23 July 2008

Singapore’s ‘teach less learn more’ schools

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Uncategorized.

There’s a very interesting report by veteran columnist Seah Cheang Nee on the evolving education scene in Singapore. The Singapore government in a ground-breaking move has begun to introduce new teaching ideas and subjects for their students primary and secondary. It’s early days yet, but the scale of change has already taken Singaporean parents by surprise.

Dubbed the “teach less learn more strategy” schools in Singapore are beginning to balance academic and non-academic subjects by incorporating practical studies as an elective or an exam subject.

Writes Seah:

The courses range from filmmaking to designing, from IT to nutrition and cooking, and from music and the arts to professional sports, and a new environment course for children.

School dropouts, who usually end up as lowly-paid, semi-skilled workers, now see new hope in some of these courses, which can lead them towards a non-academic career.

Some may even outshine their peers in the top elite schools in courses like cooking or designing or music composing. “That could make for a level playing field for the 21st Century globalised economy.”

A new type of futuristic schools has started operation in Singapore.

Here blogs take over from blackboards. Other teaching tools are video-conferencing, tablet PCs, pod-casts, 3-D software and interactive whiteboards.

Five “Future Schools” have been selected as pioneers to use innovative teaching methods that harness info-communication.

Tech-savvy Singapore, one of Asia’s most wired nations, will have 15 of these primary and secondary high-tech schools by 2015. (More here)

What are some of these new modules that have captured the imagination of students and parents alike?

• Innovation: Design and study of robots in primary schools, 3-D animation as an O-level subject

• Food Science: Training food innovators to produce new gastronomic products

• Business: Internships for students 14 to 15 year-old with major companies such as Nestle and MacDonald to learn how to improve operations

• Arts: The first School of Arts for Secondary 1 and 2 for ballet, music, and dance.

• Environment: Practical lessons in secondary schools on green issues, water management, air quality and air pollution

The reasons for such a make-over are obvious, for not every child is academically inclined. Besides, in this day and age, success calls for a new kind of worker – tech-savvy, innovative, skilled in practical sciences, competitive, as well as creative. It certainly calls for an individual who knows how to learn, and how to keep abreast and ahead of a changing environment.

While it is pointless bemoaning how Malaysia lags behind its neighbor, there is something instructive for us homeschoolers. It is time to acknowledge as Singapore has that global changes are demanding a new kind of workforce. If we but embrace this and allow our children the opportunities to think out of the box, break the mould of conventional study options, and explore new skills, there’s no telling how far they will go.

It seems to me that by deciding to homeschool, we have taken the first steps. And now, to continue pushing the envelope…..

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