Response to open letter to education minister

I totally disagree with her point of view.

Only from my OWN point of view, I think that she is not a hardworking student.

She claims that her chemistry teacher didnt explain why carbon is a non metal and it appears that she was taught that anything right of the staircase line in the periodic table, is metal. I think even if her teacher didnt teach her, basic knowledge is always available in chemistry textbooks, why didnt she read and start complaining about bad teachers forcing rote memory work? A student has responsiblity to find out on his own certain things too, and not to be grumbling about the system without a positive effort on her own part. Sometimes it could be that a specific chemistry teacher is lousy, but i find her article is really criticising the education too much.

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Mr Heng, we are taught Civics and Moral Education from a FILE, and from TEXTBOOKS. We are given CME EXAMS. Surely you would agree this is not the way to go about teaching values? Values cannot be taught, so the education system tries to force it down our throats by teaching us morally-correct behaviour.

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Granted, who am I to make a generalisation and say that all teenagers are this way? I know that there are teenagers and youths out there who are truly compassionate, who would truly go out of their way to help, but I have no arguments in my bag of tricks to argue for the stand that this behaviour is taught by Civics and Moral Education lessons in schools. Rather, more often than not, it is good parenting that leads a child to do so, not CME lessons.

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As a student myself, I think that there is no wrong memorising facts. In fact , if she thinks that the current education system is focusing on the academics too much, then what is the need to go to school? She might as well ask her own parents to teach her the appropriate moral values at home!

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Since Social Studies in primary school, we have been fed the system’s easy way out. Instead of actually having values instilled into us, we are taught to give morally-correct answers. We are taught to help old ladies cross roads when they look like they need assistance. Though the last sentence may be a bit of an exaggeration, one cannot deny that it is true. Character is not the knowledge that we should help the old lady cross the road, but the actual act of helping her do it.

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This is not true. The thought of helping the lady lies within ourselves. There is nothing wrong in the school or the educational system. Or is she meaning that the school should quit teaching us CME on text book, instead spent one whole day out of the week to teach us what to do in every posible situation? I am not trying to boast or what but if I were to see an old lady crossing the road, I would try to offer help if help is NEEDED. Whats the point helping an old lady in a healthy state crossing the road briskly? However, if she really give a reasonable method to teach us the teenagers the right way to teach us morals, I might considder stand on her side.

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As a Secondary Four student, I experience first-hand the ugliness of the flaws the education system has. In fact, I spent one hour and forty-five minutes writing you this letter. Though I am not sure if you will ever get to read it ever in this lifetime, but this is something that I believe in. I believe in being the change I want to see in the world, or at least in my environment, as cliched as that sounds. Every one else will tell me that this is a waste of time, because I have Preliminary examinations next week and I could have been studying instead of typing this long Facebook note out.

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I really do not know why is this paragraph neccessary . If she really want the minister to read it, why post it on facebook? Personnaly, I feel that she is just trying to gain attention from the public. Also, if she really want to show that she had put in effort in this letter and she had really consider a lot for this letter, why mention she spent 1 hr 40 mins for this letter? She is just trying to say that she can write such good or long(she thinks) "essay" in such "short " time.

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Have we lost the true meaning of education somewhere in the paper chase, buried under all the degrees and diplomas and paychecks? Or were we lost all along as to what education truly means?

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If that is the case, why complain to the minister of Singapore? Which country need you not to get a degree and diploma? Complain to the whole world rather than only complaining to Singapore.

"an education is not about pure academics."

Perhaps this is the only point that I agree with her.