I'm a teacher and a parent and honestly, i cant deny there is indeed a difference in a normal neighbourhood sch, 'popular' sch and 'branded’ sch

[Scarlet Tea]

Elite school expensive. Maybe be next time can enroll my kids then during cny I can flex

 

[sseasea]

 

[Not.banned.yet]

All schools are good schools.

Unless whities pichak lobang....

Play words Ma. Good is subjective.

 

[Fightfat]

Good article.
I agree at least 90% with them .
As for- All schools are good schools
The article mentioned that teachers are almost the same while resources are different.

 

[Taloona]

I used to have a colleague who lives in a landed house in Bukit Timah. Husband is a doctor and businessman. One day, she asked me to help her think of a theme for her child's birthday party as she was running out of ideas. So I said, "How about an Oliver Twist theme? Everyone comes in old clothes and only plain porridge is served to experience what it is like to be poor and hungry?" She rolled her eyes at me!

Guys, parentocracy is real.

 

[Geylang Prawn Seller]

actually hor

different school also got rich and poor students

in the end, there is still some meritocracy in singapore la

ultimately its not where you study but who you know and who are your parents that determine your career future and wealth

but even if RI boy don't have these things, and grow up average - you cant take the intellectualism out of a RI boy no matter where he goes. even if he becomes car salesman or sth

the same way i know that parent post was not posted by someone who went to a top school - someone who went top school will never write in such unclear language

 

[Tayliatorhard]

A starving camel is still bigger than a horse.

All depends on your kid and what you inputs as a parent.

 

[Taloona]

of course there is difference.
You want yr kid to co study with atas well behaved driven kids or bunch of monkeys.

Any adult will know this else why top schools are so popular

Top school has its own issues too. Know of a girl who studied in a top school in JC. She told me one of her classmates, who was very bright and aced all her exams, had some health issues. When the rest of the class heard about it, they cheered and wished for her downfall so that there is one less competition for them for govt scholarship! She stood by this classmate as the classmate underwent treatment. Today, this classmate is doing very well in her career.

It can be that cruel. If your child cannot handle the emotional toxicity, it can be disastrous.

 

[Whimsica]

The writer also admitted that (1) branded schools have got good support network from affiliated groups/ associations and alumni, and (2) parents play an important part.

So the differences can be lowered if successful alumni from non-branded schools can be persuaded to support their alma mater, clans/ groups/ associations can be persuaded to adopt non-affiliated schools and parents (and even the kids themselves) take a bigger interest in their children's education.

I think resources from the government are allocated equally.

And I think quality of teachers is also evenly spread out.

More non-branded schools' teachers should be recognised and rewarded for having to put in more effort. Personally I think some branded school teachers are simply good in PR and are coasting along and not exactly good in teaching i.e. they will fail miserably if transferred to non-branded schools. Kids taught by such teachers may do well mainly because of their parents' coaching/ supervision and outside tuition.

Gahmen is already trying to even the playing field by moving "good" schools out of the central areas (which I support) and putting the GEP in every school instead of selected ones (a move I don't support).

More importantly is the review/ recognition/ reward system.

For the overworked, burnt-out teachers. Or government doctors. Or nurses.

And also to penalise and get rid of those jlb.

In government agencies. In public transport. In town councils.

 

[Taloona]

The most zhun assessment of success vs failure factors.

Parentocracy lor.

 

[Taloona]

The writer also admitted that (1) branded schools have got good support network from affiliated groups/ associations and alumni, and (2) parents play an important part.

So the differences can be lowered if successful alumni from non-branded schools can be persuaded to support their alma mater, clans/ groups/ associations can be persuaded to adopt non-affiliated schools and parents (and even the kids themselves) take a bigger interest in their children's education.

I think resources from the government are allocated equally.

And I think quality of teachers is also evenly spread out.

