Despite having made it to university, I still go through periods of self-doubt time and again over my ability to meet future challenges. Looking at the current economic gloom, I even resent myself for pursuing paper qualification blindly as it means I will end up without a valuable and marketable skill.
Have you ever felt this way about yourself？
This is a shortcoming of our education system.
You may say I'm making the school system a scapegoat. But I do have my reasons for saying so.
As a small country with only human resources to depend on, our sense of urgency in equipping our people with the know-how and skills to make progress is understandable. The question is： Are we doing it the right way？
Focusing on the pressure and unfair treatment faced by three EM3 pupils, Jack Neo's latest movie “I Not Stupid”, puts many negative social consequences of our education system under the spotlight.
I can identify strongly with the movie which highlights the grievances, frustrations and voices of many pupils. After all, we all go through the same school system, don't we？
In a society where the all-vital paper qualification is a must, we have long been taught that we must make it to EM1 at the primary four streaming exercise. The path to success also includes special stream in a secondary school, followed by junior college and university education.
Under the close supervision and guidance of teachers and parents, we have to work hard in school and go for tuition after school. Burning the midnight oil is commonplace. The result of such over-emphasis on formal learning is that many have had no opportunities to develop their talents in other areas and discover their sense of self-worth.
The stress of schoolwork is, in fact, weighing more and more heavily on our pupils. While the syllabus has been reduced, students are getting more and tougher homework. Some of the questions are so mind-boggling that even undergraduates are baffled.
What does this mean？ It means cramming does not work. Even if we are exposed to a wealth of knowledge, we will be overloaded and not be able to digest it. Soon, the information will just go to waste.
Our education system needs to be reviewed.
We need greater space to develop our interests and talents. We need to discover ourselves and our strengths for the genuine safeguard that we can fall back on.
When we are moved to tears while watching “I Not Stupid”, are we crying for the characters in the movies or ourselves. I don't know.
Jack Neo's movie has this message for us：“Everyone is talented in his or her own way. Just because someone is not good at studying, we should not say he is useless.”
Jack Neo says he is not cut out for academic pursuit. But he has certainly shown immense talent in making movies. When he was in secondary two, he staged a farce in school that had everyone in stitches. Yet his talent was not affirmed by teachers who were only impressed by impeccable results on the report cards.
While many have gripes about our school system, Jack Neo believes no system is perfect and ours is comparatively less damaging than others. It does care for pupils who do not do well academically. What we should provide these pupils who are assigned to not-so-good classes with is proper counselling - they should never come to regard themselves as useless.
（The writer is an undergraduate of NTU. This article first appeared in The Nanyang Chronicle, NTU's students' newspaper. Translated by Yap Gee Poh.）
