The recent debate on the possible re-weighting of the mother tongues in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) has certainly polarised the society.
Both proponents and opponents of the possible cut in the weighting of the mother tongues should look beyond the doomsday prediction of such a move and arrive at a compromise that will benefit our children.
Perhaps, we should take only three subjects into consideration for PSLE - Mathematics, Science, and Language. The Language subject should comprise English and a mother tongue. Students should have the flexibility to decide the weighting of the two components of the Language subject.
A student who is more comfortable with English can opt for a 75-percent weighting for English and a 25-percent weighting for mother tongue. Likewise, a student who is stronger in mother tongue can opt for the reverse.
This will ensure no student is penalised for having a weaker grasp of the mother tongue or English. For any student who aspires to study in a competitive secondary school, getting a decent mark for the lower weighting component of the Language subject, be it English or mother tongue, would definitely be helpful.
This approach ensures competitive students will continue to put in effort to learn their weaker language but it will not penalise them unduly if they just cannot handle two languages.
The above proposal does not dilute the importance of the mother tongue in our multiracial society. It does not change the way it is taught in our schools. It does not take away the joy of learning the mother tongue as well.
It does, however, bring back some sanity into our stressful lifestyle.
I met a resident who told me that her daughter's teacher advised her to send her child for tuition for a particular subject. She told the teacher that if she has to send her child for tuition on top of the regular classes, she might as well not put her child in school since her little girl is going to learn more outside the system. She asked the teacher what is the point of sending her child to school then?
Let's bring back some sanity into our education system as well.
(ST Forum Reject - Revised for blog)
Both proponents and opponents of the possible cut in the weighting of the mother tongues should look beyond the doomsday prediction of such a move and arrive at a compromise that will benefit our children.
Perhaps, we should take only three subjects into consideration for PSLE - Mathematics, Science, and Language. The Language subject should comprise English and a mother tongue. Students should have the flexibility to decide the weighting of the two components of the Language subject.
A student who is more comfortable with English can opt for a 75-percent weighting for English and a 25-percent weighting for mother tongue. Likewise, a student who is stronger in mother tongue can opt for the reverse.
This will ensure no student is penalised for having a weaker grasp of the mother tongue or English. For any student who aspires to study in a competitive secondary school, getting a decent mark for the lower weighting component of the Language subject, be it English or mother tongue, would definitely be helpful.
This approach ensures competitive students will continue to put in effort to learn their weaker language but it will not penalise them unduly if they just cannot handle two languages.
The above proposal does not dilute the importance of the mother tongue in our multiracial society. It does not change the way it is taught in our schools. It does not take away the joy of learning the mother tongue as well.
It does, however, bring back some sanity into our stressful lifestyle.
I met a resident who told me that her daughter's teacher advised her to send her child for tuition for a particular subject. She told the teacher that if she has to send her child for tuition on top of the regular classes, she might as well not put her child in school since her little girl is going to learn more outside the system. She asked the teacher what is the point of sending her child to school then?
Let's bring back some sanity into our education system as well.
(ST Forum Reject - Revised for blog)
2 comments:
The Great Divide - consider 1) freedom to choose 2) meaningfulness in learning 3) balance of decision. Also cultural heritage debate is only skin deep -MT is only one way to reflect love for our culture. Every group has its own agenda - did anyone think about the child?
Yr comments really cut to the bone. With the amount of time and money spent on private tuition, to play catch up, why do we have to send our children to mainstream school? Are Hongkongers lesser chinese than us because their MT is not Mandarin. What we really need is a more flexible education policy, not the type the politicians believe is the one for us. If we still can't get it right after 30 yrs, cut loss, like any business model. If yr ROI is not there, cut yr investment, let those who can attain the ROI excel further. After all, our lives and policies are centred on material gains.
Post a Comment