What
China should learn from Singapore in terms of education?
The education in China has always stirred up a heated debate. Some
people believe that China has a successful education, which bring students a
solid foundation and especially a good grasp of science. However, others
criticize that the education in China attaches too much importance to the
students’ academic performance, and kill the creativity and leadership of the
students.
Since I came to Singapore, I have paid extra attention to Singaporean
education. Thanks to GIVE program, through which I was allowed to get into
local secondary school, I gain a deeper insight of Singaporean education. Also,
because all the boys accommodate in River Valley High School Hostel, we have the
opportunity to observe what Singaporean students do in the school. From what I observed, I
think there are three aspects which China should learn from Singapore.
First
of all, Singapore thinks highly of physical education. What I can always see
from the window when I go back to the hostel after class is the scene that the
students are running in groups on the playground. Moreover, I have noticed that
the girls in Singapore are much more active and sporty than those in China. In
China, fewer students have time or have intention to do sports because of heavy
burden from the study and lack of consciousness of physical exercises. The
popularity of the sports in Singapore must be resulted from the emphasis on the
physical education. A strong body is the guarantee and premise of everything,
so physical should be raised to a more important position in China as Singapore.
Secondly,
the divide of science and arts should be eliminated in China. As I know, there
is no divide of the courses in Singapore. Since the education before the
university are provided with the purpose of developing an all-round individual.
That is to say, the education should be comprehensive, including different
kinds of knowledge and covering wide ranges of fields. Therefore, it is not
sensible to divide the student into science and arts students in the terms of
their senior middle school education. It will not be late to allow them to have
this choice in the tertiary education.
Thirdly,
Chinese school should offer wider ranges of extra curriculum activities. There
are many kinds of CCA in Singapore. I was surprised to see some very interesting
communities such as Police Association and Entrepreneur Clubs in a secondary
school. It is not common to see these communities in Chinese high school and
the students in China cannot take too much initiative and enthusiasm to attend
CCA. These extra curriculum activities can develop students’ abilities such as
leadership, team spirit and communicative skills, which they cannot get from
their textbook but will benefit them for the whole life. It is very sorry that
this point cannot be seen by Chinese education authorities.
As an economic powerhouse, Singapore knows well that education will decide one country’s economy and strength. Singaporean education is well recognized in the world and it has produced many heavyweights in different fields. China should reflect on its weakness and defect in the education system and Singapore is a good example which can be followed.
I was also deeply impressed by your first point when i served at Commonwealth Secondary School for GIVE programming! The students no matter girls or boys all run around the school, out of breath, but persist. At first, I thought they were holding a running race. But when I came across such a thing every time when I went to that senior high school, I realize this is just a daily routine training. I was astounded by Singapore government's attention on physical education. This does not only benefit the individuals, but also let the talents work longer for the country, since the older a person is, the more experienced s/he is.
ReplyDeleteIt should be admitted that there are numerous disadvantages contained in China's education and there remains a far way to go to improve it. As with Chen Yang, I strongly approve that Chinese government is supposed to attach more importance on physical education. Regarding the second point, I am afraid to disagree with you. Firstly, it will incontestably add to students' academical burden, which may lead to a fruitless implement of the first strategy. Secondly, the combination of science and arts is just a superfacial measure to imporeve China's education. To make China's education better, more radical actions should be taken.
ReplyDeleteThirdly, China is very distinct from Singapore, whatever in terms of size or population. Not all policies in Singapore apply in China. Instead of immitating Singapore, China should grope its unique way to facilitae students' academical study.
I totally agree with you! I also notice some difference in education in China and Singapore. In the first point, China's education is not bad but neglects the development of soft skills of students. As for the second point, you are right. What i taught in High school is very basic and we should not stream students into arts or sciences. However, I hear that, about 10 years before, singapore did that stream and students in sciences had very good science skills, just like chinese now. But now they do not stream students and the quality of sciences education declines.
ReplyDeleteI have many points to say!
ReplyDeleteFor your first point, I have to say that during the dinner time in my senior high school, the playground and basketball field were also full of people. However, it doesn't mean that all the students participate in activities. Though we can see numbers of students in RVHS play joyfully on the ground, we cannot jump into the conclusion that all of them are well trained physically.
Secondly, it's not practical to enforce multi-disciplinary in Chinese high schools. You can see that our Mr. Zhang from Shandong province often complains about the 'horrible' education in their province. Would most of our classmates prefer to learn more subjects? I strongly favour it. But taking the population into consideration, I don't think multi-disciplinary is suitable for all students. I hope students can choose according to their personal interests.
The other thing is that, education doesn't always mean to be educated. The one who stands out often teaches himself. Students should not be taught all the time. They must be able to think and perform critically.
The third point is worth mulling over. We need CCA. But too heavy requirement for CCA would kick us out of hall!!!
Firstly, I am not come Shandong Province. Secondly, what is taught in high school is just the basic knowledge which is not that hard to comprehend. As a result, in high school deciding your own interest will restrict students' development in the long run. Even in university, students also need study widely just with their own specializations.
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