我對新加坡教育制度的看法——看《小孩不笨》有感● 蔡慧玲雖然升上大學(xué),很多時(shí)候還是懷疑自己的能力,是不是可以應(yīng)付未來的挑戰(zhàn)。在經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣中,更怨自己只懂讀死書,盲目追求文憑,害得自己無一技一長。
你這樣埋怨過嗎？
這是教育制度的缺點(diǎn)。
或許你認(rèn)為這么說是在推卸責(zé)任。我卻不以為然。
我國地小又缺乏天然資源,只有人力資源。所以我國急于培養(yǎng)人才是可以理解的。但我們的方法對嗎？
梁智強(qiáng)的新電影——《小孩不笨》尖銳地說出許多社會(huì)弊病,重點(diǎn)描述了三個(gè)EM3學(xué)生所面對的壓力和不公平待遇。
《小孩不笨》說出了不少學(xué)生的委屈和心聲。
也許因?yàn)榇蠹以谕瑯拥慕逃贫认鲁砷L,所以我感受特別深?！缎 菲f出了不少學(xué)生的委屈、困擾和心聲。
在文憑掛帥的社會(huì)里,我們從小就知道小四分流要考上EM1,中學(xué)要上特選班,然后上初級學(xué)院,再上大學(xué),才算保住光明前途。
我們從小就在師長督促下努力讀書,下課后補(bǔ)習(xí),有時(shí)還得熬夜溫課。但因過分注重正規(guī)學(xué)習(xí),很多人失去發(fā)揮所長、找到自我價(jià)值的機(jī)會(huì)。
功課的壓力其實(shí)是越來越大的。雖說課業(yè)內(nèi)容減輕了,實(shí)際上功課更多、更深了。慚愧地說,有時(shí)大學(xué)生也被小學(xué)生的問題考倒。
這意味著什么呢？填鴨式的教育方式行不通。即使我們接觸到廣泛的知識,也會(huì)因負(fù)荷過重,無法消化,而把攝取的知識當(dāng)廢物般排泄掉。
新加坡教育制度值得檢討。
我們需要更大的發(fā)揮空間,讓我們發(fā)揮自己的興趣和所長,尋找自己,尋找真正的保障。
當(dāng)我們看《小孩不笨》感動(dòng)到流淚時(shí),我們是為劇情哭,還是在為自己哭？我不知道。
梁智強(qiáng)通過《小》片告訴大家：“每個(gè)人都有他不同的才華。我們不能說他們不會(huì)讀書就是沒有用的?！绷褐菑?qiáng)自稱是個(gè)怎么努力都不會(huì)讀書的人,但他在導(dǎo)戲方面卻很有才華。中二時(shí)他導(dǎo)了第一部舞臺(tái)鬧劇,全校都笑了,但卻沒得到肯定。老師們都認(rèn)為學(xué)業(yè)成績好才算厲害。
雖然很多人不滿我國的教育制度,但梁智強(qiáng)認(rèn)為每個(gè)制度都有缺點(diǎn),我們的制度損傷力算是較低的了。因?yàn)樗卮_照顧到了成績差的學(xué)生。但我們要做的是正確的心理輔導(dǎo),不要讓被分配到較差班級的學(xué)生認(rèn)為自己沒有用。
Have you ever felt this way about yourself？
This is a shortcoming of our education system.
You may say I'm making the school system a scapegoat. But I do have my reasons for saying so.
As a small country with only human resources to depend on, our sense of urgency in equipping our people with the know-how and skills to make progress is understandable. The question is： Are we doing it the right way？
Focusing on the pressure and unfair treatment faced by three EM3 pupils, Jack Neo's latest movie “I Not Stupid”, puts many negative social consequences of our education system under the spotlight.
I can identify strongly with the movie which highlights the grievances, frustrations and voices of many pupils. After all, we all go through the same school system, don't we？
In a society where the all-vital paper qualification is a must, we have long been taught that we must make it to EM1 at the primary four streaming exercise. The path to success also includes special stream in a secondary school, followed by junior college and university education.
Under the close supervision and guidance of teachers and parents, we have to work hard in school and go for tuition after school. Burning the midnight oil is commonplace. The result of such over-emphasis on formal learning is that many have had no opportunities to develop their talents in other areas and discover their sense of self-worth.
The stress of schoolwork is, in fact, weighing more and more heavily on our pupils. While the syllabus has been reduced, students are getting more and tougher homework. Some of the questions are so mind-boggling that even undergraduates are baffled.
What does this mean？ It means cramming does not work. Even if we are exposed to a wealth of knowledge, we will be overloaded and not be able to digest it. Soon, the information will just go to waste.
Our education system needs to be reviewed.
We need greater space to develop our interests and talents. We need to discover ourselves and our strengths for the genuine safeguard that we can fall back on.
When we are moved to tears while watching “I Not Stupid”, are we crying for the characters in the movies or ourselves. I don't know.
Jack Neo's movie has this message for us：“Everyone is talented in his or her own way. Just because someone is not good at studying, we should not say he is useless.”
