Perspectives

Transforming Education

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Michelle Zhang

Project Consultant & Active Volunteer, Parent

My daughter has benefitted from an affiliated secondary school which greatly reduces pressure of PSLE and also no anxiety of being in a brand new environment without any friends. Similarly, I have good friends since my Pri 1 days because most of us stayed together for 10 years in the same primary and secondary school.

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Cheryl Lai

Teacher, Parent

If we are to truly advocate mental wellness in our next generation, as well as how SG can be a place that is made for families, we need to urgently consider translating these ideals into action. The formative years of a child will impact for a lifetime. How a child turns out to be often goes back to how the child was shaped (or moulded) to think about ownself (grades define you!) and about the world (there is no place for failure!). We need to act now to reverse the tide.
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Eliza Ida Thomas

Teacher & Media Professional, Parent

Reading the well-researched, well-thought-through White Paper was enlightening. I realise as an educator, I’m part of the problem. I want to learn how to do better in the way I teach children as well as how I communicate to and about them. Thank you for your bravery, perseverance and heart in advocating for these necessary changes that will impact us all and indeed every precious soul of a Singapore child.
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Siva Subramaniam

Lawyer, Parent

For a society that values education so much, it is shocking that our class sizes are still so large. Bringing the resources from the private tuition sector back into the public system instead, can also help to level the playing field for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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Faeza

Co-founder of Face The Future and the Crackerjack Compendium; ex-MOE teacher

If robots are getting better at being robots, if machines are getting better as being machines, then we human beings need to get better at being human. This is what we need to emphasise to our young people today – the need to develop their human skills. And education needs to evolve to give young people opportunities to activate and be evaluated on their human skills. The suggestions in this report are exactly what education needs to be more relevant to our kids today!
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Anonymous

Business Owner, Parent

I cannot begin to describe how ill-equipped the mainstream schools are in terms of learning & behavioral support for neurodiverse children. I do recognize and applaud MOE for putting in effort to have SEN Officers in each school, but the ratio of SENOs to students is really quite laughable – a reflection to me of how lacking they are in knowledge of the vast challenges, level of personalized attention and care that each neurodiverse child requires, in order to optimize his or her learning potential. EVERY CHILD MATTERS ❤️
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Bryan Chua

Student

Please look into support for neurodivergent students. I have been to dozens of school counselors and school recommended psychologists, and my ADHD was only diagnosed in adulthood
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Jesslyn Kwa

Parent

I would like my child to be an all rounder and not just excel academically. Every child is unique in their own way and a cookie cutter curriculum (only type of curriculum that works in a class of 40 students) will not be able to unleash the full potential of each child.
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Anonymous

Nurse, Parent

The GEP, PSLE… A lot of parents trying to send their children to private tuition for academic learning… As a mother, I feel the pressure.

What about a child who is just about to go to primary school? I think it’s really not healthy to put the child under so much academic pressure at this age.

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Tan Yew Zing Jeffrey

Retired, Parent

Thanks for the great initiative. I truly believe parents who have realised our education system does not benefit our children’s well-being need to voice out and be consistent and persistent in order for change to happen.

Keep it up!

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Benedict Ho

Physiotherapist, Parent

We should be moving towards a truly inclusive education where individualised learning plans are the norm for every child. This will benefit both neurotypical and neurodiverse children and optimise their potential in an inclusive setting.
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Anonymous

Parent

I hope MOE will equip more teachers to identify the different learning needs and challenges that different children have. There are no 2 children that have the same challenges, e.g. dyslexia, ADHD.

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Anonymous

Bank Regulator, Parent

I strongly support smaller class size so that teachers can engage in more discussion based learning with their students and every child gets the opportunity to speak up during class.
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Anonymous

Head of business at automotive company, Parent

Curriculum even at lower primary is so packed, I can’t imagine how the weaker students can cope without tuition. It’s not just stressful for the students but teachers and parents too. The fundamental over-emphasis on PSLE needs to change, if not it will just be a vicious downward spiral for the whole ecosystem.

