3rd October
During dinner, lil' one told me another girl is leaving the school for another country. Not the first time I'm hearing this, the last time when che-che was in P5 we also heard a lot of people they know well or acquaintance leaving the country. Of course, some are leaving because their dad has a job offer in another country, some left because they didn't want to end up with the high stress level. Some left after Sec 1, Sec 2. Technically anyone can leave anytime from N1 to ??? but you will see the increase in the non-honeymoon years. Some parents are willing to re-locate for their child to be a child. In Singapore, children can't be children. My girls sometimes are so exhausted that they crash out in the car, lil' one asks for a short nap which I'll gladly oblige. No point making her do any work when her brain is half zombie.
The stress level is high for students. Suicidal rates for students is high and unreported. More people going bonkers. I can't even take the stress even though I'm not the one sitting for exams. My girls tend to have exam anxiety. They do better without pressure; lil' one the 'not so intelligent of the two' can process her thoughts better without exams. Not all kids are like that. Some still can do well but statistics shows that our kids have high level of anxiety. They need a lot of courage for them to jump off their flat. I can't do it for sure, my legs will turn jelly and I can't imagine the pain I'd go thru with my head smashed to the ground; my legs contorted. But they decided to end it once and for all, even if they Ho they this PSLE, they still have so many hurdles to go through. Fighting with others for spaces.
I don't even know what's the approach of MOE, they keep changing. And then the bloody top ass Minister can say parents shouldn't be kiasu. Ask him to go and deal with tons of homeworks with not enough time for play during weekends. (I was asked so many times why I don't bring my kids out for jalan jalan. We can do it when our kids are younger; once they're older academic work take up their time. Why ask those stupid Math questions. And with everyone fighting for space coz everything is by merit, who wants to be left behind?
Lil' one Math texts (3rd Edition) has been changing,every year I have to wait until Dec before I can get hold of it. Out of curiosity I asked her tutor, a school teacher, what's the change now? And so I was told, the new approach is to have more thinking in-depth questions. So what's the purpose? Does it apply to real life? 2017 PSLE question that left many stumped:
Jess wants 200 ribbons of length 110 cm for a party. However, the ribbons were sold at 25 m per tape. How many tapes will Jess need?
Did you get 9 or 10? Why the heck she needs so many ribbons? Want to pack goodies bags also don't need to much ribbons right? 110cm some more!! What is she wrapping? Is she trying to mummify herself?
So the best way is if you can afford, run away from it.
Given a chance, I would have packed our suitcase and say adieu to this country too! Che-Che told me we should have all gone over to Shanghai then, since her friend from San Jose and attended Indian Global school in Singapore was able to enter any school in Singapore - even the elite schools but will be placed in last class. Is this fair? The PSLE students cry and worked like shit to get the aggregate score but fail to enter RGS. Then someone not from the same standard can just cut in. Not fair?
9th October
Another article that brings up my point on how too stressed up kids are in Singapore.
Extracted from : http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/more-expat-students-catch-the-tuition-bug
More expat students catch the 'tuition bug'
Rise in competition, complex curricula among reasons cited for more joining tuition centres
Singapore has gained a reputation for being a "tuition nation", with surveys indicating that students and parents here spend up to $1.1 billion a year on tuition.
Now, the "tuition bug" has caught on among international students too, with tuition centres and agencies here reporting an exponential increase in the number of foreign students from international schools here seeking help for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education or International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations in recent years.
Mr Rum Tan, founder of SmileTutor tuition agency, said fewer than 50 international students had engaged its services back in 2014, making up less than 5 per cent of its total clientele.
But from January to October this year, the number of international students who have been matched with private tutors for one-to-one lessons through the agency has swelled to close to 1,000, or about 20 per cent of its total client base.
The students mostly hail from Britain and Australia, and come from schools such as United World College South East Asia, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Tanglin Trust School.
Three other centres or agencies also report similar trends.
Singapore has gained a reputation for being a "tuition nation", with surveys indicating that students and parents here spend up to $1.1 billion a year on tuition.
Now, the "tuition bug" has caught on among international students too, with tuition centres and agencies here reporting an exponential increase in the number of foreign students from international schools here seeking help for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education or International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations in recent years.
Mr Rum Tan, founder of SmileTutor tuition agency, said fewer than 50 international students had engaged its services back in 2014, making up less than 5 per cent of its total clientele.
But from January to October this year, the number of international students who have been matched with private tutors for one-to-one lessons through the agency has swelled to close to 1,000, or about 20 per cent of its total client base.
