Basket.

This is a follow-up to the previous post. I have been reading opinions at the ST website regarding the subject, and have unsurprisingly unearthed a number of gems. How is your entitlement complex today, Singapore?

Comment A

Personally, I think those who has no children and does not have any kids taken PSLE before should avoid posting comments on this area. The callous comments by some here is not needed here as you have not been through this road recently or before. My kids have been through the USA education system as well as the singapore school system and of course the recent PSLE too. Although the USA maths are laid back and not as fast paced as us, but for sure, the kids are much more confident and happier than those educated here. They are not rushed through higher and higher standards every year in our local system with so much homework especially from P4 onwards. All these talk about teach less learn more ? Yet , they test more and more on problems that are not been learnt by them before. One thing for sure, PSLE may be creaming the Ace students , so go review these Ace students through another separate exam, like the GEP kind. Don't dampen the spirits of all children who have worked diligently hard for their PSLE maths and yet feel as if they have not finished well......

Ok, let's see...

Personally, I think those who has no children and does not have any kids taken PSLE before should avoid posting comments on this area.

SHUT UP YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE. Great argument, Madam. It's wonderful to see that the people of this fair nation still believe in democracy and free speech.

The callous comments by some here is not needed here as you have not been through this road recently or before.

Aww, did someone hurt your feelings? Guess what, no one gives a fuck. Maybe you could have a look at some of those comments and reflect upon your own beliefs and/or parenting (or lack thereof).

Although the USA maths are laid back and not as fast paced as us, but for sure, the kids are much more confident and happier than those educated here. They are not rushed through higher and higher standards every year in our local system with so much homework especially from P4 onwards.

Yes, and guess what, the Americans are now thinking that this maybe isn't the best way to bring up the next generation. It's a tough world and you need a tough education system - and the Singaporean one is already much improved from even when I was in it. There are so many choices these days and all that talk about niche areas. What are you complaining about?

Yet , they test more and more on problems that are not been learnt by them before.

I assume you have proof for such allegations? Nah, that's probably too much to hope for.

One thing for sure, PSLE may be creaming the Ace students , so go review these Ace students through another separate exam, like the GEP kind.

Due to her shitty English, it took me a while to figure out what exactly she was trying to say over here. Not that it's much of value, because she is apparently advocating the dumbing down of the education system and perhaps grade inflation.

Don't dampen the spirits of all children who have worked diligently hard for their PSLE maths and yet feel as if they have not finished well......

So we should teach students that hard work always results in success? That's setting them up for a harder fall later in life, when it'll hurt a lot more, too. Effort doesn't always pay off; virtually anybody can tell you that. Sometimes we fail even though we tried our hardest. Life has a nasty habit of not giving us what we want. We should not hide this from our younger generation, because it is just setting them up for a far more traumatic fall.

Conclusion: Writer believes that education system should be dumbed down so kids will be happier; consequences of this later in life are not of concern.


Comment B

To those who disparage the parents who wrote in to say that the PSLE Maths paper was tough and MOE's approach is right:

Have you seen any of the the questions or has anyone one of your child related to you some of the questions which are said to be difficult?

I understand that there was a question involving the arrangement of chairs which could be solved by the model method but results in fraction of a chair if solved by algebra.

If that is so, the one who set the question and those who validate the question should apologise, as a Maths problem cannot result in different answer using different methods of solving, at least at PSLE level.

Point 2:

For all that Singapore is well known for the teaching of Maths, HOW MANY of those who were eventually admitted to RI/RGS/Hwa Chong, say 20 to 25 years ago, have made a name of themselves in the field of Maths in the international business/scientific/maths arena as compared to other countries with different approaches to the TESTING of school children in maths?

Perhaps you could start with your own achievement, if any.

Right.

I understand that there was a question involving the arrangement of chairs which could be solved by the model method but results in fraction of a chair if solved by algebra.

If that is so, the one who set the question and those who validate the question should apologise, as a Maths problem cannot result in different answer using different methods of solving, at least at PSLE level.

This example is so vague that I have no way whatsoever of verifying its authencity. He could well be talking out of his ass. In fact, he most probably is. Even if true, well, what can I say? Setters, those in charge of vetting and final approval are all human. Mistakes happen, inevitably, from time to time. Is this a reason to condemn MOE for all eternity?

For all that Singapore is well known for the teaching of Maths, HOW MANY of those who were eventually admitted to RI/RGS/Hwa Chong, say 20 to 25 years ago, have made a name of themselves in the field of Maths in the international business/scientific/maths arena as compared to other countries with different approaches to the TESTING of school children in maths?

