong enough to at least give it a good try. Because of his belief in me, I went ahead and completed this incredible task. I spent the next two days lying in bed nursing my sore and numb legs. Till today, I am grateful to my MO for encouraging me to try, rather than ask me to give up right from the start!

At the end of the exercise, we not only broke the old record but our timing remained a record for many years. It was recorded as as a great success by our CO. But what if EVERYBODY was involved in the exercise? Would the result have been this exceptional? This is the beginning of PAP?s web of deceit!

This is what has been happening in our education system too. We keep seeing reports of schools achieving 100% passes in 5 or even 7 ?O? level subjects. But the result has improved over the years only because those who are deemed weak have already dropped out of the paper chase. Our teachers are so bogged down with heavy workloads that they couldn?t care for the students as much as before!

If all our teachers are like my MO and refused to give up even on the students who have the poorest grades, do you think students themselves will give up? NEVER! All these students need is a bright beacon to steer them in the right direction. Our education system now has no such beacon in sight!

Increasingly, we are seeing reports of our youngsters being rude and crude. Empty vessels make the loudest noise. They are rude and crude because they have left the education system early. And the reason why they have left early is because the government has simply chose to abandon them rather them spend more resources on them! Like what I
have proposed earlier, those whose grades are poor but still wants to study, let?s put them in smaller classes, so that the teachers can better teach them. Those who are there to create trouble in school, send them to Military School rather than kick them out of school. I think it is imperative to keep everyone in school as long as possible in order to create lesser social problems. There are 1,000,001 things that can be done but our dear Minister of Education has done nothing since his appointment!

So, I have given up on any beautiful numbers or statistics the government provides. Most of the time, the ugly side has already been withdrawn from the data pool. That?s why everything appears so fantastic! The reality though is something only 40% of Singapore understand.

The master illusionist is increasingly finding it difficult to come out with new tricks. Will he fool us again in
2016? Only time will tell, only time will tell. . .

.

MC Hammer

Quote

On 3/23/2012 11:47:31 AM, Anonymous wrote:
Reference:
http://forum.geomancy.net/phpf
orum/article.php?bid=2&fid=1&m
id=31178&new=%3EHouse%20Huntin
g%20:%20A%20Lot%20PositiOn%20-
%20%3Cem%3EFeng%20Shui%3C/em
In the above link, just
because, a type of water
feature (fountain) is
considered useful for
elaborating the concept of
what makes a good fountain. It
does not mean that this type
of fountain is an excellent
choice e.g. for the living
room area.Given all the clues
that it is so; yet, one can
reproduce an exact replica of
it and ask: is this the
correct fountain to use?
* Shake my head *In my
opinion, most of us, even
myself (to blame) may have
paper qualfications, not
because we are smart but
rather, we only know how to
regurgitate word for word what
we read in our books.I like to
say that we Singaporeans who
had studied locally are good
"photo-copiers". We are great
at mimicking all these.I hope
I did not found it out too
late, when one day I stared in
the mirror and realised how
"condemned" our education
system was... That was at
least 20 years ago...The
writer of the article, below
used the most relevant
sentence:-" The Singapore
education system is good for
testing and grading. " I
totally agree with the above :
SGP = COPYCAT degrees = Xerox
creativity! Let's hope that
this can change.Is this one of
the reasons why many of the
large Singapore corporations
are (or have to be) run by
foreign talents?== START
==Source & Credit:
http://www.tremeritus.com/2012
/03/21/only-fools-will-claim-s
ingapore-education-is-good/
Only fools will claim
Singapore education is good
March 21st, 2012 |
Author: Contributions
I graduated from an Australian
university. Yes, Singapore
students do better in math and
science. But do you know that
Australians are better than
Singapore students in law,
critical thinking, arts,
medical?etc?
My advice to you is stop
reading Straits Times. Go to
Australia, stay there and
experience for yourself. By
the way, each year our
government send hundred of
Singapore students to
Australia under PSC
scholarship. If their
universities are that bad,
would our government keep
sending them each year? Also,
do ask our dear President
(Tony Tan) and PAP members
where do they graduate from?
Although Maths and Science are
both essential for the
development of a nation, but
the over emphasis of the two
subjects in some of the Asia
countries education curriculum
has made students become study
robots and follow formulas
blindly without knowing the
actual applications of these
formulas. This is actually a
very sad fact as the education
system that only emphasis on
the exam results had failed to
open the creative thinking
part of a child. Making them
study for the sake of exam and
not for the sake of acquiring
a lifelong skill.
From my point of view, changes
like the use of creative
thinking skills must be
inculcated in younger
generations if any of the
Asian countries want to
compete with the Western
countries in terms of
innovations and developments
of the nation.
This is actually something
very important as the behavior
and the developments of a
nation will start from root of
good education that enables
the student to think and
innovate, and not to follow
blindly.
I have seen many local
grads and sad to say, most of
them have attitude problems.
They are only good at office
politics but has no interests
in learning. They keep
emphasizing that they scored
good grades in Uni and they do
not have to learn new things
at work because to them, good
grades mean everything and
preferably can get a high
payevery month without doing
anything. What makes them
worse is that they actually
look down on Poly grads, which
I do not understand and can
never understand their
mindsets. In fact, I?m more
worried about our future. Can
we depend on this kind of
person to be our leader when
we grow old? Will they lead us
to a better life? Or they will
actually lead us to hell???
I did my degree overseas and
it opened my eyes to the
amazing things or should I
say, incredible things, that
people in this country have
done and can do, using their
education or what they know.
I?ve been to country fairs
where the English retired men
showcased the little steam
engines they built in their
backyard as a hobby (You
should see thesmile on the old
men?s faces when their
automotive rides gave children
so much joy). They used what
they learnt in almost
everything from food tech to
flying, and more importantly
they carrying on learning.
Despite the so called first
world education system,
Singapore isn?t any better
than Taiwan or Hong Kong. At
least in these countries, we
can see some signs of
innovation and creativity,
Singapore has the worst
education system ever to be
found in the world and I say
this as a FACT.
The Singapore education system
is good for testing and
grading. Any education system
that wants the easy way out
will choose this system.
Today?s world is not all about
measurements, is it? What does
that do for our children
though? Measurement puts
grades and systems first,
children 2nd. That is not
education.
I hear people say that
Singapore education is the
best in the World. I just feel
that some of these top people
have no qualms in misleading
the people of Singapore. It is
darn sad!
Source & Credit:
http://www.tremeritus.com/2012
/03/21/only-fools-will-claim-s
ingapore-education-is-good/