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Angelia Phua

Management Admin, Parent

I would love to have my children coming back from school telling me how wonderful their lessons were instead of the amount of homework the teachers are giving them to complete. Classroom teaching and homework was what we all experiences 40 over years ago.

Surely the educational system should change to meet with times.

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Menka Sajnani

Venture Capital, Parent

I am a concerned parent. I really want to cultivate hustle, confidence and communication skills in my child. I believe the SG education system lacks deeply in these areas.

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Anonymous

Trader, Parent

Exams are at the end of 6 years and children are preparing for the exams from the very beginning of their education journey. They have little to no time for the following: self reflection, connection with family and community, play and learning from playtime, self-discovery, learning about themselves, learning about their strengths and weaknesses. They are constantly being expected to prepare for PSLE and at the end of PSLE, many end up lost and not knowing what they like or enjoy learning and doing.

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Pooja Bakhshi

Self-Employed, Parent

As a mother of twins who are getting ready for PSLE, I feel enormous pressure on the kids as well as parents. It has become a struggle for children to get outdoor play time. When children’s ‘work weeks’ (think school, remedial classes, homework, tuition, additional study time) become longer than adult work weeks, I think it’s time to question our education system. Where does the physical, emotional and mental health of the next generation stand in our priority list?

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Joyce Tan

Medical Lab Scientist, Parent

I strongly support the through train system. Children should not be tested on their academic abilities at the age of 12.

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Michelle Wan

Parent

Our kids deserve to be kids and not inundated with the demands of school work. They are in school 6-8 hours and more each day, you’ve that time to teach them. If you can’t get it done within that time frame, wait until tomorrow. I’ve 4-5 hours with them after they get home and I’m not wasting it on homework. Family time is more important.
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Aminah Binte Abdul Latif

Forest School Practitioner, Parent

The education system focuses mainly on just 2 types of learning. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences showed that there are 9 types of intelligences. How is the system supporting the other 6 types of intelligences/learning? The system emphasises a tad too much on a child’s cognitive development. Is the system providing space for children to develop their social/emotional skills which is usually fostered through unstructured play. A big class doesn’t allow children to take their time to understand what is being taught in class. This causes parents to sign children up for tuition classes which then takes away children’s time for play. Young children should spend time engaging in play and active movement to support the development of neural pathways which are necessary for more complex cognitive functions in the later years.
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Peiru Teo

CEO of Tech Company, Parent

The future will only be more diverse and trying to prepare them with hard skills far into the future is futile. Children need to learn how to learn, build resilience, curiosity, creativity, problem solving skills, self regulation, and so many more soft skills. These can hardly be tested in a national examination. Children will shine if we give them time to explore their strengths and nurture them. They are not all the same and should not feel any less because they cannot score in the narrow confines of a certain number of subjects.

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John Tan

CEO of Doyobi and Saturday Kids, Father of 5

The current education system was built for an industrial era that doesn’t exist anymore. Instead of academic knowledge, school needs to equip students with the skills and disposition to thrive in a world that is interconnected, interdependent, complex, uncertain and ambiguous. We are not preparing kids for a standardised world, so why do we persist with standardised tests?

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Simon Craft

Executive Director, Parent

Congrats for pulling this together. I have 2 boys in local school. One does well while the other struggles despite a ton of extra tuition. I spend my time helping senior business leaders get future-ready, and I think we should be doing the same (effort and $$) for our next generation.
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Rashmuna

Community Engagement/ Ex MOE Teacher, Parent

As an ex-teacher, parent, and through my work, I have had the opportunity to visit international schools in SG, Malaysia, Australia and UK. Based on my observations and conversations with teachers and parents at these schools, smaller class sizes do make a difference for both teachers and students. Every student is able to get the much needed attention from their teachers to develop in tandem with their peers, despite their specific learning needs. Teachers have the bandwidth to accord the necessary scaffolding support (academic and social learning) that every child needs, without lagging from the planned curriculum.
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Huang Jia Hui