Yes, logic dictates that every single person who was ever good in maths at school MUST become a mathematician and prove an arcane new theorem. The success of an education system is measure by the success of entire cohorts of students, not individual successes. This is an extremely poor argument he is making here; since Singapore has not produced world renowned mathematicians, our education system has failed. What utter claptrap.


Comment C

People thinks that difficult question is ok, is missing the point. They missed the point because PSLE is not suppose to be a gift education programme exams. It should be structured to cater to the average student. They should not lift the bar to cater to the top schools because it would be too easy for them.

Let me give you an exaggerated example. How do you think the average students would fair, if 2/3 of the exams ask uni level questions. Only those who are very bright can answer it. Is this a good test for PSLE? Is that the minimum standards one has to acheive before leaving primary school?

Those who have taken the test and said it is easy are either from top primary school or have tuition teacher coach them on papers from those top schools.
In a sense those difficult questions are nothing new to them. It cannot be said the same for the average school.

This PSLE just highlight a great disparity between standards of the school. The PSLE examiners should not peg the PSLE to the top school but to the standard school with maybe 10%-15% given to difficult question.

If the test is too difficult, even if they are t scores adjusted it would look really weird because it is not a normal distribution. First the people from the top schools would probably be very much off the mean. secondly, there is very little discrimatory power between the average and poor students because those questions are beyond them. In fact you got to play around with more than just using t scores.

I think MOE in their pursuit of producing math prodigy has lost their sight on the real purpose of PSLE.

For those who think it is good to give difficult questoin go try some of the difficult questions before you comment.

I think this one is the best yet.

People thinks that difficult question is ok, is missing the point. They missed the point because PSLE is not suppose to be a gift education programme exams. It should be structured to cater to the average student. They should not lift the bar to cater to the top schools because it would be too easy for them.

It is not possible that the PSLE consists of only difficult questions. In fact, most of the questions highlighted usually carry something like 2 or 3 marks. They can easily be skipped over because they are of such low weightage. Anyone who has been taught proper time management would know not to fuss over such questions, but to skip and go on with the rest of the paper. Unless their teacher is a gibbering idiot, practically all Singaporean students should have been taught this. Personally, I stressed it to my tutee. There is no point obsessing over 2 or 3 marks in a 100-mark paper. There is even less point obsessing over a 2-3 mark question after the paper in question.

As for catering to average students, the paper itself might not always: but MOE's grading policies, I'm quite sure, do. Letters like this miss the point: with a difficult paper, the marks needed for a distinction, for instance, will be lower than for an easy paper. It evens out in the end.

For that last sentence there, again I have no doubts whatsoever that he has inconvertible proof of this occurring.

This PSLE just highlight a great disparity between standards of the school. The PSLE examiners should not peg the PSLE to the top school but to the standard school with maybe 10%-15% given to difficult question.

Apparently this person is convinced that PSLE Maths papers are chock-full of difficult questions, and that there is some sort of conspiracy between MOE and "the top schools". Makes plenty of sense, I suppose.

If the test is too difficult, even if they are t scores adjusted it would look really weird because it is not a normal distribution. First the people from the top schools would probably be very much off the mean. secondly, there is very little discrimatory power between the average and poor students because those questions are beyond them. In fact you got to play around with more than just using t scores.

This part is barely coherent. I think he's just rambling about his kid getting shafted while trying to appear not to be rambling about his kid getting shafted.

I think MOE in their pursuit of producing math prodigy has lost their sight on the real purpose of PSLE.

This man has discovered the secret of creating Maths prodigies. Apparently, all that is needed is to take an ordinary student, lock him in a windowless steel room and make him do really difficult maths questions all day long, everyday, for years. Never mind that the very definition of a prodigy is someone born with an affinity for the subject!

His English is just that shitty, anyway.


To conclude, all these letters miss the point. Examinations are more than just about marks. They are about mark bands as well. Mark bands are determined by the performance of the entire batch; so that in a difficult paper, the grade needed for a distinction would be lower, and so on and so forth. All these people who complain just can't bloody understand that. They seem only able to comprehend and propagate the ridiculously simple (and erroneous) equation that difficult paper=poor marks=poor grade. That is not how it works at all.

This is not even touching upon the fact that the vast majority are making a mountain out of a molehill. Most really difficult questions highlighted (such as the infamous 1+2+3+...+97+98+99+100) are 2-3 marks, maximum. They can be easily left aside with little loss. I am very sure that the vast majority of students have been told not to obsess over questions they do not know how to do, but to move on first and come back later if there is time. It's not like 50% of the paper is one very huge, complex problem sum - but they're behaving like that is exactly the case.

Additionally of note is the fact that the percentages of As, Bs, Cs et al has hardly changed over the years. But complaining parents (conveniently?) overlook this fact.

In short, stop bitching about something you don't at all understand.