joie de vivre

posted : February 2, 2009

As I was browsing through the Sunday Times today, apart from the gloomy economical situation ahead, the hoo-haa prior to scrapping the big EXAMS for Primary 1 and 2 kids caught my attention. The mixed reactions it received since MOE laid out its plans ahead to revamp the education system for kids these days. Of course, the kids were happy as it meant more play time, no pressure from above and the list goes on. But for parents it just meant one thing. Lesser time to prepare for the ever so imperative PSLE. I just had to re-read the line a second time to make sure my eyes weren’t playing me out as always. And I was right. Parents indeed are worried about PSLE even before their kid steps into his/her formal ‘play ground’. Which made me wonder back when I was a kid it was my mother who worried more about the PSLE then I did to be honest. Hur. I wonder is the job market in Singapore getting that tough that parents foresee the situation getting even harder when their kids enter the already saturated market which makes them just push us harder. Where did the development of cognitive abilities go to? All that seems to matter, is the aggregate score at the end of the 6 year education ride he/she is thrown into by default. A child could have problem even speaking to a group of people confidently and fluently but as long as he aces the written components well; BRAVO. An A* calibre produced by yet another school. The curriculum has been structured in such a way you are only taught to excel in exams. You never learn for quenching your thirst in a particular field of study. You are taught mental sums in lower primary so that you have time to finish the PSLE Mathematics paper when you hit P6. I’m happy somehow I’ve gone through all those stages and landed myself in a decent enough secondary school as well as tertiary institution. I’ve only got a few more years to go before I use my certificates, which is 10 years time would have no value, to place myself in a decent enough job title.

I wonder how the education system would be ‘revamped’ in say 20 years? Would I be willing to throw my kids into such a system? Let’s see how I survive first.

And if there’s one thing I learnt today; it would be – say what needs to be said even if it doesn’t want to be heard. It would save a lot of misunderstandings. Some things can never be changed though. I'm with you, for you.

12:03 AM