I am appalled

Over the past couple of days after the PSLE, I have read in the papers and forums where parents wrote into to as usual, complain about the maths paper. Every year, such things recur. However, what irks me is that they blame the school, the system, needless to say the teachers for not preparing their children adequately or setting a 'killer' paper. There was this one parent who claimed his son came home in tears after the maths paper and said "other equally bright" students did so too. He pointed the finger at the setters of the paper who set way too difficult a paper. In that article, i saw phrases such as "a top student, mentally strong and confident in maths". Well, with all due respect to that parent and child, i think it is not just how exam smart one is but how does one survive by being street smart and having good character. In another tabloid paper yesterday, splashed across the front page was another complaint who alleged a teacher did not prepare their students adqequately for the exam. However, there were reasons for the school's course of preparation. I shall not give a recount of that article because of the content and underlying message.

In short, the exams board have reasons to set questions that require that bit more of pondering and thought before solving them. Although one may argue that once they leave school, they will hardly ever use those methods to solve daily issues. However, it is not so much the method of solving the problems but more of the thought process. In Singapore where our people are our only resources, if we do not ensure that our people are adquately prepared to face up to the global challenges, our country will degenerate in no time. Sad, but true. On the other hand, there should be a balance between stretching our people beyond their potential and enjoying their schooling life.