The students mostly hail from Britain and Australia, and come from schools such as United World College South East Asia, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Tanglin Trust School.
Three other centres or agencies also report similar trends.
TUITION SUPPLEMENTS REGULAR SCHOOLING
Students (who) were formerly segregated from each other are now in direct competition, both for spaces in schools and for applications to university, and this would have led to the spread of the tuition culture.
DR YUEN WEI HAO, head of operations for the Singapore branch of tuition agency Elite IB Tutors, on the tuition trend.
There's not enough time in the day (for the school) to teach everything it needs to teach.
PROFESSOR ANDREW DELIOS, whose 15-year-old son studying in an international school here has been attending tuition classes for maths for the past few years.
Mr Taimoor Ghazanfar, owner of Student's Inn, which has two outlets, in Orchard and one-north, said it started out with 15 international students taking tuition for IB in 2004. Now, there are about 300 of them.
Quintessential Education, which provides IB tuition, reported a 50 per cent increase in the number of its international students from last year, while international students made up six in 10 of the students who engaged the services of tuition agency Elite IB Tutors last year.
Dr Yuen Wei Hao, head of operations for the Singapore branch of Elite IB Tutors, said the increased popularity of the IB programme here may have contributed to this trend.
Some local international schools offering the IB programme, such as St Joseph's Institution International, see a mix of both local and foreign students.
"Students (who) were formerly segregated from each other are now in direct competition, both for spaces in schools and for applications to university, and this would have led to the spread of the tuition culture from local to international students and families," noted Dr Yuen.
Mr Shaun Lim, a partner at Quintessential Education, said the "kiasu" (Hokkien for "a fear of losing out") culture may have caught on among international students, given that the curricula in schools have become "increasingly diverse and complicated".
However, Dr Yuen added that unlike many local students, most international students that he sees are not getting tuition for the sake of it, and are merely hoping to address gaps in their knowledge at school.
Mr Sachin Thukral, 43, who works in an IT company, has a 15-year-old daughter in an international school here who has taken tuition for mathematics and a few other subjects.
"She was already good in her studies, but because there was a change in academic expectations and the style of teaching in the new system, she needed some extra help," he said.
Even though tuition is not unheard of in his native India, he said that it is more common here.
"I see a lot more kids going for tuition here, and (the tuition industry) in Singapore is much more organised."
Professor Andrew Delios, who teaches at the National University of Singapore's business school, said that his 15-year-old son, who studies in an international school here, has been attending tuition classes for maths for the past few years.
The Canadian said that his main motivation for sending his child for tuition was not for fear of losing out to others, but about making sure that he has extra time to focus on subjects in his core curriculum that he is weak in.
"There's not enough time in the day (for the school) to teach everything it needs to teach."
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To stress further on my point, che-che says the teacher in her school don't even teach much. She tends to understand her tutors better. So lucky she has tuition right? Afterall my kids are not that smart!
So what's the purpose of her going to school? I might as well home-school her?
Even IB students also take tuition. Sigh.......
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Brain Drain and studying Social Studies
Singapore has been facing the threats of brain drain. I don't know what's the statistics now but young parents tend to want to look for better pastures, after all our government is attracting foreign workers to fight with us over our rice bowls, we have no place here. (I get really pissed when service staffs are PRCs and they don't understand a word of English. Why the heck are they hired then? I can speak mandarin so it's ok but it somehow pisses me off.) They give free scholarship to overseas students in NUS/NTU while we Singaporeans have to pay?? What is this? Not taking care of our own people.
" In 2014, around 212 000 Singaporeans were living overseas in total, compared to 2004, when the number was only about 157 800. More than half of these people have a university degree. In 2012, it was estimated that about 1200 Singaporeans give up their citizenship every year, according to former DPM Teo. There are 13.6 migrants for every 1000 Singaporeans as of October 2016."
Given a chance, with the political shit that is going on. I'd prefer to leave. Homes are cheaper; cars are cheaper. More holistic lifestyles, there's a time to study and play for the kids. There's time for us to take a break from work instead of slogging like shit, and having to pay high tax for this and that. Not exactly a good place to live in apart from the fact that Singapore is really safe.
So, with the concerns of brain drain, there comes the concern of propaganda and brain washing the kids in Singapore by making them study Social Studies.
Some interesting reads I came across :
Like what che-che said even when she's answering SS questions, she cannot be seen oppressing against the government. .........
