Source:
http://www.temasekreview.com/2011/07/12/an-open-letter-to-the-education-minister-from-a-secondary-4-student/
This is an open letter to the education minister written by a secondary four student who will be taking her sec 4 'O' Level examination this year.
To what extend do you agree with the issues the student has raised here? Point out some issues of agreement and possible contention.
I agree to a large extent. Since I entered school, most of my school teachers, had been stressing on getting good marks in examinations. As years past, it was getting boring due to the fact that we are only learning what our teachers are teaching and not what we want to learn and explore. I personally feel that there is no point in studying a subject that do not interest you as you would not be able to give it your best. In primary school, teachers only teach what is necessary to get good grades for the exam, but is't the role of a teacher is to spur and encourage their students to learn more about the subject. During my school days, when I ask a question that is related to the topic, but at a higher level, my teacher would tell me that it is not required in my examinations and if i would like to find out, I have to do it alone. What is the point of teachers, if they failed to do their duty of answering the questions of their students?
Examine her tone and attitude in this letter. Do you think it’s a well-crafted letter with the appropriate tone?
Yes, I think it is a very well-crafted letter as it is formal, yet firm. She is able to bring out her points without being to harsh. However, if we observe closely, we can sense that the she is trying to keep down her frustration on the Singapore's education. Despite her frustration, she still managed to be polite.
If you should write a letter to Minister of Education, what are some issues you would raise? Remember- your intention is to make the system better for society's betterment via CONSTRUCTIVE ideas.
Firstly, I feel that students should be allowed to choose what subject they would like to be focus more on. This will help them to be more interested in the subject that they choose. They will be able to explore higher levels of their subject, thus bringing their knowledge of the subject to a higher level. Students should be given a lesson to do their own research at the library or using the school internet.
Next, I believed that schools should promote the student's mother tongue. As generations past, lesser people feel that their mother-tongue are of used in their future as more people are speaking with English as a mean to communicate with each other. Also, mother-tongue help to emphasis on traditions and moral value. From this we can see that mother-tongue is indeed important to students.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHey Hao Ming,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, it would be nicer if you labelled and highlighted the questions, but that is out of context.
Now, I agree that teachers should have the ability to answer students' questions on the spot as this will promote the students' naturally inquisitive character. However, if he asks about it during lesson, and the teacher is on a tight schedule, he/she will have no choice but to reply the student to look up on it himself.
Then again, the teacher can always answer the student in private. However, with the loads of other administration work a teacher has, like marking of scripts, I feel that a teacher would have difficulty to be able to make time to answer students for an hour everyday.
That would be when the student would have to go into independent learning, something that our school has been trying to instill in us. By researching things by ourselves, we would naturally read many articles, and glean much more information than you would have imagined.
That brings out the next question: Is there even time as a student? Besides, it is always more understandable when the teacher explains it as the teacher is able to break the information down. To answer this, I totally agree with your point that maybe there should be a course on how to research and filter the good resources from the average on the net.
Regarding your response to the 2nd question, I totally agree that this student is trying her best to be polite. Of course, she could have wanted to spend a few more days vetting the letter to be more polite, but at least it is a good try to keep calm despite her frustration over the education system.
Lastly, to comment on your reply to the 3rd question. I think that the promotion of mother tongue is what the Singapore government is still doing. I trust that the teachers are doing their utmost to inculcate such values in the students. It is just a matter of whether the students would listen or not.
Cheerio!
Gregory Tan 2O325