Here we go again.
The Primary Sixers are taking their PSLE and they’re not pleased the Mathematics paper is harder than they anticipated. (See Parents Up In Arms Again Over PSLE Mathematics Paper)
Even the top students felt the bite and some were unable to complete the paper.
I don’t know why such things make news in Singapore. But since it does, I wish that when such reports are made, they’d interview someone else that puts things in perspective.
Since they don’t, I’ll volunteer some thoughts. And I’ll get right to the point by dealing with points brought up in the article.
Of the paper, parents said:
students were apparently so stumped that many —even top students who have regularly aced past school examinations — broke down in tears in right after the paper
Here’s a thought. Maybe those students who aced exams are not so smart to begin with. Maybe their school examinations were created to allow them to ace it, leading students to believe they’re smarter than they actually are.
A math tutor, Mrs Tan said
“They have spent months revising and preparing, but it’s so much tougher than they expected. It really put a big dent on students’ morale.”
It’s an exam. It’s done. Move on. The PSLE is just one minor hurdle in a person’s life. Parents should tell their kids to get over it.
But no, they come out crying from the exam hall. Tears dripping from their eyes.
What’s wrong with this world? I’ve always come out of the exam hall happy. Doesn’t matter if I did it well or not. It’s done, it’s over. Is worrying about it going to help? Is crying going to help?
Maybe if you cry to your MP, he might write a strongly worded letter full of grammatical errors to MOE for an explanation.
Then, they go on…
There was not enough time for them to complete the paper.
Whatever happened to time management? Can’t answer? Move on. Find the easiest one to answer and get it right. For the rest, don’t waste your time. Leave the exam hall early. Get some sleep. Or go shopping.
A parent, Mrs Vivan Weng was quoted as saying.
“I think the setters feel it’ll be faster for them to compute with a calculator. So the problems they set are much more complex; there are more values, more steps. But it’s unfair because this is the first time they can do so and they do not know what to expect!”
This is probably the weakest argument in the article. By this logic, if I give your kid $100, and he’s never seen a $100 bill, you’re not going to let me give it to him because he’s only seen a $10 bill and he doesn’t expect $100?
And, if using the calculator for the first time is going to mess up their ability to work out math problem, then go back to pen and paper lah.
The fact is this. It’s a tough question, with more steps, more numbers, yes. But it’s still maths right? You still use the same principles to solve it right?
Frankly, I’m glad these papers are getting harder.
With tough papers, it’ll be easier to spot the President’s Scholars from the MediaCorp Scholars. Those who were getting Cs and Fs – does it matter? Face it. You suck at maths. The end.
The percentage of people getting A’s and B’s are higher than ever in major exams in Singapore. Every year, more students get better results. This happens across all races. But when I meet students today, I don’t think I’m meeting more intelligent people than I did in the past.
Today, I watched Oprah and they were talking about how crucial it is touch and communicate with your child and give as much stimulus to the child from young. Because by 6, the brain has done majority of it’s development. At 6, we’re pretty much set in our ways.
Yes, we may acquire more knowledge along the way, but the way behave, how we react to things, people around us, is the way we would have tackled it when we were 6.
So my dad, commented that Sumo, who has had a lot of stimulation since he arrived in our house, should have a highly developed brain. I agreed saying that he’s always listening to us. Even if he hears a dog bark on TV, he hears it, unlike my Tricky and Jojo, who are just blur.
“Yes,” my dad said, “he listens more than some students.”
The truth is, most of us are Trickys and Jojos. No matter how many more As we can hand out, most of us are mediocre. And even if you get As your whole life, that doesn’t mean you’re not mediocre.
Mrs Tan, you are the average mediocre math tutor who makes money off average mediocre math students and try to make them believe they are better than they are. You only give questions that meet your students abilities, comforting them, rather than challenging them. Mollycoddling them rather than telling them that no amount of hours spent with you will help them get it.
Mrs Weng, you are the average mediocre mother who has produced an average mediocre child. You cry afoul at the extra mathematical steps, simply because you know that if they’re there, your child will stumble upon them, making him confront the reality that he’s not as smart as he is potentially capable of, when he really doesn’t have all that potential you make him believe he has.
Yes, you are the parent of the tone deaf child on American Idol who believes she is the next Whitney, that you gasp at.
What you’ve done is forced upon this child is hours and hours of work for which he goes into automatic mode. Not really comprehending or knowing. Which is why when something new comes along – the extra steps – it confounds them. It’s not the calculator that’s holding him back. It’s his brain.
His life would’ve been much more pleasant had you accepted his mediocrity, made him put a reasonable effort, that will allow him to get his B or C, and the rest of that time, he could’ve put it to much better use – helping with the chores, cooking with you, playing with you, reading with you.
For the thousands of kids and parents that grumble about the PSLE paper, I am sure I can find at least one student who finished all the questions and will do well. Congratulations to those few who will prove themselves truly worthy of an A. Your lives are clearly mapped out before you. And if you’re lucky, paid for entirely by a scholarship.
For the rest, accept your mediocrity. Celebrate your mediocrity. Once you do, you have the freedom of choice.
Which isn’t always good, since you don’t have the intelligence to make the right decision all the time. But if you’re lucky, you’ll stumble on the right one sooner than later.
You will have the choice to coast and not be condemned as “a waste” because you weren’t particularly good at anything.
You might choose to make the massive section of the population called the middle class, now increasingly the poor middle class. Work Mondays through Fridays. Look busy from 8am – 9pm. Take your annual leave. Maximise your medical leave. If married, take full advantage of the Baby Bonus and parental leave. Find your middle class dollar eroded by GST and increasing rates of unsubsidised public transportation and medical insurance.
Or with a bit of luck, you could do fabulously well in new unexpected areas, because no one expects anything from you.
All you have to do is find something that you can be good at. Unfortunately, because we are mediocre, that hunt is often a long and arduous one.
And luck, if we recognise it at all, doesn’t come our way all that frequently.