As Singapore is such a small country, she is heavily dependent on her people. As we are her only natural resource, it is only natural that we want the best of everything and strive to be #1 - be it having the best airport in the world, the tallest Ferris wheel, the cleanest town and even NeWater. This desire to make ourselves known to the world (you can't even see Singapore on an atlas) is of course filtered down to our education system. Now, Singapore has one of the finest and most sophisticated education system in the world.
The product: highly-stressed students who are coffee and candy addicts. With higher emphasis on doing well in school as a stepping stone to land you your dream job and ensure you the best possible life (which is true for the most part), our students now view school life and inexorably, examinations, as an unwanted challenge and competition.
As seen from the videos, the students are stressed out over exams because of:
- parents' sometimes-too-high expectations
- sibling and even neighbourly rivalry
- the competitive nature of examinations
- the importance placed on examinations as a measure of a student's success
- the struggle between homework and tuition
This is a uniquely Singaporean event that all students have to face. Chalk it up for the record books, eh? Not only do students face this difficulty, educators are not exempted too. As teachers, we have a huge list of responsibilities and what seems to be a too-cramped curriculum to stuff anything else in. In the rush to complete the syllabus and our administrative duties, we may sometimes forget to let our students have fun and enjoy their time in school (I'm guilty of this sometimes :)). While it is important to help and guide our students to excel academically, it is equally important to instill in them moral, social and thinking skills to help them be better human beings.
Comments? I look forward to hear them!
Ain
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