Hey guys, so I’m finally back with a non- Giving Soulfood post haha. I’m sorry, things have been rather busy recently.
You guys know me, I usually just write and post, with minor edits, but this is one of those posts that I spent a bit more time reflecting, writing, editing and then editing it some more before publishing it. So yes this post is going to be meaty. It might be controversial, depending on how things go and how we see this, but I’ll try to keep that to a minimum. So grab your snacks and let’s go!
BACKSTORY
So I was just scrolling through Reddit one day, and I saw this post. The title intrigued me, simply because this is a topic I’m interested in as well, so I clicked in and I read it. And I have a lot to say.
LINK
I’ve linked the post here, for those of you who would like to read the full thread. I will be quoting from there in this post though (I’ll italicize what I quote), but I think it’ll be good if you guys read the full thing first, just for context.
READY? LET’S JUMP RIGHT INTO IT THEN
Overall, after reading the entire thread, I honestly just have very many questions. In general, there seem to be very many sweeping statements, and the views presented are rather narrow, in my opinion.
Also, just a little pet peeve of mine, but I do feel that whoever wants to post a rant of this scale online should at least make sure that the grammar is alright before hitting the ‘post’ button. Grammarly is a free resource, just saying. Now going into the details…
1 | But imagine about the large proportion of young children coerced into taking subjects or courses by their parents, even though they strongly dislike it or inept at it.
First of all, how is young children defined? My initial thought when I first read this was that the phrase referred to children in primary school. So my reaction was HUH? There are only so many subjects one can take in primary school… right?
In Lower Primary, there is English, Math, and Mother Tongue. There’s also higher Mother Tongue for those who are doing better at the language. Moving onto Primary 3, we are introduced to Science. At this point, there are also foundation tiers of the various subjects available for students to take if they find themselves unable to cope with the mainstream program.
So my main question is, at that age, are the children able to make good decisions for themselves?
If we upscale this and we talk about secondary school, yes, there are many more cases of students who are taking subjects that they might not necessarily enjoy, simply because their parents decided for them (I’m talking about the end-of-Sec 2 subject combination streaming). I agree that this happens, but at 15, many of these youths are already capable of having a conversation with their parents to discuss their options, and I don’t think these statements give them the credit for that.
As with every situation, there will be success stories and there will be stories of students still taking subjects that their parents chose. And I personally know people from both groups. So yes, I’ve heard stories from the latter group and I’ve heard how tough it can be on them, but they are all still doing very well today.
There might be many students who are currently hating what they study, but who’s to say that they won’t go on to do very well in life? Interest change. They might hate a certain subject now, but who’s to say they won’t grow to enjoy it, even love it?
2a | How many of those RI, Hwa Chong, Anglo-Chinese students are happy? How many of them actually enjoy studying what they study?
This is one paragraph, but there are so many things to unpack that I’m separating them.
First of all, I have a problem with a pin-pointing of those schools… like just why would you do that? There has almost never been a good ending to pin-pointing any school in any rant.
Secondly, why is there the assumption that they are unhappy? Sure there will be people who might hate the culture of their school, but when there is a spectrum, there will always be people on the other side. I have friends who studied there in their JC days, and they are happy there. They enjoy being stretched and learning things that are not always in the syllabus. Even for topics within the syllabus, they often can see different ways of solving the same problem.
Happiness may be a simple word, but it really is a complex issue. School is only one aspect of any student’s life, albeit a large portion, but no matter how unhappy one is in school, happiness can always be derived elsewhere. If you read enough of what I write, you would know that I am one of those people as well.
2b | How many of these poor souls are gaining true life experience or exploring themselves to mature as individuals?
Again, this is a very confusing concept to me. No one will ever claim that they gained life experience from studying something they like in school. As I said, school is just one aspect of life. There is so much more to life that exists outside of school. To me, ‘gaining true life experience’ and ‘exploring themselves to mature as individuals’ are things that happen based on our own choices. We all have 24 hours in a day and it is really about what we do in that 24 hours that contribute to the exploration and life experiences.
2c | How many of them look to death to escape their torment?
Okay, this to me, is just exaggeration already. Yes, I agree that the stress of the system has led to mental health issues for a (worryingly) number of people, but to say that they are all suicidal, that’s a claim on a whole other level already. Yes, depression and anxiety (for example) might be something that we should all lookout for a little more, given that we are all very pressurized by the system, but to say that everyone with depression and anxiety will be suicidal, that to me just shows a lack of understanding and knowledge about the conditions.