More non-branded schools' teachers should be recognised and rewarded for having to put in more effort. Personally I think some branded school teachers are simply good in PR and are coasting along and not exactly good in teaching i.e. they will fail miserably if transferred to non-branded schools. Kids taught by such teachers may do well mainly because of their parents' coaching/ supervision and outside tuition.

Gahmen is already trying to even the playing field by moving "good" schools out of the central areas (which I support) and putting the GEP in every school instead of selected ones (a move I don't support).

More importantly is the review/ recognition/ reward system.

For the overworked, burnt-out teachers. Or government doctors. Or nurses.

And also to penalise and get rid of those jlb.

In government agencies. In public transport. In town councils.

A very close relative is teaching in a top school. She agreed her colleagues may have a problem if they get transferred to a neighbourhood school not because they cannot teach, but because the profile of the students is different. In top schools, they can grasp concepts fast but in neighbourhood schools, they may not and so you have to modify your teaching style and at the same time, deal with the behavioural issues. So you may have students who walk up and down during lessons!

I have a former colleague from the poly. Once, she took a break and went to ITE to teach. She resigned after 6 months. She said the moment she started her slides, half the class put their heads down on the table to sleep! I said, "Hello! They prefer hands-on activities lah and not hear their teacher talk and talk for 1 hour! And first few lessons is to talk cock and sing song to build trust with them!"

It takes a special kind of teachers to teach students who don't learn the conventional way aka sit down and listen.

 

[Akky85]

Parents will know that the statement is not entirely true.

Dun need parents, anyone with the brain the size of a pea can tell that's wrong already.

 

[Autumn.]

Main weakness of prc children here is english. In other subjects they are stronk.

My prc neighbour has tuition + enrichment planned for her daughter every day of the week. When I asked if she is worried about her daughter burning out, she just shrugged.

Till this day I don't dare tell my wife lest it sparks another round of arms race.

i think u still miss my point, even without parents factor we are more diligent in the race. as a child as a secondary and university, we are very constant in the race with or without expensive gifts

this is coming from PRC teachers who taught in different countries

 

[orwell76]

Catholic high Mr Wee teach maths very lepak, you understand dun understand not his problem wor

 

[lazy999]

from facebook parent group


I'm a teacher and a parent and honestly, i cant deny there is indeed a difference in a normal neighbourhood sch, 'popular' neighbourhood sch and 'branded' schs. I taught in all 3 types of sch with a SAP sch being my current sch. The stark constrast is actually the amount of resources and programmes which really depend alot on budget and manpower. And unfortunately the normal neighbourhood schs dont have this as they dont have affiliations with associations tt actually sponsor certain events/resources and programmes. SAP schs especially have both good support frm their clan association, PV and also alumni. I was really shocked at how grand their sch events can be and for e.g for teacher's day, teachers can really sit down and relax without having to organise and execute the event for the day as the PVs do almost everything. Hence, teachers can use the time to improve academic programmes and lessons unlike in my previous neighbourhood sch where we gotta do everything from scratch on top of the alr busy academic-related stuff and CCAs. And often in 'branded' schs, SES of students is generally much higher. In my previous neighbourhood sch, each class has about 3-4 on FAS scheme while my current SAP sch close to 0-1 student per class. The kinds of issues we deal with are also different. I often have to handle alot of absentees in my previous sch due to permissive or even absent and divorced parents. But current sch is more of highly-involved parents who sometimes are highly demanding. And tt said, the behaviours of students are also different, more competitive in the branded schs and less so in the neighbourhood schs BUT it's not always a positive thing as somehow the students in the SAP sch are less tolerant of each other as compared those in neighbourhood schs. Too competitive and lack of exposure to different cultures play a part. Somehow we have more discipline cases in my current sch even though the discipline mgmt is actually stricter than my previous sch. However, this is just my observation according to my own experiences, it could be different in other SAP schs.

