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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - MOE Send Teachers To India For Retrainin Subscribe
From: SGNEWSALTE Dec-8 7:48 pm
To: ALL (1 of 8)
3597.1
Singapore has been boasting that our educational system is the best in the world. So how come MOE is sending teachers to Chennai India to learn how classes are conducted there? Is all these boasts just a hoax? Is our educational system not up to par with India? What is our scholars in MOE doing? It is no good that we pay millions to the bureacrats in MOE just to have them sending teachers to countries like India to study and copy their sytem for Singapore. If we just go around copying systems from around the world, then why do we need to pay millions to engage those expensive external "educational consultants" to review through our own system? Why not just engage the Indian educationists to come to Singapore and set up their system here then?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Singapore_teachers_find_theres_a_lot_to_be_learnt_from_Chennai_schools/articleshow/3810611.cms
<!--<ARTTITLE>-->Singapore teachers find there's a lot to be learnt from Chennai schools<!--</ARTTITLE>-->
CHENNAI: A team from Singapore comprising 17 senior teachers are on a tour of Chennai schools to study the best classroom practices and <TABLE style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 4px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 8px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD id=bellyad></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>strengthen Tamil education for Singapore nationals. During a five-day seminar held at the St Patrick's Higher Secondary School in Adyar, the teachers came to appreciate how activity-based learning as well as active learning methodologies were being implemented in the classrooms of Tamil-medium schools here.
The overseas teachers visited the M Ct M Higher Secondary School in Vepery, as well as a Corporation school on Rotler Street in Purasawalkam and saw firsthand the teaching and learning methods being practised. An assessment group, formed by the Singapore teachers, studied the teaching methodologies and the interaction that took place between students in the classrooms. They tried to judge the efficacy of the teaching methodologies adopted in Tamil Nadu.
"The teachers were extremely impressed by the system, how it had enabled children to learn almost independently, with minimum help from the teacher. This could well be incorporated in schools in Singapore where the motto is teach less, learn more'," said Rajendran Naidu, staff training officer, Singapore ministry of education.
"The Singapore teachers filmed our seminars, classroom activities and even our educational aids, such as the math self-learning material that we had developed and the activity-based learning cards used in our classrooms. They were all enthused and convinced that they would be able to replicate in Singapore what they had learnt here," M Kamala, Tamil block resource teacher educator, Egmore zone, told The Times of India.
Between December 11 and 13, at a teachers' workshop, the team from Singapore will once again meet teachers in Chennai, discuss various teaching methodologies used in the two countries, and prepare a detailed report. The objective is to adopt the best methods practised in both countries.
"As this is a first step, we had planned to be here for only three weeks. Next year, 40 teachers are likely to come. If circumstances work out right, we may even consider working with the Tamil Nadu government in the field of education," said Rajendran.
The Singapore team members presented mementoes to the teachers and block resource teacher educators who chipped in with demonstrations of various teaching methodologies. They also thanked Irai Anbu, secretary, tourism and culture department, for the hospitality arrangements during their stay in Chennai.
<HR SIZE=1>Edited 12/8/2008 10:48 pm ET by SGNEWSALTE
