“Teach less” burden shifted to parents

Straits Times Forum, April 9 2011

Recently, the Ministry of Education has implemented the “teach less, learn more” policy in Singapore, resulting in the decrease in the amount of things taught in the classroom. Some parents feel that this is unreasonable, as they say that they have to go to work, and therefore, the children are not able to ask any questions.

In my opinion, I think that this policy is good to a certain extent. With the policy, the students can plan out their time carefully, and focus on what they need improvement. If a student is extremely good at graphs, and the school is focusing on graphs, the student will end up wasting time in school. This policy is also good because it allows the student to focus on his interests and have more time to study in depth topics that they find fascinating. For instance, if a student enjoys learning algebra, he can study it in more depth, while research on other topics like geometry less.

More importantly, the students will have to learn at home either from their parents, tuition teachers, or search for their own information. This is because not all the tested syllabus will be taught in school during class. However, it instills a sense of independence on the child, gearing him up for the future. When the student grows up, he has to eventually step into society and enter the corporate world. In the corporate world, there is nothing much taught to you by the office. Therefore, one needs to be resourceful and independent. Allowing them to find out ways to learn things will give them these skills for them to be successful person in their working lives.

However, there is a problem with this policy. If the students are not taught the basics first, they might not know which part of a broad topic to learn. I feel that the students should at least be taught the basics, and for students of younger ages, they should be told what topic of each subject will be tested, aiding in their preparations.

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Hi guys, I'm a student in Singapore, and this are some thoughts and essays I have written over the years.