Singapore Maths Tuition - University and JC

Individual and small group maths tuition in Singapore - University and Junior College

Improved Direct Schools Admission scheme aims to assist students from disadvantaged families

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09 November 2018

Singapore’s Direct Schools Admission scheme has been revised and improved in order to give students from disadvantaged families a better chance at getting into the schools of their choice, on their own merit.

The Ministry of Education has allowed all schools to increase their intake through the scheme.

Additionally, schools have also discontinued the general ability test and high ability selection test. Previously, those tests were meant for students who applied for academic programmes under the DSA.

And to top it off, students do not need to pay any fee for the applications, which are done through a centralised portal. Previously, some schools charged a fee ranging from S$20 to S$50 for each application because they deploy external resources — such as manpower — to conduct assessments.

As a result of these revisions, more students secured places in secondary schools through the Direct School Admission exercise this year. This year, 3,000 students secured places, up from 2,500 last year.

Critics have long pointed out that the scheme — introduced in 2004 — has deviated from its original objective of recognising and admitting students based on talents in areas such as sports and arts instead of just superior academic potential.

Second Minister for Education Indranee Rajah admitted that students from well-off families are in a better position to take advantage of the Direct School Admission scheme, and that affluent parents have been gaming the system by sending their children to a shadow network of preparatory schools.

Ms Indranee said that the latest refinements to the DSA scheme aim to “close the gap”.

Ministry of Education says that Singapore’s schools are well-resourced

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08 November 2018

Academic sorting into advantaged and disadvantaged schools has helped Singapore students do well in global education rankings.

But we now have to ask ourselves: does the current educational system in Singapore perpetuate educational inequity beyond what we should tolerate as a maturing society?

Disadvantaged students find it difficult hard to catch up with their more advantaged peers. If we do not address this issue, over time this inequity will become increasingly exacerbated.

The Ministry of Education has that Singapore’s schools are well-resourced and cannot be really termed “disadvantaged”, unlike in other education systems where there exist wide varieties in school resources and teacher quality.

However issues of social equity and ultimately social justice remain. Unless we rethink our approach to education, these issues will fester our national consciousness for a long time to come.

Social mobility and Singapore’s education system

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21 November 2018

A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development commended Singapore on its ability to provide upward social mobility to its citizens via a good education system.

Social mobility is defined as the movement of people between different levels of social stratification. Indicators for social mobility include changes in wealth, income and status. Upward social mobility is a virtue as it indicates the citizenry is becoming better off over time, at least in terms of material advantage.

However, the same OECD report alluded that Singapore does not do well in terms of providing relative mobility, that is, in terms of how disadvantaged students perform relative to their peers.

It is recognized that we should keep social mobility high because it is an undeniable good in itself.

Poor social mobility leads to an overly stratified society, as well as unfairness, tension and exploitation between different groups.

The OECD report also marks Singapore down in a metric termed “national resilience”. This measures the proportion of students in the bottom quarter of SES (“disadvantaged students”) who get marks in the top quarter of their country’s students.

Hence, Singapore has yet to create an equitable education system that gives equal opportunities to all students to succeed, regardless of family background.

It has also been noted that many disadvantaged students are going to what parents and educators deem to be less good schools, which is an alarming fact in itself, because too much academic stratification in our school system will ultimately tear the nation apart.

A disadvantaged student in what is perceived to be a not-so-good school has a higher chance of becoming discouraged and eventually becoming a disgruntled citizen. Singapore’s advancement and national security will be significantly threatened should this become systemic in our society.

Education System: Singapore has learnt from the mistake that the Japanese made

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When Japan cut classroom hours and introduced more flexible learning from the 1980s, under a policy which it called the Yutori – which means “relax” – students’ scores dropped and parents sent them to cram schools to make up for the perceived decline in rigour in the regular classroom.

The government had to reverse this policy and restore the focus on academic achievement and rigour of learning.

Japan has put up with the global perception that its examinations are stressful, because it understands that swinging to the other extreme is even worse.

Singapore has learnt from the mistake that the Japanese made, says Mr Wong Siew Hoong, director-general of education at the Ministry of Education, even as it makes changes to reduce school-based assessments and move away from an overemphasis on academic results.

Outdated methodology of university rankings must change

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07 October 2018

University rankings have to evolve with the times. They should go beyond academic publications and citations, or even student diversity.

Instead, university rankings should take into account graduate employability, and the ability of a university to collaborate with industry partners in both research as well as in terms of job creation.

The International Academic Advisory Panel (IAAP), comprising university leaders and chief executives of global companies, met in Singapore recently to discuss higher education. The panel agreed that current university rankings rely too much on research indicators and overlook other areas such as experiential learning and entrepreneurship.

Institutions of higher learning do far more than passively acquire knowledge.

The National Institute of Education, for instance, not only trains teachers, but also conducts research and spearheads innovation in schools.

Such activities do far more to foster nation building than academic citations or getting large numbers of foreign students.

Times Higher Education is planning to pilot a new university ranking next April which takes into account factors such as the quality of jobs their graduates land, their contributions to economic growth and innovation, and the global partnerships they forge.

Higher education in Singapore is significantly subsidised

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27 July 2018

Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education, said that higher education in Singapore is significantly subsidised.

For example, over 70 per cent of Institute of Technical Education students received financial aid or scholarships.

Additionally, course fees at ITE carry over a 90 per cent subsidy.

The Ministry of Education’s financial assistance schemes are support up to two-thirds of students enrolled in post-secondary institutions. Other merit-based scholarships defray students’ fees and school-related expenses.

National University of Singapore awards bonus admissions points for first-choice courses

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23 July 2018

The National University of Singapore has a new policy of awarding 1.25 bonus admissions points for a university applicant’s first choice course.

As a result, this year, 9 per cent more A-level applicants landed a place in a course they listed as their top choice and 3.2 per cent more A-level applicants accepted NUS’ offer of a place in the university.

The bonus points applied only to courses where entry is based purely on converting a student’s grades into points, and not to courses such as medicine and law where students are assessed on a broader range of criteria including both hard and soft skills.

NUS’ initiative is in line with the Ministry of Education’s move to expand aptitude-based admission into post-secondary institutions and universities.

A call for more inclusiveness in our education system

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17 July 2018

It is already well known that students in Singapore face stress from examinations and from peer pressure.

However there are other kinds of stress lurking beneath the surface.

Students who are disabled, for instance, sometimes feel that they are a burden to others, or feel that there are insufficient facilities catered for them. They may feel the need for more opportunities to mix and study together with students from mainstream schools and wish they could be treated more normally.

Students from mainstream schools will be enriched by the interactions.

They will learn to appreciate people for who they are, respect differences and deal with diversity.

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Academic Qualifications

Ph.D. in Mathematics;
B.Sc. First Class Honours in Mathematics