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Solid post!
Great insight!
I wonder what Tharman or Heng Swee Keat would have to say in this regard? Or powerhouse elites like Ho Kwon Ping and Eddie Teo?
Great insight!
I wonder what Tharman or Heng Swee Keat would have to say in this regard? Or powerhouse elites like Ho Kwon Ping and Eddie Teo?
What RI has become is simply symptomatic of what ails our country.
Neither fiscal nor monetary policies are going to change the imbalance in demographic makeup of the students.
All this talk of genes leaves out the most important criteria to a child's success IMO: the parents' attitude in grooming their children. On the one extreme u have the stay at home tiger Mom to the other extreme of the absentee parent.
Occasionally nature throws up the odd-ball who is motivated and disciplined despite their circumstances and will succeed against the odds. But most of the other successful children are moulded/nurtured into such.
There are many instances of children of PHD/CEO parents who don't excel academically, most likely due to abesntee parents.
In the case of the poorer familes, working shifts, OT, double jobs etc, the parents become absentee by default, not their choice. Others might be just exhausted after a hard Day's work and are present but disengaged.
Nature at best gives one a headstart, but that can be eroded easily through laziness and poor attitude towards life and studies.
So what children need are mentors who can guide and help them in their studies and other life decisions. And to that end, smaller class sizes will go a long way.
But that's not enough. The reason why super tutors exists is simply because some teachers are simply better than others. And where do the best teachers in Singapore get assigned to/hired by? The elite schools. Some fall through the cracks and end up in regular schools.
But producing automatons who memorize the periodic table isnt the answer. We need our children to be self-learning, problem solving machines. Creativity is borne out of necessity and schools must equip students with the knowledge and skills to construct their creations. Not just theoretical skills but real machine skills as well which is highly lacking in our kids. (The maker/DIY culture should be firmly entrenched in the class room... All kids should be making some "thing" every year for their entire 12 years in school as group projects)
I'm spent.. that's all for now.