I'm sure many of us read those forum letters about the so-called 'sure-fail' tests and exams with interest. It was interesting for me to read letters from students in support of such tests. I myself stand firmly with the opposing camp.
Even Chua Mui Hoong (can't find her article now) and Andy Ho were moved to write articles on the topic. Was reading Andy Ho's till my brain was very tired but I found his link between the 'sure-fail' stuff and 'authentic teaching' rather idealistic. I'm sure teachers want to be the best teachers they can be but there are things that are beyond their control. For example, the boy had a couple of - in his teacher's words - 'killer papers' for the SA1 and the teacher was not the one who set them. And so, I feel sorry for the kids who 'suffered' in those papers and the teacher - who may well have been teaching as 'authentically' as possible - for now having to handle the aftermath of a large number of failures. Failing Math at Primary 4 - how disheartening can that be?
Anyhow, I'm sure we haven't heard the last words on the topic but let me have some words here. First, I wish that setters would put themselves in the shoes of the children. My guess is that sometimes, they need to set a certain percentage of this type or that type of question and they work very hard to fashion the paper. However, I wonder if they consider well enough how the average kid would fare. Just as a gauge. Is the paper a fair test for the kid? Would he/she be able to finish the paper? Etc.
Second, part of the problem can be solved if we all knew the questions on those mysterious PSLE papers. I don't know why, if we can have transparency about ministers' salaries, itemisation of doctors' bills, external audits and such, we can't have more transparency about the PSLE. So what if questions may be re-used? The O and A level papers are readily available, and answers and examiners' comments not impossible to find. Some schools are 'famous' for setting papers way above the standard of the actual Cambridge papers but because you know what to expect for the real thing, you can take your 'bad' results, if you were sitting for these very hard papers in those schools, with a pinch of salt.
I also found out recently that you can buy past papers and answers for the New South Wales English, Math and Science tests that many of our students take. So, why can't we see those PSLE papers?
Actually, knowing about the actual papers may also have an effect on the tuition situation here. That Sunday Times article must have been interesting to many, too. I guess many people turn to tuition because the papers are hard, you don't know for sure what to expect in the actual exam, etc. Vicious cycle. Of course there are other reasons, one being that the world today is no longer the world of yesterday. We used to be quite happy to move on to our affiliated secondary school or a nearby secondary school or JC. But nowadays, even with an affiliated secondary school, one might have lofty ambitions to go to that other school or JC, even if they are far from where one lives. And many other reasons...
So, it is not surprising that people are willing to pay top dollar to top-dollar-earning tutors, who, as I see it, are just supplying a service that people are demanding, so it is no fault of theirs that we have become addicted to tuition.
As my friend S said, after spending much of these June holidays with her P6 kid on the grindstone, and as many other people have also said, very sad, they don't have much of a childhood nowadays.
Even Chua Mui Hoong (can't find her article now) and Andy Ho were moved to write articles on the topic. Was reading Andy Ho's till my brain was very tired but I found his link between the 'sure-fail' stuff and 'authentic teaching' rather idealistic. I'm sure teachers want to be the best teachers they can be but there are things that are beyond their control. For example, the boy had a couple of - in his teacher's words - 'killer papers' for the SA1 and the teacher was not the one who set them. And so, I feel sorry for the kids who 'suffered' in those papers and the teacher - who may well have been teaching as 'authentically' as possible - for now having to handle the aftermath of a large number of failures. Failing Math at Primary 4 - how disheartening can that be?
Anyhow, I'm sure we haven't heard the last words on the topic but let me have some words here. First, I wish that setters would put themselves in the shoes of the children. My guess is that sometimes, they need to set a certain percentage of this type or that type of question and they work very hard to fashion the paper. However, I wonder if they consider well enough how the average kid would fare. Just as a gauge. Is the paper a fair test for the kid? Would he/she be able to finish the paper? Etc.
Second, part of the problem can be solved if we all knew the questions on those mysterious PSLE papers. I don't know why, if we can have transparency about ministers' salaries, itemisation of doctors' bills, external audits and such, we can't have more transparency about the PSLE. So what if questions may be re-used? The O and A level papers are readily available, and answers and examiners' comments not impossible to find. Some schools are 'famous' for setting papers way above the standard of the actual Cambridge papers but because you know what to expect for the real thing, you can take your 'bad' results, if you were sitting for these very hard papers in those schools, with a pinch of salt.
I also found out recently that you can buy past papers and answers for the New South Wales English, Math and Science tests that many of our students take. So, why can't we see those PSLE papers?
Actually, knowing about the actual papers may also have an effect on the tuition situation here. That Sunday Times article must have been interesting to many, too. I guess many people turn to tuition because the papers are hard, you don't know for sure what to expect in the actual exam, etc. Vicious cycle. Of course there are other reasons, one being that the world today is no longer the world of yesterday. We used to be quite happy to move on to our affiliated secondary school or a nearby secondary school or JC. But nowadays, even with an affiliated secondary school, one might have lofty ambitions to go to that other school or JC, even if they are far from where one lives. And many other reasons...
So, it is not surprising that people are willing to pay top dollar to top-dollar-earning tutors, who, as I see it, are just supplying a service that people are demanding, so it is no fault of theirs that we have become addicted to tuition.
As my friend S said, after spending much of these June holidays with her P6 kid on the grindstone, and as many other people have also said, very sad, they don't have much of a childhood nowadays.
Comments