Adjunct Lecturer, Parent

Instead of lots of sit-down cognitive work that is not appropriate for their age, children in primary school should get more time to learn useful hands-on skills for daily life, e.g. cooking, cleaning, simple repair work. They should be exposed to more varieties of artistic expression, e.g. different genres of art, dance and music, and skills that may give them ideas for future hobbies and careers, e.g. cutting hair, gardening, looking after animals.
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Emmeline Koh Pei Si

Educator & Speaker, Parent

We need well-trained teachers who are sufficiently paid and supported, so that they can effectively manage the students within appropriate teacher-student ratios. Given that there are many kids who are brought up or baby-sat by screens, the level of skills needed to refocus and redirect their attention is immense, compared to the distant past where conformity and obedience is the norm in big classes. Cyber-bullying and cyber-comparing is on the rise with all forms of social media, causing more and more mental health issues. As the income gap widens, the rich will continue to climb the socio-economic ladder rapidly, thereby widening the divide and making the “rat race” tougher. This further adds to the mental toll of many who fall behind.
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Anonymous

Public Engagement, Parent

Life was a struggle for my 1st since pre-school. She was labeled as slow, I found out she was dyslexic when she was in P3. I had to seek expensive help outside school, engage personal tutors for many subjects, and explain her learning style to each of her teachers to manage her differently. She is fine today due to strong family support to believe in herself. Some teachers tried to help, but I think most were too overloaded. They usually spoke to me only when she did not hand in her work.

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Anonymous

HR Professional, Parent

I believe our classrooms can be more inclusive of students with varying abilities and interests. Children with learning needs can attend separate classes for certain subjects e.g. English/ Math, but also attend the same classes as typical children in other subjects e.g. PAL / art / music. There should be equal exposure to academic and non-academic subjects.

Children who are talented in other areas such as arts or sports should be nurtured earlier rather than waiting till secondary school.

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Anonymous

Real Estate Agent, Parent

I truly believe we have the resources to allocate to Education to make these very needed changes happen. As a teacher, I have found that smaller class sizes make an enormous impact on the interactions I am able to have with each child as well as a student’s ability to have their voice heard in class.
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Edwin Ting

Marketing Executive, Parent

This initiative is well-thought-out. The existing education system focuses on accumulating and utilizing knowledge, which only sets our children up to be good followers or great “factory” workers. What’s lacking is the development of the child as an individual, someone with their own thoughts and passion, the child inter-related to everyone else in the world and how they can connect to create new possibilities for the future.

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Joanne Yeo

Doctor, Parent

Having seen how my children are intrinsically motivated and curious about the world from a young age, I wish to create an environment that would sustain that instead of killing that during their growing years. And the only way to do so is by giving them sufficient time and space to explore and expand on their interests, whether or not it corresponds to the rigid (and limited) academic requirements of the education system.

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Han Jiamin

Marketing Professional, Parent

Not enough differentiation to support kids with special needs, different educational needs, those who need help socially/behaviourally. Classrooms are too full for teachers to really focus and support different kids and their needs.

Fixation on maximising marks for 11-12 yr olds rather than everybody being taught to maximise learning and interest in learning. The pressure on kids and parents is ridiculous.

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Josephine Chia - Teo

Parent

I strongly agree that the current education system is obsolete with the onset of AI. We are not equipping our children to be future ready with our archaic system of PSLE and grades. Someone please DO something!

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Shirlynn Wong

HR, Parent

Please also incorporate more fun elements to stir curiosity and help to cultivate intrinsic motivation for self-directed learning. This is mandatory for our children in the future.
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Ai Wei Lua

Creative Director, Parent

I see in my child how learning has been forced and accelerated even though he has yet to fully grasp the concepts of what he’s being taught in class. He enjoys learning but he’s also someone who thrives in much smaller group settings with more time, attention and guidance from teachers. The alternative to that is not heaps of additional homework. I would like to see him realise his best potential without the stress of having to hit the marks and excel in quick time.
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Tim Wong

Parent

I’m concerned to see my son in P1 learning at what was P3 standard when I was in primary school. He is expected to catch up with what is taught, and it is assumed that I as a parent will help him catch up. So my question is: If learning is lifelong, as rightly said by our nation’s leaders, then why are we front-loading our children so early in their journey?