28 August 2018

Exams are an almost unavoidable part of young people’s lives – and, inevitably, some people perform better than others.

When the results are negative, it can be easy to come up with thoughts such as “I will never succeed in my life”, “I’ve disappointed my parents” or “everyone is better than me”.

FIXING YOUR THOUGHTS

To fix these types of thoughts, you can engage in a process known as “cognitive restructuring”. This has been used by psychologists who adopt the cognitive behavioural approach to help people who experience anxiety or depression. According to this approach, people experience such problems because they keep dwelling on negative thoughts to the extent that they become addicted to such a thinking pattern.

THE TECHNIQUE

To start, you can use a Thought Record Sheet to record your feelings. This might include ranking your feelings and thoughts over a particular day – such as sadness, 80 per cent, and irrational thoughts such as: “I will always fail.” This can help to identify any thinking errors you make, such as over-generalising or catastrophising.

You can also use some challenging questions to test the validity of your thoughts, such as: “Do I have a crystal ball in front me that allows me to see the future?” You can then use all of this to hopefully come up with more adaptive responses, such as: “Passing A-level exams is not the only route to success.”

MOVING FORWARD

Using this technique can feel like a battle between the irrational and the rational aspects of one’s self – where each side tries to convince the other about its rightness. That’s why by focusing on the evidence you can test the validity of your automatic thoughts based on facts.

The battle between the irrational and the rational selves is ongoing for most people, but knowing how to challenge the validity of one’s thoughts can help you to remain realistic most of the time. These techniques can hopefully help you calm your nerves ahead of results day, but should also help you with any decision-making you have to do once the results are in.

• This is a condensed version of an article that first appeared in theconversation.com

16 August 2018

Ms Cammy Chua has become the first woman to receive the Singapore Merit Scholarship.

She was one of 17 recipients who were awarded scholarships at the Singapore Police Force Scholarship and Home Team Scholarship award ceremony recently held at the Istana.

All scholarship recipients had to endure six gruelling months of basic military training and officer cadet school as part of a prerequisite for the scholarship.

The scholarships are awarded yearly to outstanding students keen to pursue a career with the Home Team.

20 July 2018

Recently during the Parliamentary debate on class sizes in Singapore, Nominated Member of Parliament Kuik Shiao-Yin said that our teachers should be supported with smaller class sizes, and that the reason why our teachers are strapped for time is because of the large number of students that they have to give individual attention to.

Ms Kuik said: “I know MOE has argued that teacher quality matters more than class size, but the sheer volume of work to be done with such large numbers of students will constrain even the most talented teacher.”

If the intention of the education system is to help learners becomes independent in their thinking, then smaller class sizes are needed. But if the aim is to force students to assimilate large amounts of information, then “we can understand why huge class sizes are still tolerable because it is like raising battery hens”, in Kuik’s words.

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said that with good teachers, smaller classes help students. However, MOE’s approach is to grant the school the teaching resources, and “give them the flexibility to configure class sizes for different groups of students, for different subjects”.

Mr Ong brought up various international studies, which concluded that there was no major impact on students’ performances when they were in smaller class sizes.

16 July 2018

Second Minister for Education Indranee Rajah has said that Singaporeans continue to believe that there is only one path to success in life — through academic results.

She said that changing mindsets about this issue is not easy, and will take time.

Member of Parliament Indranee Rajah was responding to concerns expressed by other MPs on student stress and an overemphasis on grades during a Parliamentary debate on Singapore’s education for the future.

Ms Indranee Rajah said that Singapore’s education system has evolved over the years. It has shifted its focus from one of ensuring mass education for a young population, to one of embracing greater inclusiveness and flexibility.

Today, the focus is also on developing each individual and creating multiple pathways to success.

11 July 2018

It is customary to assume more educational qualifications will lead to better job prospects.

However, we are seeing increased competition for jobs from graduates of other countries who are willing to accept a lower pay because the cost of living back home for them is a lot lower than compared to Singapore.

Developing countries are now mass producing graduates and exporting them to the rest of the world, including Singapore.

More intense competition in the job market has also led to increased competition within Singapore schools, exacerbated by the fact that our schools themselves open their doors to top students from overseas.

Companies are also automating many tasks that used to be done by white collar workers such that those tasks can now be done by lower skilled workers willing to be paid a lot less.

This puts an overall downward pressure on wages at the same time when the cost of living is rising.

Singapore has little choice but to focus on its human resources, and to continue to pursue the broad strategy of raising the demand and supply of skills.