I do not quite agree with the issues that the student has raised in the article. There are a few points that I want to voice out and disagree. Firstly, I want to comment on the point where the student said that education is only about memorizing facts here and there and they are not given a chance to ask questions in the class. I personally disagree with this point because I feel that in Hwa Chong, we are not treated in that attitude. Probably, it is because we are studying in different environments so we have different mindsets. In Hwa Chong, we are not told to memorizing facts but instead learn them in a different manner. I also disagree with her point that we are not given opportunities to ack questions in class and be inquisitive. In fact, it is absolutely the way round! We are given a lot of opportunities instead. We are always told to have group discussions and voice our own opinions in lessons. We also have a component which is oral communications. This component is to teach us to communicate more in class so that we can be nurtured into a leader. Therefore, I disagree with these two points.
Secondly, I also want to disagree that PCME lessons are totally useless. In Hwa Chong, we are given PCME periods to learn more about moral values. Thus, these lessons are not useless at all. Instead, it is teaching us to be more mature. However, I do agree in primary school, our moral education lessons were often taken away just because we need to catch up with the syllabus. I still rememberes in primary school, when I was primary 6, our CME and social studies are taken away just to learn more about the core subjects to prepare us better for PSLE. However, that does not mean that these lessons are meaningless.
I feel that the wirter's tone is quite appropriate. She does not use some violent words and have verbal attacks on the minister. Also, I feel that her comments are polite towards the minster. However, I feel that her comments are a bit too exaggerated and too straightfoward. This might let the minister to think that he has not done well enough. All in all, she seeks the minister's understanding and thus I feel that this is a well crafted letter.
If I were to write a letter to the minister of education, I will raise some issues on solutions to improve the education in Singapore and to give the students studying in Singapore a more condusive environment. However, I would say that Singapore is pushing too much and forcing the students to learn. Probably, there could be some solutions to this problem. This is not at a healthy studying lifestyle for all of us. I feel that we should work together to improve the education of Singapore and not put the blame entirely on the minister of education.
Hi I am Sebastian,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your first part of the argument but for your second part, I do not agree with your statement that the girl said that PCME lessons are useless. My point of view may not be correct but I am just giving you a different point of view. I feel that the girl was actually trying to say that the education in Singapore is not stressing on the importance of moral values and not that she feels that PCME lessons are useless. She might be implying that to a certain extent but she actually wants Singapore's education do better in terms of moral lessons.
Singapore is a fast-paced country and if students are not pushed to learn, the amount of elite students that Singapore will "produce" in the future will be reduced. It is quite impossible for the education system in Singapore to slow down as that would affect the future of SIngapore.
Hi Darryl, im zili
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in some parts, however, education system differs from schools to schools. hwa chong is an independent school and they can control a portion of its education, for other government schools(i have a couple of friends from there), their education system is like that. good teachers are hired into good schools, and when you are stuck in a neighborhood school, you have no choice but to do what you are told to do.