Dec 09 2009
Stop putting labels on things and people…
Recently, in the wake of the announcement of PSLE 2009 results, this label of “neighbourhood” schools has been appearing everyday in the media. Wow! It is the first time neighbourhood schools are producing top PSLE students as if these schools were condemned and destined not to perform.
It appears that it has become a social norm here to put labels on things and people. Such labels usually carry negative connotations. Who actually started this label called “neighbourhood” schools? What do you call the other schools then? Does it mean that students in neighbourhood schools are less smart? Is it the negative consequence of school ranking exercise?
Is there a neighbourhood ITE, junior college or polytechnic? Is there a neighbourhood university? By right, Singapore Management University (SMU) should be better and more prestigious than the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) because the former resides in the City area and the latter is located at the ulu (remote) end of Singapore.
If students in neighbourhood schools are deemed to be poorer and hence less smart than those in the elite schools, then does it also mean that the principals and teachers there are less qualified, less capable and lesser paid? If not, why keep stressing the significance of “neighbourhood”? I think it is time we wake up our ideas and stop putting such non-useful and negative labels on things and people around us. Schools are schools. All schools should be treated the same. In this respect, I think it is time to abolish the school ranking exercise which has been somewhat held as sacred for donkey years.
As I have said in my previous blog, try taking the last 10% of this year’s PSLE cohort and put them in the prestigious Raffles Institution (RI) and watch the results four years later in the O-level examinations! By then, I think RI might become a “neighbourhood” school by this way of labelling!!
Jonathan Ooi is a students’ motivational book author and the Founding Chairman of two Parent Support Groups. He also blogs at eduprenuering.blogspot.com
2 responses so far
It depends where the definition of “neighbourhood school” came from? My impression of neighbourhood seem to be of schools located in the HDB heartlands, where the mass population is located.
In the past, we have schools located in town like St Anthony Boys, or Nanyang Primary and Henry Park in private residential areas.
I’m surprised about such labeling, because whatever happens we should always expect to see the Bell-shape curve at play in any school – where there are a few very brilliant as well as very academically poor students.
Nonetheless, our education system unfortunately have produced a ranking for the primary school, whereby Raffles Girsl Primary & Nanyang Primary are well know to have produce many so-called good students who score above 250, because their affiliated secondary only accept the cream of the crop.
I believe the education system plus the parents’ mindset are the major facotrs influencing such labeling of schools. An unnecessary evil that is the by-product of the education system in our rat-race in Singapore.
I think that there is an over emphasis on academic grades in general such that when there is an evaluation of any educational institution the first thing that surfaces are grades and a whole bunch of statistics.
There is almost no media attention on the school philosophies and what values matter to them, no mention on what sort of educational experience they intend to provide. To the point that evaluating a school becomes evaluating statistics.
Perhaps more focus should be directed at the educational experience rather than the grades.