Just saying, not every person with diabetes will have an amputated limb.
3 | Our academic culture isn’t like Japan where we attend school for the sake of it and just pass it.
Er, excuse me? From the little knowledge I have on the education system in Japan, it’s almost just as bad as what we go through, if not worse. My question is has OP studied in Japan? Because this is something that I feel is inappropriate for anyone who hasn’t been there done that to say.
4 | Many students in our education system are made to study over-complex subjects under the burden of reaching an expectation of academic excellence (80+/100) due to pressure from parents and school?
Just another point that I don’t agree with. Expectations are set by individuals and for students who are old enough, to me, the onus is on the student to have discussions on realistic expectations with his parents where possible. Of course, I also acknowledge the fact that these conversations may not always be successful but I think that we (like collectively we students) have the responsibility to at least try to have the conversation.
5 | I’ve seen it and experience it firsthand what is it like to slave under these horrendous conditions.
Again, overly loaded language.
To me, the real issue here is that I’m sensing a lack of appreciation. I could be overly sensitive, but here are my thoughts. I think that we need to be more appreciative of the fact that we are receiving an education. There are so many people out there in the world for whom receiving an education is something they dream of.
Also, as terrible as anyone’s school experience is, and I’ve had some pretty bad experiences myself, there have to be some good parts about it. I wasn’t particularly happy throughout JC, I’m sure you guys know that by now, but even I had moments that I loved in JC.
6 | O levels were my absolute breaking point. I went through so many mental breakdowns just so I can cram the information into my head and regurgitate the swallowed info into the exam paper.
Again, I’m not invalidating the stress we all go through, but by this point, I’m lost. Are we having an actual discussion about the education system or are we reading a rant about someone’s personal life?
I haven’t been through Uni, so I can’t say for sure, but O levels is honestly nothing compared to As. Any JAE student can tell you that. All I can say is that perhaps it is a really good decision on OP’s end to not have chosen the JC route. It’s not for everyone and it sure doesn’t sound like it’s for him/her. And on that note, I sure am worried about when he/she goes to Uni because from what I have heard thus far, Uni is much more intense than even JC.
7 | I’ve seen too many people going bonkers from the academic stress exerted on them, with some even looking to self-harm as an unhealthy output to release their stress.
Again, not trying to invalidate the stress we all go through in school, but then again, it’s the same for everyone, the key lies in how we release that stress and how we learn to deal with stress, how we learn to cope with it.
8 | Parents, the main culprit, fail to spare a single thought for the emotional state for their suffering child, send their children through excessive tuition and supplementary lessons on top of nearly impossible standards set for them. All these children will understand in their life is stress, overwork and misery.
To be fair here, there are also students who put a lot of pressure on themselves. I won’t dwell on this point because I feel that this is a point that has already been talked about above, but as I said, at a certain age, students are already mature enough to have a conversation about these issues with their parents and I think credit needs to be given to students for that.
9 | What I abhor most are answering techniques and the approach mainstream schoolteachers adopt during lessons. They are there not to cultivate a love for learning or make the subject fascinating for students to learn and grow as people. They are only there to teach you the correct manner to answer.
I might be biased here, but there is so much that goes on outside the classroom for teachers that students don’t see. The teachers in schools are already doing their best to teach the students and ensure that they can minimally handle their examinations so that they can move on.
The thing that I don’t quite agree with here is the order of events. Every student is different, it is almost impossible to find a subject that every student will enjoy, purely because they are all different individuals. But this is the one thing I think the education system is doing decently well in.
Secondary school is a time where students go through a generic program, one that provides some breadth and exposure to the different subjects, because this is one of the ways students can discover what they like and don’t like. At the same time, some flexibility is also allowed for, in terms of allowing students to choose the subjects that they would like to take, which is where the electives come in.
But ultimately, I aimed for during my short stint, was that I hoped that I would be able to help my students tackle the upcoming national exams, and let them graduate secondary school with a set of results that could allow them to study whatever they wanted in Poly or if they wanted to go to JC. Whether or not they enjoyed the subject I was teaching them, to me that was secondary. The goal was simply to help them move on to an area that intrigues and excites them.
Closing
So this has been a really long post, but these are only just my thoughts. I would love to have a conversation with you guys about these issues if you guys would like that.
I’ve only responded to the original post here, I was going to tackle the comments as well, but that’s just way too much. If you guys pick out any interesting points and would like to have a discussion, do let me know and perhaps I’ll do a part 2 then.
Till the next post, cyaa:)
One Step At A Time 