Goh Wen Zhong proposed a “comprehensive career guidance programme which all students have to undertake at Secondary 3 or 4 which allows them to identify careers in which they would be interested, conducted by career specialists who are well-informed about the industry” in his letter ‘Help students find out what they really want to do‘. The following article is of some relevance.
Btw, ST Online is going to be paid. First they made you subscribe to read any articles. Now they’re not even going to give you any article free. Man … student’s aren’t made of money. Mr Brown however, has a very interesting article about this, and the ‘alternatives’ published in Today.
Meanwhile, CDC is escorting nervous job-seekers to their interviews, cause ‘applicants [are] failing to turn up for interviews (just 5 to 10 per cent of applicants bothered to even turn up for interviews).’ Reason not being ‘a lack of motivation, but fear and lack of confidence.’ What on earth … … what kind of crap is Singapore producing. I say leave them jobless a little longer, and they’ll find ways to conquer their fear and lack of confidence. The lack of cash and the desire for advancement are great motivations that conquers all. (I speak from experience. :P) Spoonfeeding is obviously not the best solution. It’s one thing to ask for advice … this is just plain weird.
Source: Straits Times
Date Published: Feb 28, 2005
Section: Singapore>Story
Teaching, curriculum, assessment and streaming discussed at conference
By Yap Su-yin
IN AN ideal education system, schools would focus more on the process of learning and less on the end result, and there would be less emphasis on academic achievements and the needs of the Singapore economy but more on developing one’s abilities and life skills, said a group of 100 local and foreign students.
On their wish list are teachers driven by passion, curriculums that are broad-based and flexible, as well as a chance to develop a strong team spirit and to think more independently.
The group presented their vision at the close of the second WORLDview Youth Conference yesterday to an audience of 800, comprising educators, students from various institutions, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Education and Southwest Community Development Council, which organised the event with Nanyang Technological University.
Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said he agreed with the thrust of the paper, titled ‘The Ideal Singapore Education System: Dream Or Possibility?’, and described the suggestions as ‘high-quality ideas’.
The paper outlined the role of five key elements: the teacher, the community, the curriculum, the methodology and the student.
It suggested a mentoring system for teachers, and more chances for youngsters to try out what they have learnt through job attachments and volunteer programmes.
A significant change, said the students, would be to reduce the emphasis on the streaming system, and value those in the technical stream as much as those in the academic one.
One way, they suggested, is ‘not to base abilities on grades alone’, but have an overall assessment, which includes projects rather than the results of just one exam.
They also called for less social comparison, and more interaction among students of varying intellect as well as among different schools.
Mr Tharman agreed, saying: ‘Students shouldn’t be just stuck in a stream, but be able to move out of it at a certain time.’
He assured students that the Education Ministry is trying to introduce more diversity, and expand on ways students can follow their passion a little more.
One problem though was that the ’social structure we inherited is very biased, in the way it views students with different styles of learning and aptitude’.
For the first time in two years, participants took part in a student exchange, where local students joined their peers from international schools in a day of classes at their schools, and vice versa.
This helped many of the participants identify the various elements they would like to adopt in their own schools, or replicated in others.
The minister said improvements to the education system are already taking place, but the focus on ‘core curriculum’ has served Singaporeans well. Britain and America are looking at elements of Singapore’s education system to adopt.
