About 10 years ago, when M was in upper Pri, there was all this talk of removing streaming and lumping all kids of different abilities together. Learn together and all the lofty ambition of removing elitism etc..
Friends whose kids were in neighbourhood primary schools found 44 kids in each class and even in Pri 6, the kids were not sorted in any way. All learn Math and Chinese together!! I said it then, it was appalling. Stupid move. Bad for the kids who could learn at faster pace, and equally crap for the slower learners. Teachers would have a hard time and in the end could only teach to the average. I said it back then. And will say it again. Such a move benefitted no one.
So in August 2024, there is THIS "new" stance from MOE.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/gifted-education-programme-revamped-lighten-teachers-workload-school-chan-chun-sing-4558526?cid=FBcna&fbclid=IwY2xjawEzBCpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHamNC7_AttDgZwl-6gI-loxqQIN6jDqgCC6jgLJUONSDqgAKJOWoZsZixQ_aem_7Az02-Qc_N-bx2nLjY_2Rw
Isn't this a U-turn from the previous decision to remove streaming and group students of ALL abilities together in one class so they can learn TOGETHER? The theory then was it would allow fast learners to LEARN empathy and help guide their peers who are unable to cope. And so that the latter will not feel excluded/streamed into not-so-nicely-labelled classes. Bad for their self-esteem and growth.
”In the past, if we were unable to cater to the specific needs of the students, it actually made teaching much more difficult,” he noted.
“If we are able to identify the students according to their abilities, (this) allows our teachers to lighten their workload by being much more focused in their teaching. It is something that most people don’t see.””
No comments:
Post a Comment