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

November 9, 2018 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

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”.

Singaporean students make their mark in Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition

November 3, 2018 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

03 November 2018

A first year student in National Junior College’s Integrated Programme was one of those who excelled at the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition this year.

Janine Shum drew on her personal experience of being overlooked in Singapore, of being forgotten. She wrote a poem from the perspectives of an Afghan girl and a Singaporean girl, reflecting this deep sense of disaffection, of being shunted aside as the world moves on inexorably.

In her poem, the Afghan girl faces persecution for pursuing education, while the Singaporean girl feels stifled in the rat race. They are halfway round the world from each other and each live under vastly different material circumstances, yet this is the thread that binds them.

Another Singaporean, Ng Woon Neng, also did remarkably well in the senior category of the competition.

Woon Neng, a Nanyang Girls’ High School student, submitted a short story on her view of wealth, health, freedom and happiness.

Social mobility and Singapore’s education system

November 2, 2018 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

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.

Singapore provides its citizens with upward mobility through education.

October 30, 2018 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

30 October 2018

Singapore has been ranked among the top in the world with respect to providing its citizens with upward mobility through education.

According to a recent report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, students with more qualified parents are still likely to end up better educated than their peers, but the gap in Singapore has shrunk considerably over the years.

Now, a Singaporean born to parents with only upper secondary education has about a 60 per cent chance of completing tertiary education.

The OECD report also pointed out that disadvantaged students here still manage to attain core skills in science, reading and mathematics, as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment.

The Ministry of Education said that it is heartened to see that education mobility across generations has improved over the years.

It noted that going forward, it is more important for people to develop skills instead of pursuing academic qualifications alone.

Enhanced portfolio for Singapore University of Social Sciences students

October 28, 2018 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

28 October 2018

Singapore University of Social Sciences students will each be getting an enhanced portfolio to better their employment prospects.

Full-time students will now be receiving records of their achievements that showcases their non-academic skills, such as creative thinking and decision-making.

Enhanced transcripts for these students will also list students’ acquisition of 18 generic skills, such as communication and managing relationships.

In addition, e-portfolios, kept by the students to reflect on the courses they took and involvement in co-curricular activities and work attachments, will also become part and parcel of the entire package that students can present future employers when marketing themselves.

President Halimah Yacob and Senior Minister of State for Education and Trade and Industry Chee Hong oversaw a recent SUSS graduation ceremony held at the Clementi road campus.

Mr Chee Hong Tat said: “For Singapore to grow and develop further, we must have a culture which supports continual pursuit of knowledge, innovation and improvements so that we remain globally competitive and socially cohesive in a fast-changing economy.”

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

October 26, 2018 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

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.

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung: Develop the spirit for learning

October 16, 2018 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

16 October 2018

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung has exhorted Singapore students to develop the spirit of learning as a worthy and fruitful endeavour in itself, beyond academic grades or even qualifications.

Mr Ong stressed that Singapore has become over-reliant on the “security blanket” of examination scores, to the extent that our obsession with grades and quantifiable results has hampered our progress.

The Ministry of Education recently announced sweeping changes to the education system, including fewer mid-year exams and the removal of class rankings from report books.

Mr Ong also hoped that tuition centres do not end up simulating examination-like conditions for students to make up for the lost examinations.

Parents and students are understandably concerned if this would result in a slacking of our education system.

“I am very confident that this is not,” said Mr Ong, pointing out that fewer exams does not mean no exams. Instead, it provides better balance between rigour and the joy of learning.

Outdated methodology of university rankings must change

October 7, 2018 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

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.