once upon a time, not so long ago (in singapore), my kids will hand us their school report card/progress report with trepidation. it is because that will set the scene for the next 6 months of their lives. whether life is good or otherwise will hinge on what's in the progress report. before you conclude that we are sadist that deprive growing children on their (computer) playtime [admittedly, we do cut down on their itouch games, ps2, gameboy, wii, psp or ds lite time (yes, we have the lots and we are working on the 360 and ps3) during the school holidays if they fell short of our expectations], like it or not, we parents have been conditioned since time immemorial that we measure our children's progress in school by how many band 1s or a1s obtained. the first thing most parent zoomed in is the exam marks. all else is immaterial. and the narratives are unimportant. i received my numerous 1 liner `can be improved' remarks from my teachers when i was young. i often wondered, "improve what ah?" in singapore, i do know of some people who use their children's progress report as bragging rights. it becomes an intense topic of discussion and rank as high as `what car do you drive?', `this holiday going where?' and `psf, how much?' during lunch breaks. i just make sure i have a mouthful of food and chew slowly everytime such topics surface.
our 2 older kids finished their semester 1 recently. when we were (shockingly) told by the school principal earlier this year that the school doesn't have text books for the kids in school; we were more prepared this time round. still, when we received an a4 envelope of 8 page print-out each of shankly and paisley's progress report, we were pleasantly surprised by the content.
for starter, we couldn't find the exam mark or grade. of course, the kids never have exams. life couldn't have better for them. when paisley excitedly insist that i read her semester 1 progress report, i sense that something is amiss. she was never that enthusiastic about me reading her school report card in singapore. same with the boy.
instead, only grading, or rating as they called it were given on. beside being graded on the core learning subjects like english, maths and science(for shankly); equal emphasis were given on interpersonal development, thinking processes, phys ed, performing arts and creativity, amongst others. and supporting each of this rating is a thorough assessment given by the teachers on how they have performed, areas for improvement and what they have done well. for us parents, it is no longer a situation where we judge summarily if our children have done well through the score of the examination papers they took. in fact, i took a long time to read, reread and understand what is written and it has given me an appreciative view on the education our children are receiving. equally impressive is that the students' view were captured in this progress report. they have their say on what they like or dislike about the school, the challenges they relish or the difficulties they encountered. done over time, this will reinforce the students' ability to think and articulate their thoughts. and lastly, parents too have a say in this. we are encourage to pen our thoughts on what we read and pass back written comments to them. a face-to-face parent-teacher meeting will conclude the semester's progress report.
we were initially worried if our kids will lose that `study smart' competitive edge. i am sure they will not fare well in the singapore education system now, even if only 6 months out of that system. admittedly, singapore's education system has its strengths; but that said, i am personally convinced that it is the right decision to pull them out and embrace a more well rounded education system here. children's education here is more holistic than just emphasize on academic excellence. i realized that singapore's education system is evolving in this direction, but we can't wait. paisley will be a mother of 2 and i, grand-dad when that happens.
and for a change, i no longer can be `blackmailed' into `rewards' for `scoring' in an exam. that part is the gravy....
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