Aside from housing and transport, one of the hottest topics in recent years has been education. Although Singapore enjoys a great reputation for its education system, we really should not be complacent since international standards are calibrated according to its own set of values. Things that are held in high esteem are not necessarily problem-free. It could mean that the problems have yet to surface. Remember the population control and urban redevelopment policies of the early days? They won universal praise back then too; but, by the 1980s, their negative effects became apparent.
CONTINUE READING →Two related issues in particular caught my attention during the recent parliamentary debates — 1) the Happiness Index, brought up by the Chairman of the Workers Party; and 2) the response of the Minister for Education to the question raised by the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education on the meaning of examinations.
CONTINUE READING →Before I know it, I have spent the last 15 years in the company of children. I wonder if it were mere coincidence, or just imagination on my part, but I find that the three-year-olds who enrol each year are increasingly delicate, with a predisposition towards clumsiness. My suspicions have been further affirmed by other teachers and fellow educators.
CONTINUE READING →I had a discussion a few months ago with a preschool principal regarding teaching matters. She revealed that she spends the bulk of her time doing administrative tasks like answering phone calls, collecting school fees, and processing government subsidies to parents, in her job. As a result, she has no time to monitor the teachers at work in the classroom, let alone provide guidance or assist them in solving the problems they encounter in their teaching life.
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