Forum Letter Replies
Students can excel in any school
We refer to Lan Guo Wei’s letter, “The problem lies with your child studying in a neighbourhood school (问题在于你孩子读的是邻里学校)”, (Lianhe Zaobao, 28 Sep 2010).
All schools in Singapore provide ample opportunities that allow students with different abilities to achieve their full potential. Neighbourhood schools have substantial resources and good infrastructure which are utilised by students from all streams. In many schools, Principals deploy more experienced teachers to teach Normal stream students in smaller groups as they require more assistance in their studies. Normal stream students also participate actively in co-curricular activities and benefit fully from twinning programmes and overseas learning trips using the Internationalisation Fund.
In recent years, schools have hired additional Allied Educators and adjunct teachers for Normal Course students. A Head of Department position has also been specifically created for Normal Technical [N(T)] students. More opportunities will be provided for Normal stream students to excel through the new “through-train” Polytechnic pathway after their GCE N-level examinations and the two new specialised schools for N(T) students in 2013.
MOE deploys teachers across the system to match the capabilities of students and the needs of the school. All teachers are trained to teach students from both Express and Normal courses. Some outstanding teachers specifically request to teach students in the Normal course and over the years, many have received awards for their contributions.
In addition, four schools have been awarded the Lee Hsien Loong Award for Innovations in the Normal Course, which began last year, specifically to recognise and encourage efforts to develop this group of students.
Non-IP students are accorded sufficient places to enter top junior colleges, if they do well in their O level exams. At least 20% of the places at IP junior colleges are reserved specifically for non-IP students. To further cater to late bloomers, new IP schools which were announced recently will also offer dual tracks—IP track and ‘O’ Level track. They will allow non-IP students who perform well to apply to the IP track at Secondary 3.
All our schools provide enough pathways to allow students in different courses to excel, but it is ultimately the student’s individual efforts which will determine success. Every student, in any school or course, who is prepared to work hard can rest assured that he will be fully supported by committed teachers to reach his full potential.
Director of Schools
The problem lies with your child studying in a neighbourhood school (Lan Guo Wei, ZB Forum, 28/9, p11)
I would like to voice my views after reading ZB’s letter, “Frequent changes in teachers make it difficult for students to adapt” (Su Jin Zhi, ZB, 27/9). I feel that the “problem” lies with your child studying at a neighbourhood school and in the Normal stream. I have no intention to rub salt to the wound, but I feel that everything is determined after the PSLE. While it is not impossible for students to make a comeback, it is increasingly difficult for them to do so.
In schools, the best resources are usually set aside for students scoring the most number of distinctions in national examinations. In a school with Special/Express/Normal stream, how do you think the Principal would distribute the limited resources? How would teachers be deployed to teach? Similarly, the best resources are set aside for Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs) that will bring glory to the schools.
From what I have observed, the following phenomenon has appeared in some local schools for more than a decade.
- For students with poor grades in a subject, schools and teachers will usually strongly recommend that they do not register for that subject at national examinations. As long as their performance is not up to the mark, they are not allowed to continue offering the subject so that their schools’ rankings will not be affected. For example, students who do not perform well in Maths at Sec Two are not allowed or encouraged to offer A Maths, while those who do not perform well in A Maths at Sec Three are not encouraged or allowed to register for A Maths at O-levels. As for those subjects which are hard to score distinctions, students are advised not to offer them at national examinations.
- Junior colleges offering Integrated Programme (IP) reserve the majority of their places for their own IP students or those from their affiliated secondary schools. Students from other schools cannot get into these JCs no matter how well they performed or have obtained the minimum six points. These JCs would argue that they were unable to admit the child since many of their students have scores lower than the minimum 6 points because of the bonus points they have received for higher MTLs or CCAs and for affliation. Moreover, most JCs will put aside their places for their own IP students, and will not ask their IP students to go to another JCs. Hence, PSLE results will determine how resources will be allocated to a child’s future learning in the next six years of his education. Now that primary schools are starting to offer IP, the starting point will move to the stage when parents register their children for primary schools. This will put our boys, who are late bloomers and tend to do less well in languages, at a disadvantage. Because languages take up one third of the PSLE weightage, they will not be able to progress to a better course if they do not do well in the PSLE.
- CCAs that do not win awards for schools are not encouraged, especially if they need coaches, training sites and resources, and they will be gradually terminated so as to direct all resources to other CCAs that helps to win awards for the schools and clinch the most gold medals in competitions.
Let us assume the following situation as if you were the principal of a neighbourhood secondary school: six teachers are retiring, two teachers have applied for further studies overseas and three pregnant teachers might not return to the school after their maternity leave. In addition, three young teachers who are currently teaching Normal Stream classes have complained to you about difficulties in teaching Normal Stream students who have a lot of disciplinary problems. They hoped that you can help them by deploying them to the Express Stream or they might consider quitting. May I ask you how will you arrange the teachers’ work schedule for 2011? Would you arrange for these teachers to teach the classes that would most likely be able to attain good results, or would you simply deploy them to the Normal Stream classes?
As a principal, you may question why some secondary schools do not have much issues with teaching staff while my school has such frustrations? Could this problems diminish as long as my school improves in school rankings? Or by gradually increasing the PSLE entry score, there might not be a need to run Normal Stream classes?
For parents who think that students do not need additional tuition, why don’t they ask their children how many of their subject teachers have been changed in recent years before deciding on whether they really do not need tuition.