Jack Neo says he is not cut out for academic pursuit. But he has certainly shown immense talent in making movies. When he was in secondary two, he staged a farce in school that had everyone in stitches. Yet his talent was not affirmed by teachers who were only impressed by impeccable results on the report cards.
While many have gripes about our school system, Jack Neo believes no system is perfect and ours is comparatively less damaging than others. It does care for pupils who do not do well academically. What we should provide these pupils who are assigned to not-so-good classes with is proper counselling - they should never come to regard themselves as useless.
（The writer is an undergraduate of NTU. This article first appeared in The Nanyang Chronicle, NTU's students' newspaper. Translated by Yap Gee Poh.）
我對新加坡教育制度的看法——看《小孩不笨》有感● 蔡慧玲雖然升上大學(xué),很多時(shí)候還是懷疑自己的能力,是不是可以應(yīng)付未來的挑戰(zhàn)。在經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣中,更怨自己只懂讀死書,盲目追求文憑,害得自己無一技一長。
你這樣埋怨過嗎？
這是教育制度的缺點(diǎn)。
或許你認(rèn)為這么說是在推卸責(zé)任。我卻不以為然。
我國地小又缺乏天然資源,只有人力資源。所以我國急于培養(yǎng)人才是可以理解的。但我們的方法對嗎？
梁智強(qiáng)的新電影——《小孩不笨》尖銳地說出許多社會(huì)弊病,重點(diǎn)描述了三個(gè)EM3學(xué)生所面對的壓力和不公平待遇。
《小孩不笨》說出了不少學(xué)生的委屈和心聲。
也許因?yàn)榇蠹以谕瑯拥慕逃贫认鲁砷L,所以我感受特別深?！缎 菲f出了不少學(xué)生的委屈、困擾和心聲。
在文憑掛帥的社會(huì)里,我們從小就知道小四分流要考上EM1,中學(xué)要上特選班,然后上初級學(xué)院,再上大學(xué),才算保住光明前途。
我們從小就在師長督促下努力讀書,下課后補(bǔ)習(xí),有時(shí)還得熬夜溫課。但因過分注重正規(guī)學(xué)習(xí),很多人失去發(fā)揮所長、找到自我價(jià)值的機(jī)會(huì)。
功課的壓力其實(shí)是越來越大的。雖說課業(yè)內(nèi)容減輕了,實(shí)際上功課更多、更深了。慚愧地說,有時(shí)大學(xué)生也被小學(xué)生的問題考倒。
這意味著什么呢？填鴨式的教育方式行不通。即使我們接觸到廣泛的知識,也會(huì)因負(fù)荷過重,無法消化,而把攝取的知識當(dāng)廢物般排泄掉。
新加坡教育制度值得檢討。
我們需要更大的發(fā)揮空間,讓我們發(fā)揮自己的興趣和所長,尋找自己,尋找真正的保障。
當(dāng)我們看《小孩不笨》感動(dòng)到流淚時(shí),我們是為劇情哭,還是在為自己哭？我不知道。
梁智強(qiáng)通過《小》片告訴大家：“每個(gè)人都有他不同的才華。我們不能說他們不會(huì)讀書就是沒有用的?！绷褐菑?qiáng)自稱是個(gè)怎么努力都不會(huì)讀書的人,但他在導(dǎo)戲方面卻很有才華。中二時(shí)他導(dǎo)了第一部舞臺(tái)鬧劇,全校都笑了,但卻沒得到肯定。老師們都認(rèn)為學(xué)業(yè)成績好才算厲害。
雖然很多人不滿我國的教育制度,但梁智強(qiáng)認(rèn)為每個(gè)制度都有缺點(diǎn),我們的制度損傷力算是較低的了。因?yàn)樗卮_照顧到了成績差的學(xué)生。但我們要做的是正確的心理輔導(dǎo),不要讓被分配到較差班級的學(xué)生認(rèn)為自己沒有用。