Oh and branded schs often have better chances of having students into DSA mainly due to own parent's involvement. Sch training in each sch is generally the same but what makes a difference is tt the students themselves have outside training. I was surprised that almost every kid in my sports CCA has their own personal trainer outside of sch. Very different from those in neighbourhood schs who only depend on CCA to train.

But honestly, it still depends on your child himself and also the way you parent your child. I was frm a neighbourhood sch, with no tuitions but topped the sch, got into the special stream (bck then it was for those 250 and above), went to a branded girls sch aft tt. On the other hand, my hubby, went to a branded pri sch but got 20 points less than me in PSLE despite having a mom was an ex-teacher and even had tuitions. So really depends on the kids' abilities. But well my hubby still managed to get to a good sec sch and he eventually got into a top jc too as he worked harder in his sec sch. As parents, we play an impt part in motivating them and providing them with as much help they need, within our means.

—————————
From another parent

I’ve had kids in both “elite primary school” and “neighbourhood school”.
I’m also a sahm so I was deeply involved in coaching them as getting tuition would put a strain on our income.
What I’ve observed are these:

1. Yes “elite schools” have better resources for random things, which are mostly funded by alumni, so it is terribly unfair to say to do away with 2A. With MOE’s constant change of policies, it’s obvious that they want people from different SES to mingle, but they can’t deny the resources the alumni have poured into their Alma maters. So let’s not be cheapskate and act all self entitled and say 2A should go.
2. Yes “elite schools” produce much better psle scores. This is largely a function of the SES of the student population. Many of them not only have sahm, they also live in a nice big private property in a central location yet mom can afford to chauffeur them around in a car, or two. Though they earn big bucks, dad is often around too.
3. Yes “elite schools” have more PRCs. It’s obviously because they channel their energy into things they can control to move odds in their favour, instead of whining all day along. They are constantly planning and plotting and motivating their children, not complaining about how they are disadvantaged. Many of them are quite nice people (at least they were to me, a (yuck) “born and bred” singaporean.
4. No, “elite schools” do not have better teachers. I compared the resources and notes and I know this for a fact. They even seem less dedicated - zero supplementary lessons. Kids were even told “anyway all of you have tuition” which is untrue for mine.Fact. Not hearsay. First hand experience.

So, if you want your child to succeed, those are the ingredients. Be rich yet present and involved.
But since we can’t really choose to be rich, we can choose to be present and involved.

Signing off as a parent whose children have gone through both “elite primary school” and “neighbourhood primary school” and one who has unwittingly conducted a social experiment with results that are often peppered with hearsay.

We already knew all this.... Can tell us what we dont.

 

[Eost002]

The most zhun assessment of success vs failure factors.

The rich one will buyed sports car speeding and crash and dai in accident

 

[Autumn.]

A very close relative is teaching in a top school. She agreed her colleagues may have a problem if they get transferred to a neighbourhood school not because they cannot teach, but because the profile of the students is different. In top schools, they can grasp concepts fast but in neighbourhood schools, they may not and so you have to modify your teaching style and at the same time, deal with the behavioural issues. So you may have students who walk up and down during lessons!

I have a former colleague from the poly. Once, she took a break and went to ITE to teach. She resigned after 6 months. She said the moment she started her slides, half the class put their heads down on the table to sleep! I said, "Hello! They prefer hands-on activities lah and not hear their teacher talk and talk for 1 hour! And first few lessons is to talk cock and sing song to build trust with them!"

It takes a special kind of teachers to teach students who don't learn the conventional way aka sit down and listen.

our teachers are not trained that way

 

[neutralph]

I tot someone say all schools are good schools ?

indeed. the "worst" school in Sinkieland as compared to other countries might be world-class institution wor

 

[Taloona]

our teachers are not trained that way

Because the professors who trained them are academics and have never stepped into a neighbourhood school mah.

 

[Autumn.]

Because the professors who trained them are academics and have never stepped into a neighbourhood school mah.

yes n no. the system don't like to rock the boat. Teachers who do right by students dpnt do well with their KPI and performance. and probably given more tasks